June 2009 News

You know that raspy voice. You know that tiny figure, dressed in bad-girl black. You know that flawless face with the heavy eyeliner. You know that black hair. You know that big-guitar sound punching out the three-chord rock 'n' roll. Of course you know all that: JOAN JETT is an institution. And as with all institutions, it's easy to take Jett for granted. She hasn't had a major hit since "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" in 1981, and neither her look nor her sound has changed much since then Ñ give or take a song or haircut (or two).

It seems a new generation will be discovering Jett soon. Kristen Stewart, of the Twilight movies, will play Jett in a forthcoming movie about the RUNAWAYS, the all-female band Jett founded when she was just 15. (A documentary called Edgeplay: A Film about the RUNAWAYS came out in 2004. Jett has, in her characteristically polite and professional manner, denounced it.) The gossip blogs went nuts when Stewart was photographed sporting her version of Jett's famous mullet. The movie isn't set for release until next year, but already fashion magazine Nylon has hyped it by publishing an article about how to borrow Jett's look.

I hope that this next generation of fans will learn something else from Jett. She's built a career largely on her own terms, staying true to herself and her music in a way that few rockers have. She now has her own record label, Blackheart, and is helping give a boost to young bands like Girl in a Coma. An institution? Yes, and the best kind.

JOAN JETT: Del Mar Fairgrounds, Friday, July 3, 8 p.m. 858-755-1161.

Award No. 1-5 (with 5 being best)
Song selection: 4
Crowd reaction: 4
Stage presence: 5
Sound quality: 4
Overall performance: 4
Attendance: 11,500
Number of songs 17
Opening acts:Brena, Loverboy

Quotable: "A little singin', a little dancin' - ya ready for that...is that a yes"?!!, a grinning Jett at the show's opening.

Review: Big bad JOAN JETT, looking vintage and strutting what her mama gave her, delivered a refreshing punk rock performance, courtesy of her beloved BLACKHEARTS.

Hearkening back to her teenage Runaway years, the godmother of punk gave the Summer Celebration crowd Friday what brought her thus far: Edgy attitude and a delicious mezzo-soprano vocal range that included her trademark "Ooowwww" scream, which she belted out numerous times during the night.

With all the post-Twilight buzz, movie critics are all over the news that Kristen Stewart (along with costar Dakota Fanning) has taken on a leading role in a new film, The RUNAWAYS, about iconic female rock star - and vegetarian extraordinaire - JOAN JETT.

As the executive producer, Joan has been closely involved in the making of the movie. But we know that she never lets her busy schedule interrupt her dedication to animals. While recording her most recent album, she recorded a "veggie testimonial" for PETA, and now she's found time to visit some sanctuary friends.



We're sure that a movie about this trailblazing rocker will be a hit with both animal and music lovers alike. Now, turn up "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" on your stereo and leave a comment below to let us know which other animal rights icons' lives would make for an inspiring movie.

Kristen Stewart donned an awesome outfit today on the set of The RUNAWAYS. The real JOAN JETT was present (again). So was Tatum O'Neal.

Twilight" star Kristen Stewart was spotted on the first day of filming her latest film "The RUNAWAYS" - aÊbiopic about the 1970s all-girl rock band, on Monday (June 22).

Stewart, 19, who plays lead singer JOAN JETT in the film, was seen wearing a black leather ensemble including Jett's trademarkÊjet black mulletÊand seemingly ready to put her prep time with The RUNAWAYSÊguitaristÊto good use. The "New Moon" star and Jett reportedly spentÊtime together at Sunset Sound Studio in Los Angeles last week, working onÊStewart's vocals and guitar technique.

"She sounded great and played well (on the guitar). She has the passion for it, which you can't really be taught," Jett said.

Kristen added, "I'm just listening to her music all the time. I'm trying to just make myself aware of the time period and what she was going through. It's one of the most immense responsibilities to play a real person. Her story's important. It's an incredibly triumphant feminist story really."

