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JOAN JETT and rock 'n' roll music
from: portlavacawave.com
by Melony Overton
"Ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb."
The moment I heard JOAN JETT sing those lyrics at the Concrete Street Amphitheater recently in Corpus Christi, I knew I had made the right choice to see one of my childhood idols in concert.
Jett, 55, and her band since the 1980s, the Heartbreakers, played her hits like "Cherry Bomb" from her days in the all-girl group The RUNAWAYS from the 1970s to her Top 40 tunes made during a career that has spanned almost 40 years.
I found out about the concert by chance after stopping at a convenience store on the way to Galveston. In the window was a poster for a biker fest in Corpus Christi. And in the top left hand corner of the poster was a picture of my childhood rock idol JOAN JETT.
I jumped up and down with excitement in the store parking lot.
I have followed Jett's career since I was 10 years old, when her hit single "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" made it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982. I remember buying the 45 single on vinyl at Walmart. Little did I know at the time that she was already a rock star seven years prior with The RUNAWAYS, a band then teenage Jett started with drummer Sandy West when they lived in Los Angeles, Calif.
Jackie Fox, Lita Ford and Cherie Currie completed The RUNAWAYS lineup.
As a kid, I also did not know how many times Jett was rejected by 23 major record labels after The RUNAWAYS broke up. Not deterred by the labels' disinterest in giving her a recording contract, Jett started her own label, BLACKHEART RECORDS in 1980, and stood at the forefront of the independent label movement.
I always admired Jett's androgynous style - trademark black hair, heavy eyeliner, leather jacket, stud cuffs, cut off T-shirts, blue jeans and Converse, all classically punk, but somehow she made it her own - her independent streak, her ability to shred on a guitar like a guy and her no-nonsense, let's-get-down-to-business-attitude.
Apparently, she is still a fan of the tight jumpsuit, which she revealed after losing her leather jacket two songs into the set.
I sat on the sidewalk at the amphitheater, eating a chopped beef sandwich, watching tattooed biker men and women dressed in leather as they walked by, and thought we have something in common - we really dig JOAN JETT. I also thought I needed to buy a concert T-shirt to complete my experience.
What struck me the most about Jett when I saw her live was her consummate professionalism on stage, and the way she eased into her punk rock anthem "Bad Reputation" and her catchy love song "Crimson and Clover." The hits did not stop for two hours. "Do You Want to Touch Me," "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and songs from her new album followed.
She had the crowd singing, including me, "Crimson and clover, over and over" and, "I love rock 'n' roll. Put another dime in the jukebox, baby."
I wanted to hear her cover of The Stooge's "I Wanna Be Your Dog," but alas it was not meant to be. She came back for an encore, and sang two more songs.
Her staying power in a time when true rock music is hard to find amazes me. She carved a niche as a female in a male-dominated genre armed with only a guitar and an angry fist full of simple, honest, catchy lyrics.
All I can say is, I love rock 'n' roll, JOAN JETT's songs have touched me and I do not hate myself for loving her music.
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