|
All news is attributed to the source from which it was received so that readers may judge the validity of the statements for themselves.
Have Joan Jett news to report? Email us at jettfc@aol.com, and please include the source of the information so it can be validated.
Exclusive Sneak Preview: Upcoming bio book will offer a close-up look at rocker JOAN JETT
from: examiner.com
by Phyllis Pollack
"Now, even to this day all these years later a girl with a guitar, a girl owning it, is very threatening. They always want you to tone it down." ---JOAN JETT
JOAN JETT (nee Joan Marie Larkin), rhythm guitarist of the mid to late Seventies all teenage girl rock band, The RUNAWAYS, evolved into becoming the first woman to start her own independent rock record label, BLACKHEART RECORDS. Named for her band JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS, she has also recently had her first signature guitar issued, the Gibson JOAN JETT Blackheart Melody Maker. In tribute to the iconic multi-million record selling recording artist, designer Todd Oldham has conceived and authored the book that serves as a portrait of Jett's life as a public persona and a rock and roll performer. Titled JOAN JETT, the book will be published by AMMO Books, LLC, and will be released in April 2010.
In addition to JOAN JETT, AMMO Books released the award-winning Gonzo by Hunter S. Thompson and Johnny Depp.
Plentiful when it comes to visual allure, JOAN JETT was authored by Todd Oldham, whose studio is a full-service design firm. Having started out as a New York clothing designer and the host of MTV's House of Style, his career has expanded into other areas that include graphic art and production design. Oldham has authored other books, including Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life.
The hardback book is extremely dense with full-page color and black and white photographs of Jett, which are primarily posed, although some are candid. Images included in the book include shots from her childhood, and range through her four years in The RUNAWAYS, although most of the photos of Jett in the book represent her as a solo artist.
The book reveals little, if nothing that is intimate about Jett or her private life. Rather, it reads like a beautiful, heart-felt love letter to her female fans, many of whom Jett is keenly aware have faced many of the obstacles that she did in becoming a respected as a performer. Jett is quoted in the book as saying , "In a lot of instances, someone will say that The RUNAWAYS motivated them to pick up a guitar. It is pretty damn humbling to be put in that position. It's not something you take lightly. It's very touching to be a role model; it is an intense compliment."
To this she adds, "I have been very lucky to meet a lot of women in bands who have been motivated by myself or The RUNAWAYS or both. I tend to be a big fan of theirs. I don't know what that says."
Despite the band's lyrics and image, in the book, Jett maintains that when she was in The RUNAWAYS, "I was not rebelling against school. It was more about society and what they allow. You're given two messages. You're saying girls can be anything, then they give girls sh** when they do something outside the box." Jett comments, "When a girl dresses differently than you expect a girl to dress, if she doesn't have a dress on with her long hair parted in the middle and big tits and high heelsÉyou know, I'm not cutting it down it all. It's just that that's one uniform, and I have my uniform." She comments, "I've been doing this since I was 15. And I've been dressing the same way, you know?"
The end result, according to Joan, is "The tough image was put upon me. I don't think I'll ever shake it."
She says The RUNAWAYS' audience was "99 percent male." She consistently describes the press the band received at the time as "really hostile." Jett gives examples of countless sexist questions she received from male journalists that include, "Do you feel like a man or a woman when you're on stage?"
Jett says she has never wanted to play lead guitar, that she only had a desire to learn how to play rhythm, and that her muses were Keith Richards and Chuck Berry.
The section of the book dealing with The RUNAWAYS comprises a third or less of the book. The tome primarily centers on Jett. There are many photos of The RUNAWAYS included. However, an image of the infamous corset that became an unfortunate focal point to many people in regards to the band, is absent from the book. In the book, Jett states, "We talked a lot about strategies and stuff like that, but it was really about the music. It wasn't about this sexual element. Most of the time people focused so much on Cherie's corset. I mean that was for one song, "Cherry Bomb." And for the rest of the show, she was either in a jumpsuit or jeans and a T-shirt." Jett insists, "It wasn't about showing skin a lot, it was about the music."