Kristen Stewart donned a pair of 70s-style bell bottom jeans for the first day of filming "The RUNAWAYS" in Los Angeles. Is JOAN JETT on the set to give tips on how she wants to be portrayed in the movie?

JOAN JETT still looks like she's barely out of her 20s, but she's been around, first with L.A. punk queens The RUNAWAYS and then as leader of the none-more-rock BLACKHEARTS. Jett cut a commanding figure in the '80s with a tough, gruff sound that rocked as hard as anyone's. She's best known for the hits "I Love Rock 'N Roll" and "I Hate Myself For Loving You," but her songbook runs quite a bit deeper, and her most recent album, 2006's SINNER, was surprisingly strong.

As a 4-year-old little towheaded girl, I watched the television screen with a gaping mouth, focusing on the black-haired woman yelling about loving rock 'n' roll. She was forceful, and she looked so cool. I remember how catchy the song was, but most of all, I remember that I believed her.

That was my first experience with how I would come to feel about rock 'n' roll. There's still nothing like hearing her growl through "Bad Reputation," and no matter what, I always, always come back to the likes of the original riot grrl.

JOAN JETT has affected thousands of little girls just like me in the 30-plus years she has been rocking. She began with The RUNAWAYS, the five women best known for dropping a "Cherry Bomb" on the music world, and roared her way past her teenage years into maturity with JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS. Jett made sneering over a mean guitar cool for women in rock and continues to influence musicians through her band and her successful label, BLACKHEART RECORDS, which she founded with longtime production partner, KENNY LAGUNA.

You'll have your chance to get your face rocked off June 20 when Jett headlines Jubilee!JAM in downtown Jackson. She talked to the Jackson Free Press about how it all began for her and what comes next for her famous guitar.

You joined up with The RUNAWAYS pretty young. You dropped out of high school when you were 15, and one of the things I read about you is that you went back to high school when you went to L.A.
No. And first of all, I was older: I was 16. I was in school at the beginning of The RUNAWAYS, and I couldn't (continue traditional classes). The schedule was too crazy, and I was a senior at the time, and I decided to get my GED and get my diploma equivalent and get out early so I could go do all this stuff. I never left school. I actually enjoyed school. I think it's important.

Not only has Kristen Stewart embraced the role of JOAN JETT by dying her hair black and cutting it into a mullet for her role in the upcoming film "The RUNAWAYS," now she's been spotted at a Los Angeles studio with RUNAWAYS founding member JOAN JETT.

The duo - along with Stewart's "New Moon"/ "RUNAWAYS" castmate Dakota Fanning - hit Sunset Sound studios on Monday, where they were recording for the biopic, about the seminal all-teen-female 1970s rock band of the same name. While the RUNAWAYS, founded by Jett in 1975, never achieved large-scale commercial success, they were a galvanizing force on the Los Angeles punk scene, not to mention the first widely recognized all-female teen rock group and the spawning ground for the subsequent solo careers of Jett and guitarist Lita Ford.

Stewart, who was rocking a black hoodie, straight-legged jeans and sunglasses, met up with Jett, who was in a similar outfit, but wearing a leather jacket instead of a hoodie.

This isn't the first time the two have hung out. Back in March she told MTV News that the two were already on their way to becoming fast friends. "I've been listening to [Jett's] music all the time; I spent New Year's with her," she said. "I am just trying to make myself aware of the time period and what she was going through."

Adding that the role has the "most immense responsibilities," she said the movie allows her to tell "an incredibly triumphant feminist story, really. She is an incredibly distinct personality, and so many people love and admire her, and so many people know her as just being one of the coolest people ever to live - and that, in itself, has been one of the most intimidating things that I have ever had to confront."

Covered in a gray hoodie, Kristen Stewart waits up for rocker JOAN JETT as they arrive at Sunset Sound studios in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon (June 15). Kristen and Joan were also joined by Dakota Fanning. Stella Maeve or Alessandra Torresani still havenÕt been spotted yet.

The RUNAWAYS tells the story of the 1970s teenage rock band responsible for hits songs like "Cherry Bomb" and "Born to Be Bad."

