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JOAN JETT still loves rock and roll and rock fans still love her
from: mcall.com
by John J. Moser | Of The Morning Call
When JOAN JETT started all-girl proto-punk group The RUNAWAYS in 1975, and even after she and her later band, The BLACKHEARTS, hit it big with the song "I Love Rock 'N Roll" in 1982, she never thought she ever would be regarded as one of the greats.
"Not in that context," Jett says in a recent telephone interview from Los Angeles. "But I always thought maybe we'd be role models for girls or that I myself could be just a role model to show that you don't have to fit into a predesigned box; that when you were born as a girl, that doesn't -- shouldn't -- limit you."
It certainly didn't limit Jett. And 35 years later, she is certifiably one of the greats.
Not only is "I Love Rock 'N Roll" among Billboard magazine's Top 30 songs ever, but Rolling Stone magazine in 2003 chose her among the Top 100 guitarists of all time -- one of only two women on the list. She's starred in movies and owns her own record company, and her songs still show up in movies and on TV. Her 1988 hit "I Hate Myself for Loving You" is the theme to "Sunday Night Football."
And now, The RUNAWAYS' story is the subject of a major motion picture, filming now and set for 2010 release, starring Dakota Fanning, Tatum O'Neill and 2008 Oscar nominee Michael Shannon. Hot "Twilight" star Kristin Stewart is playing Jett.
Asked why she thinks her music is still popular after all these years -- Jett for the past few years has even played a main stage at the decidedly younger-focused alt-music Vans Warped Tour -- she says, "I guess I can never really be sure."
"But I would hope that it reminds people, whenever they come across these songs, of a time in their life when they were either enjoying life or they were in a struggle in life that the music sort of helped them through," she says. "It's connected to them in some form to some experience that they've gone through in life."
But she says she's baffled when "an 8-year-old hears 'I Love Rock and Roll' now and is attached to it. What does it mean? And where is that coming from?" she says, laughing. "Sometimes, they can't even explain it to you. Sometimes, a lot of times, there are no words."
"I Love Rock 'N Roll" certainly struck a chord; it was No. 1 for seven weeks. But Jett and her longtime producer/manager KENNY LAGUNA say that to get the song released, they had to start BLACKHEART RECORDS after nearly two dozen labels turned them down.
Jett then went on to have hits with covers of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover," Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)," Sly & The Family Stone's "Everyday People" and "Light of Day," the title song from the 1987 film in which she also starred.
Jett's last album of original music, 2006's "SINNER," turned out to be her most topical, with the political "Riddles" and sexually liberal "Fetish" and covers of Sweet's "A.C.D.C." and The Replacements' "Androgynous."
"I think after awhile I wanted to sort of expand what I wanted to write about," she says. "Ever since The RUNAWAYS days, it's sort of been 'sex, drugs and rock'n'roll,' which is fine -- don't misunderstand me, that's fine -- but to also add in a few other aspects that may touch your life, like some form of spirituality or the notion of compassion in politics."
She says the struggle for her was "how do you write about these things without sounding preachy, or stupid or goofy. And just how do you make it sound real, and not like you're trying too hard? Cause that's never been the way I've written. It just isn't the way my mind works, necessarily."
But Jett says inspiration came from the hypocrisy she saw.
"People talk such a good game here in America: 'Land of the free and home of the brave.' And you're going to tell me how I can dress? I don't think so. You tell me what uniform I have to wear and if I deviate from that at all I'm going to get my ass kicked, people are going to make fun of me and talk about how weird I look and how dirty I am?
"I mean, that's what happens when a girl steps outside the lines. And it's quick, fierce, and it's intense and you don't know where it's coming from because people have a sheep herd mentality. So when you step and you do something different, you get crushed for it."
Jett says she's working on new music, but is in no rush to get it out.
"To tell you the truth, I just don't see the point in working so hard to create 14 new sides to put out there to not be played on the radio and not be played anyplace else," she says. "So the rush to create an album a year is not the same as it was in 1976 or 1985 or 1989. It was just a different world. So unless you've got that many songs ready to go, and if I did, I would. But I don't, so I don't."
Instead, she says, she's now likely to put a couple of new tracks on a Greatest Hits package that may coincide with the release of "The RUNAWAYS" movie.
Jett says she spends most days on the film's set, and "It's been a really, really good experience, an interesting experience, very surreal experience. I think the actors are doing a brilliant job. And so I'm excited to see what happens."
As for Stewart's portrayal of her, Jett says, "I could not be happier. I'm absolutely thrilled with her as a person, as an actor. I've gotten to know her a bit over this time, and I can't speak highly enough of her."
Jett says the film has brought back "probably a lot of good memories and probably a few bad ones, as well. But in the context of life, bad things happen a lot, and you can't really have good without the bad. So it's kind of a moot point to think about it that way."
Asked about turning 50, Jett laughs: "Well, I try to not to think about it too much, unless people talk to me about it."
"I don't feel that different," she says. "I feel the same, so you just try not to think about things that you can't do much about or really have no bearing on what you're doing in life. You know, it's a number and that's really it. So I just try to move on and not think about it too much. And not look in the mirror too much."
THE DETAILS:
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS and The B-52s, 7 p.m. Aug. 5, RiverPlace, Sand Island. Tickets: $24-$49.
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