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JOAN JETT: still loves rock and roll
from: Fly Magazine
JOAN JETT loves rock and roll. That much hasn't changed since she first elbowed her way onto the national scene in 1981. What has changed is the notion that rock and roll is a male institution, thanks in large part to Jett's rock-at-all-costs attitude and tough-girl image.
I caught up with Jett and her partner in crime, BLACKHEART RECORDS co-owner KENNY LAGUNA, in May as they drove to Philadelphia to collect the Lifetime Achievement accolade at the Philly Music Awards. But Jett wasn't feeling very reminiscent about her career, and didn't want to talk about the award. She was fired up.
Despite the various awards she's collected, the millions of albums sold, and the fact that she's become nothing short of a rock icon, Jett remains militant in her mission to level the rock and roll playing field. "I personally want to re-establish and remind people that girls play rock and roll and that I'm still here," Jett says during the Fly interview.
With that in mind, she and Laguna are currently preparing for the release of Jett's first album of new, original material since 1994. "We're working on a single that sounds like a smash hit," says Laguna, who has co-written, produced, and released Jett's albums since day one. "The song is so brilliant, and it goes over so big live."
As for the rest of the album, Laguna promises more of the straight-up rock and roll JOAN JETT fans love to love. "I think that we're going to definitely have a couple of songs that sound exactly like what you'd expect, because we love that sound," Laguna says. "I'd say most of it is going to sound like that," Jett adds. "I don't like anything else. ... As far as changing the style, I'm completely uninterested in that."
The duo's unwavering faithfulness to rock and roll is no accident. From Jett's earliest days as part of the all-girl rock group the RUNAWAYS, she has maintained a love for the "underground" rock and punk bands that first inspired her, with little regard for radio's flavors-of-the-week.
"I'm still trying to figure out who Foreigner is," Laguna laughs. "We kind of work in a vacuum."
"I'm completely in a vacuum," says Jett. "I don't listen to any radio, and haven't for years and years. ... I don't really listen to a lot of brand new stuff. I just don't find things that inspire me. For the most part, I listen to stuff I grew up listening to." While musical style is something the two agree on, the title for the upcoming album is an entirely different issue.
"First it was Headlock," Laguna says, "and then it was ..." "I don't like any of the old names you like!" Jett interjects. "I like Bubble ..." Laguna laughs, launching into a lengthy defense of the obviously terrible title.
"Bubble? Forget it!" Jett says. End of discussion. At this point in her career, Jett doesn't need to release another album, let alone send that album to the top of the charts. But she seems to be compelled by the idea that, thanks in part to rock and roll's short attention span, time might undo the progress she has made within the male-dominated genre.
Some particularly disturbing evidence is found in Rolling Stone's special "Women in Rock" issue (October 2002). That they gave Jett only a one-line mention in the multi-page article was insulting, but to use Britney Spears and Shakira as the "Women in Rock" cover models was salt in the wound. (Coincidentally, Spears mutilated Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll" on her last album, Britney. When asked why she chose the song, Spears replied, "I've always loved Pat Benatar!") Not that Jett's near-omission from the issue damaged her reputation or career, and not that it hurt her feelings, but it did help her realize that female-fronted rock and roll is, for the most part, still associated with busty teenage girls with clingy shirts and a personal stylist.
"I'd just like to remind people of reality. You can say somebody rocks, but if they pop, they pop," Jett insists. "It's one thing to see a really tight rock and roll band, but people aren't used to seeing a woman play real rock and roll, sweaty rock and roll, dirty rock and roll. It's one thing to talk about it, and it's one thing to dress somebody up, but to come through on-stage is a whole other deal. "You have to remember that we live in a world of hype," she continues. "It's hype, hype, hype all the way. The rock magazines, the whole deal. ... Because a lot of writers use the word 'rock' to describe artists that they want to add excitement and edge to. It's completely rampant in music writing today."
While it may be true that a photo of Shakira (who rocks!) can move more copies of Rolling Stone than a picture of Jett (who really rocks!), it's safe to say Jett has left an indelible mark on popular music as a whole. "I think Joan is blessed because she has this icon status," Laguna says. "We've gone through an unusual cultural odyssey. We've had two hits that were definitely urban, and we even had a song on the easy listening charts once. It's gone everywhere. So she's blessed.
"I haven't lost my enthusiam for Joan. I hate writing the songs now, but I do it anyway because she beats me up," Laguna laughs. "It's work. It's intense, man," Jett adds. "Did you ever have writer's block? Do you know what that's like? Before you ever have writer's block, there's a certain enthusiasm. You don't really have to think about it, you just write.
"I never had to think about writing songs," she continues. "Stuff just came out, including the words. But I'd say in the past seven years I've had major problems. Major problems. I can write the music and get melodic ideas, but trying to say something is difficult. And the more you don't write, the worse it gets, the bigger that wall becomes."
But, as with most of the walls she has faced in her career, Jett managed to knock it down. In the coming year, the songwriting team hopes to add to Jett's growing catalog of hits - "I Love Rock and Roll," "Crimson and Clover," "Bad Reputation," "I Hate Myself for Loving You," etc. - with the release of the new album. And that, says Laguna, is when the fun begins. "When [the album] is done and you play it for people, and people are responding to it, or when the record's on the radio, man, that's the best. That's better than any high on the planet," he says.
Watch for the summer release of JOAN JETT's newest movie, "The Sweet Life," in which she stars and performs the title track. Catch Jett live at the Keswick Theatre, Glenside, on June 12.
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