Fortunate enough to get pointers from her character, Kristen Stewart was spotted carpooling with JOAN JETT to rehearse for the upcoming film "The RUNAWAYS" on Monday (June 15).

Both sporting their jet-black hairdos, the "Twilight" actress and her rock n' roll pal hopped out of a fancy black Cadillac and headed inside the studio for the day's workload.

Meanwhile, it was announced earlier today that Miss Stewart is nominated for Choice Movie Actress: Drama at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards, while she and her "Twilight" co-stars find themselves at the top of the pack when it comes to Teen Choice Awards nominations.

The hit vampire flick is up for Choice Film: Romance, Choice Film: Drama, Choice Movie Actor: Drama, Choice Movie Actress: Drama, Choice Movie: Villain, Choice Movie: Fresh Face Female, Choice Movie: Fresh Face Male, Choice Movie: Liplock and Choice Movie: Rumble.

Kristen Stewart got a little help today, with an opportunity that most biopic roleplayers could only dream of - a day with her character JOAN JETT, in the flesh.

JOAN JETT, who Stewart is portraying in The RUNAWAYS (alongside her co-star in the film and in The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Dakota Fanning), showed up today to "carpool" with Stewart and join her in rehearsals.

Says the Gossip Girls, Fortunate enough to get pointers from her character, Kristen Stewart was spotted carpooling with JOAN JETT to rehearse for the upcoming film "The RUNAWAYS" on Monday (June 15).

Both sporting their jet-black hairdos, the "Twilight" actress and her rock n' roll pal hopped out of a fancy black Cadillac and headed inside the studio for the day's workload.

One might see these photographs and have a bit of trouble discerning who is who - the resemblance, to put it mildly, is rather uncanny, don't you think?

JOAN JETT - arguably the hardest-working woman in rock 'n' roll - talks to ELLE about her forthcoming greatest-hits record, what makes a good cover, and why the original riot grrrl still gets nervous before a gig.

ELLE: You're planning to release a JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS greatest hits record soon with possibly some new material on it. Any new covers we can look forward to?
JOAN JETT: That's hard to say. I'm not necessarily planning on it, but you never know what comes up. It's a touchy thing to do because sometimes songs are just so classic. So on the one hand, you want to cover it because you love it so much, but on the other hand, sometimes they shouldn't be touched because you just can't. It's not about copying it, it's about doing a version that you can live with.

ELLE: How do you always seem to pull it off?
JJ: Well first of all, I probably don't think about it too much. It's something I've always liked to do, so a lot of them tend to be favorite songs of mine, either when I was growing up or just things I come across. "I Love Rock N' Roll" was something I never heard before. It was a B side of an English single, and when I was on the road with the RUNAWAYS I just happened to hear it and bought a 45, thinking, Wow that's a great song; I'd love to cover it sometime. And the RUNAWAYS never did it. A lot of it has to do with the guitar I wanna play.

ELLE: You founded BLACKHEART RECORDS in 1980 and released your first solo album on it. Was that the plan all along?
JJ: No, at the time we wanted a [record] deal. Nobody wanted me. We still have all the rejection letters. And we got 23 [labels] interested, but they all were like, "You need a song search; no hits here; tell her to drop the guitar."

New Line Records will release the Original Broadway Cast Recording of the musical Rock of Ages, currently playing the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, digitally on June 2 and in stores on July 7.

Written by Chris D'Arienzo and directed by Kristin Hanggi, the musical focuses on a young rocker hungry for his big break and a small town girl who meet in 1987 at a legendary Hollywood club facing its imminent demise. The production was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

The album was recorded in New York City on April 28 and 29, and mixed and engineered by Mike Barbiero and produced by David Gibbs, executive produced by Janet Billig Rich, Hillary Weaver and Kurt Deutsch/SH-K-BOOM Records and co-produced by Ethan Popp.