While Jett does address the band's sexuality its performances, in the book, she offers a somewhat different attitude towards it than her character, played by Kristen Stewart approaches in the film The RUNAWAYS. While the film depicts Jett being angry at Currie, and not being pleased with her corset or its appearances in music magazines, in the book, Jett offers, "But girls have to be allowed to be sexual, too, because they are. And it's wrong to say they can't be, and that they can't own it. I thought, certainly in the liberal rock and roll world, it's not gonna be a problem. But it was a big problem. And I always ran into it. It was constant and still is."
In the book, Jett maintains that Kim Fowley, the eccentric record producer, most known for his stint with The RUNAWAYS, let the girls do pretty much whatever they wanted, and that he ordered no dictates, nor did they take any from him. In her commentary, Jett contemplates, "But as I reflect on it, obviously he was trying to use the fact that we were girls and were, too, to a certain extend. We wanted to shock people because we knew it was going to blow minds to see teenage girls play sweaty, hard serious rock and roll. And it did."
It would be director and choreographer Kenny Ortega, most known for his iconic work with the film This Is It, documenting rehearsal footage of what would have been Michael Jackson's final tour, who came on board to help The RUNAWAYS in 1976 with their stage show.
In the book, Jett asks, "Where are all the girls with guitar playing rock and roll? They're out there. They're in every city; they exist." Jett elaborates, "With technology now, a struggling band can build a website, get a MySpace page or whatever, and get a lot more people to hear their music than what The RUNAWAYS were able to do initially" She acknowledges that today's music business operates far differently than it did in the Seventies and Eighties. "I think today, you do have to get a lot more people to hear their music than what The RUNAWAYS were able to do initially."
Commentary in the book includes noting her idyllic, supportive family life. She also makes a point of giving much credit to her longtime manager and songwriting collaborator KENNY LAGUNA, to whom she was introduced to by her former manager Toby Maimis. By the time she met Laguna, he was already a firmly established music producer and songwriter, who had credits with successful acts like Tommy James & The Shondells, of "Crimson And Clover" fame. Laguna would take Jett to England, where she recorded her first album. Ultimately, he both aided and supported her move into her solo career, and throughout it.
Jett had previously spent time in the UK, and had recorded some tracks with the Sex Pistols, two of which would end up appearing on her Bad Reputation album. Laguna later purchased back the original Sex Pistols track of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" from the Dutch Mercury Records honchos for $2,300.00. For contractual reasons, to sell the record in The States, the disc had to be independently pressed, and the record's cover needed to have the product labeled as an import.
Jett describes the reaction she got from record companies quite succinctly, by saying, "No. They were completely opposed to signing me."
23 record companies turned down signing either her, or distributing her album, despite the fact she was selling out her concerts. At this juncture, Jett started her own label. It would end up for the best, especially financially, because Jett would own her music.
Laguna, who is heavily quoted in the book, explains he told Jett he would help finance her first album and help her get a record deal if he could produce her next one. Laguna and Jett would eventually start a company, with Joan as a partner. Lucky for Jett, Laguna had access to studio time at The Who's recording studio in England. Says Laguna, "They didn't care if I paid the bill or not, pretty much because I had this arrangement with them."
When Bad Reputation was released, one of Laguna's friends, music business impresario Neil Bogart, started a new label, Boardwalk Records, and entered into a joint venture with them. Bogart's wife Joyce managed artists Kiss and Donna Summer. Jett had a fantastic team to with which to work. Still, Laguna credits Jett for her success, saying, "She sure made me look smart."
The book includes a visual timeline on her career, and an introduction to the book, written by Kathleen Hanna of the punk band Bikini Kill.
There are many more stories in this book that reveal more about Joan's career than anything about her personal life. The book is a tribute that focus' on Jett's image and accomplishments in her career, rather than on any details related to her private life, which in this case would be irrelevant. It works out in the end, because Oldham's book JOAN JETT gets the point across: "You have to have the strength to believe in yourself."
|
| |
This Week:
No shows scheduled this week.
Click on the LIVE DATES link for upcoming shows |
Item Of The Month:
|
