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JOAN JETT still sets own rules
from: couriermail.com.au
by Sam Kelton
THEY say it's a man's world. But it's never been that way for JOAN JETT.
After forming her first band with close friend Sandy West in 1975, Jett and The RUNAWAYS would go on to break all the rules of rock 'n' roll.
In just four years The RUNAWAYS showed the world that teenage girls could rule the live stage, becoming the seminal all-girl rock group.
Parting ways with her bandmates wasn't an easy decision for Jett, who would go on to release a dozen albums herself and top the charts around the world. But this year, the singer/guitarist was given the chance to relive her teenage years all over again with the release of the film The RUNAWAYS, in which Twilight star Kristen Stewart played Jett.
Those years defined the woman that Jett is today.
"It's been interesting to relive it all," says Jett.
"It's something that I was very proud of then and I still am. I'm just glad that it's getting the attention and it brings the music back and the story - we lived that.
"The good and the bad - I had an amazing experience in The RUNAWAYS."
The film was a success with critics - even Jett approved of Stewart's performance.
"She's a fantastic girl," Jett says.
But more importantly, she believes the film is inspiring a new crop of girls to break the mould.
"It's great to have that exposure. The young girls are getting excited about the prospect of doing something like forming an all-girl band and are applying it to their own lives."
Jett was a producer on the film, so had to be open to revealing some secrets. It touches on sexual relationships had by the band, particularly between frontwoman Cherie Currie (played by Dakota Fanning) and Jett, which Jett feels got in the way of telling the real story of her teenage years.
"It's titillating," she says. "Whatever though, it was the '70s and it was a crazy time. It was crazy in the '80s and the '90s and even now, so it wasn't like we were doing anything people hadn't been doing forever. I feel it just got in the way of telling the story of the band and the barriers we broke down and the bands we played with.
"It's there and I'm not embarrassed by it."
She adds that she's glad the exploits covered by the film happened in the '70s, before cable news, the internet and paparazzi took over.
"The extra-curricular activities stuff - I can just say thank God we didn't have 24-7 media at that time because I'm not sure The RUNAWAYS could have happened.
"People are now constantly watched; we weren't being watched so that's why we could do what we did.
"For rock 'n' roll you can't adjust for the press, you have to be yourself and hope it connects with the people.
"It wasn't all smooth but a lot of people like to make things out that there was some animosity and imply that it was a little too crazy - it was a rock 'n' roll band and all of those things go with that."
If there is any justice in the movie world, a sequel would follow Jett into her solo career - which almost didn't happen. Her first album was rejected by more than 20 record labels.
"You've got to remember the time period," she says. "Girls didn't look like me at all. You never saw a black hair shag or a girl in leather and people were freaked out by it and didn't want to have anything to do with me.
"In the letters (from the labels) you can see that: 'Tell her to lose the guitar' or 'She needs an image change'. It was very frustrating.
"But worse was that the songs they heard were Bad Reputation, I Love Rock and Roll, Crimson and Clover and Do you Want to Touch Me - four songs that were hits. Either they didn't listen to the tapes or they just decided 'I don't want to deal with this artist' and blew me off. So, whatever."
Some of those songs eventually wound up on the 1981 album I Love Rock and Roll, which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
"I guess I had the last laugh or something like that."
Jett is heading to Australia to play the New Year's Eve festival circuit.
"There's no big explosions or anything, it's just straight up rock 'n' roll show with lots of sweat," she says.
She is now backed by her band The BLACKHEARTS, and despite years of on-and-off discussions about a RUNAWAYS reunion, it would appear the movie is the closest fans will get.
"Part of the thing was that we were teenagers - you can't really be 20-year-old RUNAWAYS again," Jett says. "I thought people would take a shot at us like 'middle-aged women trying to recapture their youth' and I'd just get in fights with people about it - particularly the press.
"So it just never happened. Then Sandy West (drummer) passed away a few years ago so I think that ended the prospect of a RUNAWAYS reunion.
"We'll just leave it as it was. It was an amazing time in our youth and one of the best times of my life."
SEE JOAN JETT, Sunset Sounds, Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Jan 5-6, $164.60/$244.60, Ticketmaster.
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