The cast includes Constantine Maroulis, Amy Spanger, James Carpinello, Adam Dannheisser, Mitchell Jarvis, Michele Mais, Lauren Molina, Paul Schoeffler, Wesley Taylor, Ericka Hunter, Jeremy Jordan, Michael Minarik, Angel Reed, Bahiyah Sayyed-Gaines, Katherine Tokarz, Andre Ward, Savannah Wise, Tad Wilson, and Jeremy Woodard.

At 50 years old, JOAN JETT has proved herself to be an all-around entertainer: singer, songwriter, guitarist, actress, record label owner and icon for girls everywhere who just love to rock out.

Friday night, she and her band, The BLACKHEARTS, will bring their blend of rock, pop and punk to Tioga Downs in Nichols. Expect to hear hits such as "Crimson and Clover," "I Hate Myself for Loving You," "Bad Reputation" and, of course, "I Love Rock N' Roll."

Chances are there'll also be a few tunes from her latest CD, 2006's "SINNER."

Along with compiling a greatest hits package for later this year (which may include a couple of new songs), Jett is also executive producer for "The RUNAWAYS," a film that will chronicle Jett's teenage band during its late 1970s career. "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart has been cast to play Joan, with Dakota Fanning in negotiation to play original lead singer Cherie Curie.

Tickets for Friday's 8 p.m. show are $10 and $15 and are available at the Tioga Downs gift shop or through Ticketmaster. The racino is located at 2384 West River Road in Nichols.

Twilight star Kristen Stewart will play JOAN JETT in an upcoming movie about the 70"s all-girl rock band THE RUNAWAYS.

Florida Sigismondi is directing the movie. Florida"s credits include video clips from MARILYN MANSON ('The Beautiful People'), DAVID BOWIE ('Little Wonder') and SHERYL CROW ('Anything But Down').

The RUNAWAYS were one of the early manufactured groups. Kim Fowley who recruited Jett, Sandy West, Cherrie Currie and Lita Ford put them together.

The movie has an all-star cast with Dakota Fanning (I Am Sam, War of the Worlds) as Currie, Alessandra Torresani (ER, Malcolm In The Middle) as Ford and Stella Maeve (Law & Order) as West.

The Runways formed in 1975 and broke up in 1979. They were best known for their 1976 hit "Cherry Bomb".

Nothing's more useful than a guide to help you with your job or passion. For imaginative adventurers, there's the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For star-struck nerds, you have Britney Spears' Guide to Semiconductor Physics. And now, for gals who idolize Gibson's, there's the Girls' Guide to Rocking.

Written by SPIN and Chicago Reader music critic Jessica Hopper, the book is a femme-focused manual on how to go from zero to guitar hero. This is not a book for little Matilda who squeals into a spatula at the sight of Hannah Montana, but for girls with serious ambition. Hopper covers all the creative, practical and technical basics in detail, encouragingly challenging her readers to take that extra step. Hands too small for the bass? Don't give up, she says. Try the guitar. Name your band something original by avoiding over-used words ("wolf," "star," "crystal," and "earth" are all culprits according to Hopper, and can be found in a nifty, not-for-use glossary). Can't afford a place to jam? She gives tips to turn your bedroom into a sound-proof practice space.

Hopper also covers the basics of band promotion, like designing T-shirts, flyering and making the most of your MySpace page. For proof that her girl-powered, DIY advice is no put-on, Hopper recorded a series of homemade info-mercials publicizing the Girls' Guide as a hip, multi-use book (it can help you shave your legs! it can help you groom your cat! it can help you dive into the rock scene!) Only the latter has a written cover testimonial from the hard-edged '80s rock queen JOAN JETT.

Cherry Bomb, the upcoming biopic based on the all-girl punk band the RUNAWAYS, has filled out the cast of the film, giving the role of guitarist Lita Ford to actress Alessandra Torresani, MTV reports. Previously, New Moon's Kristen Stewart was cast as JOAN JETT and her Twilight sequel castmate Dakota Fanning will star as the band's 16-year-old singer Cherie Currie.

