September 2011 News

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by CHRIS TALBOTT Ñ AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK Ñ Long ago, JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS professed their love for rock 'n' roll. It's time to see if the feeling runs both ways.

The iconic rock act is on the list of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for the 2012 class released Tuesday. Women who rock feature prominently among first-time nominees. Joining Jett, whose "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" remains a classic rock standard 30 years after its release, are sister act Heart and Rufus with Chaka Khan.

They're joined by Guns 'N Roses, hip-hop pioneers Eric B. & Rakim, glum glam Goths The Cure and The Small Faces/The Faces, which includes Rod Stewart. Bluesman Freddie King and The Spinners are also first-time nominees on the ballot for the hall's 2012 class.

Previous nominees up again include The Beastie Boys, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Donna Summer, Laura Nyro, Donovan and War and its an eclectic group, running from lush British folk to classic early beats and bone-crushing power rock.

An act must have released its first single or album 25 years ago to qualify for induction. More than 500 voters will determine who makes the hall. New members will be inducted at a ceremony at the hall of fame in Cleveland on April 14.

Guns 'N Roses is the headliner of the first-timers group. The L.A. bad boys were easily the largest hard rock act of the 1980s and early '90s, featuring siren-voiced lead singer Axl Rose and Slash playing muscled riffs on lead guitar. GnR's "Appetite for Destruction" was a game-changing album and they went on to sell more than 100 million albums. Their iconic hits like "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" remain a radio staple.

Photography Mark Abrahams, Text Christopher Bartley

Rock hero JOAN JETT and teen-pop queen Miley Cyrus couldn't be more differentÑor more alike. While their musical styles diverge greatly, their personal histories mirror one another's desire to shed skins, break barriers, and transform. When Jett set out to rock hard in the mid '70s, she and the RUNAWAYS were on their own. No women before them had so unapologetically embraced a lifestyle of late nights, stiff drinks, and carefree sex, and surely none had sung quite so loudly about it. Decades later, a young Cyrus auditioned for Hannah Montana with Jett's hit "I Love Rock N Roll," landing the role that made her a star. Later still, when Cyrus sought to escape her saccharine Disney image, she found inspiration in Jett's raw, honest lyrics and rulebreaking attitude. When the two finally met on Oprah this past April and duetted "Bad Reputation," their unlikely friendship was founded. Jett and Cyrus recently spoke about playing by one's own rules and living life at level 10.

MILEY CYRUS People see me as this perfect Disney star, and the moment I put out a record that says, "I'm not 11-years-old anymore," people look down on me. That's why I've always looked up to you. When you came out, people were shocked that there was a chick who wanted to rock as hard as the guys.
JOAN JETT I find it really fascinating why the RUNAWAYS and I took so much shit in the beginning. We sang about what we knew: going out, hanging out, partying, falling in love, and learning about sex. And we weroprae lambasted for it! How dare girls think about sex? Now it's all anybody in the top ten sings about.

MC I guess women can sing a lot more freely now, but it's also about who can push the limits the most. As much as times have changed, people still look down on women who stand for something. Sometimes I'm listening to the radio, and I'm like, Who the hell is this? It sounds like the last thing I heard.
JJ The fans are willing to give artists a shot at experimentation, it's more the industry that won't allow it. In my day it was, "We won't play two women in a row," no matter what kind of music it was.

MC There has been nothing I've ever heard you say that I didn't believe. You were always very genuine. I always connected to that. We all have that commercial song that everyone loves, but every song on the album shouldn't be only about that. I can listen to your albums and feel like I know you, or like I've met you.
JJ I think the trick is making sure you're always making the music not only for yourself, but for the fans. Hopefully, Miley, you've learned that from me.

MC More than that, also knowing how to treat people. I always get nervous to meet somebody who I look up to because you're like, "Shit, what if they're not as cool in person, what if they're not really what they sing about?" I think the reason I love you even more now that we've met is that everything you sing about in your songs is who you really are. You see it in the way an artist treats people when they're not on stage.
JJ Thank you. I have to thank the parents for that. It is important how you treat people. If you have an interaction with a fan, whether it's from the stage and it's the meeting of the eyes or a smile, or if you meet someone and shake hands and sign an autograph, those are moments that they remember forever. If you're nice and you're kind and you're caringÑoh my God, that's never going to be forgotten! But if you're a bitch and you have better things to do, they remember that too. That's not how I want to be remembered, because it's not who I am.

MC I was just another fan of yours when we met. Listening to your albums can help a person through a little bit of everything.
JJ I was watching your dad on TV. He was doing an interview and talking about you and your family and your career. You'd been in the press a lot lately, and I was thinking to myself about my own life and how difficult it must be to live your life as a teenager with the paparazzi and the amount of press you're surrounded by. I thought to myself, Wow, it was kind of a blessing that we didn't have that stuff when I was growing up in the RUNAWAYS, because I just don't know how I would have dealt with it.

JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS on Thursday, September 15th at the 2011 Spokane County Interstate Fair

I was beside myself to see JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS! I have always looked up to JOAN JETT for being a female punk rocker and her set tonight put me on Cloud 9. JOAN JETT dedicated tonight's set for her mother because tonight she would have been 80 years old. I thought that was very sweet. I heard every song I wanted to hear including a cover that surprised the hell out of me!

I bopped my head along to every song with my friend Dawn and JOAN JETT's youngest fan, Dawn's son Riley; at the age of four 4 he was just dying to hear "I Love Rock N Roll." Opening with "Bad Reputation," the night rolled from one song to the next including "Cherry Bomb," "Light of Day," "Do You Want To Touch Me," "Go Home," "You Drive Me Wild," "Backlash," "The French Song," "I Love Playin' With Fire," "Naked," "Fake Friends," "I Love Rock N Roll," "Crimson and Clover," "Hate Myself for Loving You," "A.C.D.C.," "Everyday People," and a few more. Plus the cover that knocked my socks off my feet... "I Wanna Be Your Dog," by Igggy & the Stooges; that was so unexpected and incredible! It was also really cool that JOAN JETT treated us to some RUNAWAYS songs, especially "Cherry Bomb."

JOAN JETT is in her early 50's and she is still in great shape, can sing, rock the guitar, and put on a killer show Ð I mean really how is she not the Queen of Rock N Roll?! I am still excited to talk about the concert days later... it was a really fun night. Plus now Riley just loves "Bad Reputation," partially because it's in Shrek...but hey he is only four years old!

by Lauren McCutcheon

SHE (STILL) DON'T give a damn 'bout her bad reputation, but looks like celebrated '80s guitar goddess JOAN JETT will always love rock 'n' roll - even when she turns 53 this Thursday. Jett, a/k/a Joan Marie Larkin, spent her first nine years on the Main Line. (Wonder what her hair looked like then, and whether leather pants came in her size?) Now a New Yorker, she remains America's rebellion-streaked everywoman, with no plans to quit stomping stages. What do the planets plan for punk's godmother? Risk and reward, hustle and bustle, professional gains, financial bliss, crimson, clover.

Tomorrow, Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky saves 23. Wednesday, Phils sometime-closer Antonio Bastardo strikes out 26, and classic WOGL-FM DJ and one-time "Dancin' on Air" and "Dance Party U.S.A." host Christy Springfield discos 53. Thursday, Norristown's own Tommy Lasorda dodges 85 - and turns 84. Sunday, Flyer Matt Carle defends 27, and little-known West Philly native Will Smith will reach a fresh and princely 43. What do you think Marc Anthony is giving him for his b-day?

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20110919_Philly_birthday_gal__Joan_Jett.html#ixzz1YR9U6V28
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by ERIN McCRACKEN, Photo by Jason Plotkin

York, PA - JOAN JETT's reputation preceded her Tuesday at the York Fair. Fans gathered to gossip about her hours before she hit the grandstand stage with the BLACKHEARTS.

Jett's tough-girl image and raspy voice captured Springfield Township resident Anna Farr's attention.

"She's a strong woman who I idolize," Jessika Muller said, pinching a cigarette smeared with red lipstick between her fingers. "She shreds and sings." Muller and her twin sister, Joanna Miller, donned matching Jett T-shirts and drove three hours to the fair to celebrate their 32nd birthdays a few days early.

Kimmi Barnhill of Rockville, Md., was inspired by Jett's career. Born Joan Marie Larkin in a Philadelphia suburb, Jett formed The RUNAWAYS as a teen and hasn't stopped rocking.

All-female bands are still rare, so Barnhill sported RUNAWAYS' lyrics on her arm to show solidarity.

by Jaan Uhelszki, Contributor

oan Jett, former Runaway, leather-clad style icon, and Queen of Noise for all time has proven that her domain extends much further than the CD player. Not only has the feisty singer appeared on the silver screen and toured army bases in the Balkans during the skirmish in the former Yugoslavia at her own expense. She has also traveled to India, reads weighty texts like Conversations With God, and not only recorded with Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, but produced the first Germs album, the fierce punk band that launched Pat Smear and Darby Crash on an unsuspecting world.

She tells The Morton Report what exactly is so threatening about a girl with a guitar, talks about her feuds with Rush and Molly Hatchet, whether she deserves her "Bad Reputation," and whether or not sheÕs "JOAN JETT" all the time.

You're the first female rocker to succeed in traditionally male territory. How have you managed while others have given up? What has kept you going?
I think maybe the belief that it still mattered, in some way -- that rock and roll could change your life. Not making it more than it is, but a song can just hit you at a certain time in life. Or it could be a TV show, it could be a movie, something that just struck you and gave you courage and energy to continue following your dream. I just always thought rock and roll stood for something. What, I'm not quite sure! Anymore, anyway. But a certain integrity, I suppose, just being true to your own self, and that it allows you enough freedom that someone can be who they are and be completely different than who I am when I'm being me. And enough room for everyone to be who they are.