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Volume 2 Issue 3
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JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS
Joan Jett Catalog On Compact Disc!
Joan Jett's first post Runaways LP originally titled Joan Jett was released in the US on Blackheart Records in 1980. In 1981 the album was retitled Bad Reputation and released on Boardwalk Records.
Joan Jett's label Blackheart Records has plans to reissue CDs of her first four albums plus a fifth disc compiling rare tracks. Bad Reputation, I Love Rock N' Roll, Album and Glorious Results Of A Misspent Youth were all remastered from the original two-track master tapes by Masterdisk's Bob Ludwig. "It's amazing," says project coordinator Danny Solazzi. "The tapes had been compressed, so we went back to the flat masters. You can't believe the sound." In addition to the "odds and sods" package tentatively titled Flashback, all four discs will carry bonus tracks, newly penned liner notes and complete lyrics approved by Jett herself. For flavoring and a touch of authenticity, some studio chatter and count-offs omitted on the LP pressings will turn up on the CDs.
The releases mark the first appearance of most of this material on CD, although Bellaphon Records in Germany issued some Jett titles without authorization and from inferior tapes, so the Ludwig-mastered recordings and bonus cuts can be found only on the Blackheart issues. "We feel we're giving people a real good value," Jett's musical partner and producer Kenny Laguna tells ICE.
The bonus tracks should really please Jett fans, collecting a number of tunes found only on B-sides or foreign pressings. The Bad Reputation extra cuts are a cover of The Who's "Call Me Lightning" (the B-side of "Make Believe"), Tommy James; "Hanky Panky" (included on European pressings of the album), "Summertime Blues" (issued only as a Canadian one-sided single) and "What Can I Do For You?" (the B-side of "Little Liar"), but recorded for the first album.
In the case of I Love Rock N' Roll, originally released during the holiday season, the song "Little Drummer Boy" was the final track on the first LP pressing but was later replaced by "Oh Woe Is Me." The CD will present the tracks in their original line-up, placing "Oh Woe Is Me" after "Little Drummer Boy." Rounding out the bonus tracks are a previously unreleased version of "Louie Louie" and an alternate version, this time with the Blackhearts of "You Don't Know What You Got."
A version of the Rolling Stones' "Star Star," found only on the original cassette, kicks off the bonus tracks for Album, which also includes the 12-inch dance mix cover of Sly And The Family Stone's "Everyday People" and "Nitetime," originally the B-side of "Fake Friends." With "Nitetime," Blackheart made an unusual effort to maintain both the sonic integrity and the vinyl experience of the original single. "When "Nitetime" originally appeared, Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk locked the groove at the end of the record," Solazzi tells ICE. "It was kind of a droney guitar part that went on endlessly and when people would play it (on jukeboxes) in diners they'd have to just go pull the plug. It would never stop; it was so annoying." On the new CD, "Nitetime" plays to its actual ending, but the final bonus cut on the disc is "Locked Groove," which is 3:45 of the same droning guitar lick -- recorded from an original 45 -- halted only by the sound of Ludwig pulling the tone-arm across the record.
Because of a South American tour, Glorious Results Of A Misspent Youth, was issued in Venezuela and advance of the rest of the world (under the incorrect title of I Need Someone). As a result, the Venezuelan pressing included two songs, Bunker Hill's "Hide And Seek," and The Troggs "I Can't Control Myself," that aren't found anywhere else in the world. Both songs are included as bonus tracks, along with the Everly Brothers' "Bird Dog" and "Talkin' 'Bout My Baby" (live).
Though the final tracks listing for Flashback is not yet set, Laguna says, "We remastered a lot of things; it's going to be a full 76 minutes. We're going all out; we have 35 tracks (to choose from)." He did reveal that the disc will include the single "Light Of Day" (penned by Bruce Springsteen), a version of "I Love Rock N' Roll" with Jett backed my members of the Sex Pistols, and "MCA/EMI," which is the Sex Pistols' song "EMI" with Joan singing "MCA" in its place. Also likely are live tracks from CBGBs and special versions of songs sent only to radio, all of which were never issued on LP.
Distribution for the titles is not yet set, but Laguna expects to get the CDs in store by the end of June. The reissues will also be accompanied by a longform home video compiling all of Joan's clips, along with interviews and other rare footage.
The following songs will be included on the home video release:
"I Hate Myself For Loving You"
"Cherry Bomb"
"The French Song"
"Crimson And Clover"
"I Love Rock N' Roll"
"Touch Me"
"Little Liar"
"Love Hurts"
"Backlash"
"Don't Surrender"
"Bad Reputation"
"I Want To Be Your Dog" (live)
[Editor's Note: Videos do not appear in exact order listed.]
[Article reprinted by permission of ICE - The Monthly CD Newsletter.]
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