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Rocker JOAN JETT: black to basics
from: couriermail.com.au
by Sally Browne
Her fans loved her, feminists hated her, but JOAN JETT has never had to answer to anyone but herself. As she gears up to play Brisbane's Sunset Sounds festival with her band, the BLACKHEARTS, we asked the guitar heroine why she loves rock'n'roll.
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO PICK UP A GUITAR IN THE FIRST PLACE?
Something about the sounds. I'd hear records on the radio, songs like Alice Cooper's hits, Led Zeppelin, All Right Now by the Free, Bang a Gong by T-Rex. Hearing songs like that, I wanted to make those noises.
HOW DID YOU GET YOUR FIRST GUITAR?
I asked my parents for one and they bought it for me. They always told me as a little girl that I could be anything I wanted.
TELL US ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS OF YOUR BAND, THE RUNAWAYS.
My family moved to California and I thought, 'Wow, I can really make this happen. I'm close to Hollywood, there's gotta be other girls like me who wanna play rock'n'roll in LA'. And I was hanging out in this club called Rodney's English Disco, which I'd read about in a magazine. They played glitter music, that the kids in America had never heard, stuff like the Sweet and Suzi Quatro and David Bowie and T-Rex and Slade and Gary Glitter. That was the music I was gravitating to when I met (manager) Kim Fowley and Sandy West, who eventually became the RUNAWAYS drummer.
HOW WAS IT SEEING YOUR LIFE ON SCREEN IN THE FILM, THE RUNAWAYS?
It's really surreal. It wasn't bad; it was a good experience, but it was really weird to look up on the screen and do a double take at Kristen (Stewart) as me. I think all the actresses did amazing jobs at presenting us. I can't say enough about that.
WHAT DID YOU AND STEWART TALK ABOUT?
I did tell Kristen things that I wouldn't tell anybody else. That was just back story, RUNAWAYS stuff, or my feelings about something just to give her a sense of who I was beyond this JOAN JETT person. Who was Joan? To try to give her a sense of where I was coming from. Why I was so strident. Why it was so important tome.
WHY WAS IT SO IMPORTANT TO YOU?
Because I wanted to (play guitar) and people said you couldn't and that kind of thing was an absolutely illogical statement. It would drive me crazy. It was like, what do you mean I can't play rock'n'roll? I'm in school with girls who are playing cello and violin and Beethoven and Bach; what do you mean girls can't play rock'n'roll? Do you mean they can't master the instrument? No. What you mean is socially they're not allowed to play rock'n'roll because the "roll" in rock'n' roll means sexuality. And if there's a girl on stage playing rock'n'roll, she's owning her sexuality, the same way that Mick Jagger does or Robert Plant does when they're on stage.
DO YOU STILL SEE YOUR RUNAWAYS FRIENDS?
I stayed in touch with Sandy through the years and reconnected with Cherie (Currie, RUNAWAYS' lead singer) in the early 1990s. Sandy West unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago of lung cancer. It was devastating and really sad that she couldn't be around to see this movie made. She would be really proud of it.
DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A FEMINIST?
That's an interesting question. I guess I would, but it depends on the definition. I thought what we were doing in the RUNAWAYS was very feminist. But the feminists hated us for using our sexuality. We were flaunting it. They thought we were playing right into the men's hands. And it's like, hey, wait a minute. We're sexual. We want to be doing this. Nobody's making us do this. We're expressing ourselves. This is what girls feel. Don't belittle and disrespect teenage girls. They feel it. Look around you.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR LEGACY TO BE?
That is a tough question. I have a real tough time complimenting myself and saying that's what my legacy would be. I would say that "she worked hard".
JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS play the Sunset Sounds festival at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens on Thursday.
Tickets: www.sunsetsounds.com.au
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