Actress Stella Maeve, who IMDB says appeared in a pair of Gossip Girl episodes, will play RUNAWAYS' drummer Sandy West, who passed away in 2006 following a brain tumor. While the group was primarily a quartet, the RUNAWAYS' bassist slot was pretty much a Spinal Tap-esque revolving door, with five girls filling the role over the course of 1975 to 1979.

Torresani, a child actor who's mainly been cast for television roles, said of being picked to portray Ford, "She's the most incredible woman. I'm getting to meet her very soon, so that'll be amazing. I'll get to hear all her old stories." After leaving the RUNAWAYS, the brainchild of producer Kim Fowley, Ford embarked on a successful solo career and carved a niche as something of a heavy metal sex symbol in the 1980s.

The RUNAWAYS will be written and directed by music video veteran Floria Sigismondi, who previously videos for David Bowie, Marilyn Manson ("The Beautiful People"), the White Stripes, Christina Aguilera and many more. The film is due in theatres 2010, with filming set to begin next week. "I learn the guitar starting [Monday], so that'll be interesting. I'm very nervous about it," Torresani told MTV about how much time she'll get to learn how act with her instrument.

JOAN JETT is the epitome of Cool with a capital A for Awesome. The P.i.X has contemplated biting her style with a feather cut and leather pants for some time now, and let's face it, we could never carry it off and rock out in nearly such style as she. So. What do you do? What can you do? She's the one that sang, 'I love rock n' roll, so put another dime in the jukebox, bayyyyyybe' and 'Do you wanna touch me, there, where, there, yeah'. Like hiya, amazing.

So, what we did was this. We took JOAN JETT in one hand, and in the other we took Brody Dalle, she of Distillers / Spinnerette / totally amazing, we mega love, fame, and we thought, well, why don't we get Brody to interview Joan. I mean, it really makes sense when you think about it. One totally cool, raven haired rockstress shooting the shit with another totally cool raven haired... oh you get the picture. Here it is.

BRODY DALLE: Where were you born?
JOAN JETT: I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

B.D - What sign are you? (Sorry I'm an Astrology dork)
J.J - I am a Virgo, with moon in Aquarius and Capricorn rising. Born Sept 22nd at 4pm.

B.D - What did you listen to when you were a teenage girl? How has that music punctuated your music career?
J.J - Oh god, I listened to the radio a lot, obviously, and at that time you would get a great mix of classic rock, pop, R&B. You could go from Stevie Wonder to Abba to Led Zeppelin and back again. I started buying the singles I loved, maybe Alice Cooper, "School's Out","18", all the hits, Free's "Alright Now" was a big one for me, Led Zeppelin, T Rex, New York Dolls, Black Sabbath. I still laugh, thinkin' about how my father would hear me in my room, listening over and over to breakdown in "Whole Lotta Love" where Robert Plant is groaning and sighing, come in and say very stridently, as if really trying to understand, "Joan, what the hell you listening to?" I also used to read the rock mags religiously, Circus and Cream mainly, and I read about this club in Hollywood that was for teenagers, and they played British glitter rock that American kids weren't hearing. Also, the ground was shifting in American music; disco was becoming very big around 75. My family had moved from the east coast to Los Angeles in 1973. I started going to Rodney's English Disco, which turned me onto more T. Rex, Bowie, The Sweet, Suzi Quatro, and that whole style, 3 minute guitar and hook laden songs. So it's really that combo of glitter rock and I guess what is called "classic rock" now. It's all just rock 'n' roll. I think in my own writing, I kind of synthesize those elements into my own version.

San Antonio-based trio Girl in a Coma will rock Waterloo Records (600 North Lamar) on Monday, June 1 to promote their sophomore album, Trio B.C, which is out this month.ÊWaterloo is one of the most notable record shops in America, frequented my musicians and beloved my audiophiles. Girl in a Coma play at 5pm. Check out the June Issue of ENVY Magazine for an in-depth feature of Girl in a Coma and a look at their needs-no-introduction mentor, JOAN JETT. envymags.com