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Rock 'n' roller JOAN JETT is used to setting trends, breaking barriers
from: courierpress.com
by Gordon Engelhardt, Courier & Press staff writer
Imagine the thoughts running through the heads of the conservative, so-called high rollers, when they first saw the spiked haircut of BLACKHEARTS guitarist DOUGIE NEEDLES as JOAN JETT and her band took the stage at Casino Aztar in May 2005.
Jett, who played at the legendary CBGB's punk rock club in New York before it closed last fall, calls it conquering the unconquerable. Jett and the BLACKHEARTS will return to Aztar on Friday and Saturday, with two performances each night.
"If people are coming into a rock 'n' roll show expecting to see white cake and lace and gingerbread or something (they're misinformed)," Jett said. "They should expect something they're not used to seeing. Then again, I'm not looking to insult people. I want them to have a good time. Definitely by being a woman in rock, just by the nature of that, it's political in its own sense. I don't have to do much more than be myself."
Jett doesn't shy away from controversial material on "SINNER," her critically acclaimed album released last year. Consider her originals "Fetish" and "Naked," plus a cover of the Replacements' "Androgynous" and a cover of Sweet's "A.C.D.C."
Too many people are posers, Jett said.
"So many things these days are a pose or a little fashion," she said. "Rock 'n' roll is part of fashion. It's your essence, too. I've always pushed the edge a little bit by the way I've dressed (studs-and-leather). By the very nature of what I do, playing guitar and being a woman, I am not acting at all."
A trend-setter popular among punkers and indie rockers, Jett is also a barrier-breaker. She's crossed over into the mainstream well enough to gain nine Top 40 hit singles, including the No. 1 smash "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" in 1982, plus eight gold and platinum albums.
Apparently Jett speaks to the underdogs who love various musical styles. She notes that when she helped form the all-girl band the RUNAWAYS in 1975, their music was considered straight-ahead rock 'n' roll. The term "punk rock" hadn't even been coined yet.
Music journalist Dave Marsh once described Jett as the "female Chuck Berry."
"It's very humbling," Jett said. "I've known Dave Marsh for a long time, from the RUNAWAYS days. He was always a writer who was very well-respected. To say something like that, it's a most high compliment.
"I've had the pleasure of meeting Chuck Berry, and I've played with Chuck Berry. That's quite an amazing thing, too. I'm totally honored to be called that. I'm not sure people agree with him."
While some musical figures grow tired of churning out their hits, performance after performance, Jett said she made her peace long ago with playing "I Love Rock 'n' Roll."
"Having to make that decision, resenting the bigness of 'Rock 'n' Roll,' a song that the audience enjoys so much, makes me crazy," she said. "I'm glad I'm attached to it."
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