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The Jett Set
from: Lincoln Journal Star
KENNY LAGUNA has about had it with rock stars who are more interested in their bank accounts than music or who want to make some "important" social statement rather than just have fun.
Laguna is more than just a casual sidelines observer. He's been a prime mover on the rock `n' roll scene since he was a teen-ager cranking out bubblegum pop and, for the past 20 years, has been the musical partner of JOAN JETT, who knows more than at little about how to rock.
"This is entertainment, that's all it is,"Laguna said. "If you break through and have a little social commentary, that's great. But you're supposed to be lifting people's spirits. Instead of having juvenile delinquents, edgy people as rock stars, they've replaced that with corporate nerds, guys that are overeducated. They can buy their leather, but they can't rock.
"Whatever JOAN JETT is, that's what she is, she's not trying to be anything else. That's true for Mick Jagger, that's true for Pete Townsend. It's not like they sat down and read the book and are trying to be something. If they don't create the music, they go crazy.The other guys want to build their portfolios."
Laguna, Jett's longtime musical collaborator, producer and manager, stood in for his friend, doing an interview to promote her Sunday night show at the Westfair Amphitheatre just north of Council Bluffs, Iowa.
That's by design. Jett even turned down People magazine, which was promising a big spread on her -- mainstream publicity at its most desirable.
"They want to become familiar with you so they can become contemptuous of you,"Laguna said. "Joan is exactly who you see out there. She's a very good person. People think she's tough and nasty. That's just because she's got convictions. There's no image to build.The way she is in public is the way she is.
"We still don't believe in letting people in that far. We're in the perception business.I think mystique is a good thing for rock `n' roll."
Jett, accurately labeled the "female ChuckBerry," has been garnering attention she was a member of the late '70s all-girl rock `n' roll band The RUNAWAYS, which also included future metal star Lita Ford. Recruited by Svengali/producer Kim Fowley when she was 15, Jett joined the band in 1975. It split up three years later.
By 1980, her solo debut, "Bad Reputation," had started to make a stir, and Jett began touring across the country. She made her Lincoln debut in March 1981, nearly blowing the back wall out of the Drumstick, the legendary, now long gone, local rock club.
Laguna has a specific memory of that show. Just before heading for the 'Stick, he got a phone call from Neil Bogart, the head of Boardwalk Records, Jett's label at the time.
"He called me and said, `You're an incompetent boob. What are you doing in Lincoln, Nebraska, when you're supposed to be making a new record?" Laguna recalled.
Close to a year later, "I Love Rock `n' Roll" was a smash, hitting the top of the charts in early 1982. The identically titled album was selling like crazy, and Laguna got a call from one of Bogart's assistants.
"He told me, `You're having more of an impact in Nebraska and Iowa than with anything Bogart has ever been associated with, and he regrets yelling at you,' " Laguna said.
An anthem for the then-emerging MTV generation, "I Love Rock n' Roll" had been turned down by 23 record labels before it was released, then became a career-establishing hit for Jett.
"But the thing that made that happen is it was the right record at that time," Laguna said. "I'd had another record like that. It was `Mony, Mony,' which was about nothing, sung by four really high guys. It didn't mean a thing, and all of a sudden, it just happened."
"Mony, Mony" came when Laguna was a member of Tommy James and the Shondells, just one stop in a musical odyssey in which he has produced the likes of Tony Orlando and Dawn, Bill Medley,Darlene Love and Bow Wow Wow, in addition to his extensive work with Jett.
Songs by all of the above can be heard on "Laguna Tunes," the entertaining 2000 disc Laguna released on BLACKHEART RECORDS, the label he co-founded with Jett more than two decades ago.
After "I Love Rock `n' Roll," Jett had hits with covers of James' "Crimson and Clover" and Gary Glitter's "Do You Want to Touch Me (Oh Yeah)." Other hits followed: "Fake Friends,"the Bruce Springsteen-penned "Light of Day," "IHate Myself for Loving You,""Little Liar" and a cover of AC/DC's "DirtyDeeds."
By the early '90s, Jett was being cited as an influence by a new generation of female rockers -- a connection made clear on 1994's "Pure and Simple," on which she was joined by Bikini Kill's Kathleen Hanna.
Jett hasn't released an album since 1999's "Fetish."
In the interim, she's acted in a Broadway version of "TheRockyHorror Picture Show," and she's playing herself in the indie feature film "Prey for Rock & Roll," which is slated for release later this year. She's also been in the studio doing some recording. "Science Fiction," a song sent along by her publicist, is a tribute to late-night double features and sounds like vintage Jett, then gets an electronica makeover.
There's also a new DVD of Jett's greatest hits performed live that's a must-have for fans.
Plus she's on a tour that's bringing her back to the midlands for the first time in years.
"It's an important part of America, that's why we're there," Laguna said. "One tour we did 14 shows in Iowa cities.Most people in the music business didn't know there were 14 cities in Iowa. The only reason we don't show up for a long period of time is we can't afford to get out there. We can't really go and play a 100-person bar anymore. But there's nothing that feels better than playing in America's heartland."
For all her work, Jett hasn't achieved the widespread acclaim she deserves, much like Creedence Clearwater Revival of an earlier era. In part, Laguna said, that's because Jett has chosen to do things her own way.
"We have our own label, and I have no regrets,"Laguna said. "We make more money than Van Halen when we put out a record. But she has great looks, we have great songs, if I do say so myself.
"Why should SarahMacLachlan be a more important artist in the mainstream? We live with it.We've got a few more acts to go. We'll see what happens."
For the nerds, greedheads and bores out there making rock `n' roll, Laguna has some advice: "They need to take a lesson from the Rat Pack or the Rolling Stones or The Who. It's about being cool."
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