Joan Jett was just seventeen-years-old when she was invited to play guitar in an all-girl punk group called The Runaways. She was not the only underage member of the group, who had been formed by manager Kim Fowley in Los Angeles after discovering an untapped area of the local music scene; girls playing rock songs like the boys. Taking their cue from the likes of Suzi Quatro, the band was fronted by the feisty Cherie Currie, while future sex symbol and rock star Lita Ford also played guitar.
Their self-titled debut album was released in the summer of 1976, with Jeff and Fowley co-writing their signature tune Cherry Bomb. Tensions immediately began to mount when Currie’s bandmates resented the fact that only their singer was featured on the front cover. The Runaways soon became more known for their outrageous image and live shows than their music. As Maria Raha said in her book Cinderella’s Big Score: Women of the Punk and Indie Underground, “Currie took the stage as a nymphet, wearing heels and lingerie, while Jett and Ford put on a good cock rock show that reflected the band’s heavy rock and glam influences.”
But The Runaways were not taken serious as songwriters or musicians, instead dismissed as a gimmick based purely around their Lolita image. Currie quit the band in 1977, with Jett taking over as the singer until the band fell apart two years later. Jett was the first to enjoy success, fronting the Blackhearts and enjoying success with the classics Bad Reputation and I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, while Ford also became a star in the late 1980s with her hits Kiss Me Deadly and Close My Eyes Forever, the latter featuring Ozzy Osbourne.
In a new article from the Los Angeles Times, Ford described what it was like to meet up with Jett for the first time in years; “It had been decades. It was weird. When I saw her, it was like seeing Joan. Same old. She looked great. We always got along.” Jett adds; “It was really great seeing her. It was great to give her a big hug. We went through so much and I think did so much, and I think we really changed things, and I think hopefully now she can see that a little bit.”
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