![]() ![]() I enjoyed learning and I wanted my education, and I wanted to do it the right way. Then I took my GED and got out of there to play with The Runaways. People used to howl "Diamond Dogs" at me and laugh and point. I wasn't in one place too long, so I was always the new kid. My family moved around a lot when I was a kid. I was 16 when I started playing music in The Runaways. JJ: Well, we were still in school initially. I went from bell-bottoms and glittery platforms to black platforms and black jumpsuits.ĭid people comment on that change in your look? ![]() The first time The Runaways went to England, I went over there dressed all glammy and came back with the punk influence, which was apparent in the way I dressed. There wasn't any overlap in my personal experience one died and the other came up. Virtually everybody started hearing about The Ramones at the same time, the perfect time. The punk scene started around the same time, at least socially.ĭid the two social circles interact? Was there overlap between the punk and glam scenes? I guess that was my base, where I took all my guitar playing from, initially. All of that was very intriguing and very influential to me. The boys and girls all had a lot of makeup on. They played '70s glittery English disco, like David Bowie, T. It was a teenage disco - no one too old could be there, and they didn't serve booze or anything. I started going to a club that I read about in Creem magazine called Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco. I thought, There must be other girls besides me that want to learn how to play rock 'n' roll. I lived in Maryland at the time, and then my family moved to California. I took that and my 45s, sat with the record player, and learned how to play the songs. I bought a "learn how to play guitar by yourself" book. I thought that he was looking at me kind of askew because I was a girl with an electric guitar, so I took just that one lesson and quit after that. My first guitar teacher tried to teach me "On Top of Old Smokey," something basic, so I could learn the guitar, but I didn't like that. They got me one! I sat there all Christmas morning making a lot of loud horrible noise.īeing young, I didn't realize I had to learn the ABC's of guitar. I mentioned to my parents that I wanted an electric guitar for Christmas. I wanted to be an actor, an astrologer, an astronaut a lot of different things were going through my mind. ![]() I would latch onto them I just wanted to make those sounds.īut I also wanted to be a lot of different things. A rock song like Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" would play right next to a Stevie Wonder song or a Michael Jackson song. I was inspired by lot of the records I was hearing on the radio. When was the first time in your life you decided you wanted to be a musician, and what inspired you to do that? And if you think she intends to slow down even a little as she continues her decades-long reign of shreddage, well, you might want to listen a little more closely - as if she'd give you any other choice. Though you may know some of her history with The Runaways thanks to the eponymous 2010 movie about the band starring Kristen Stewart, Jett's career has largely hinged on her iconic work as the frontwoman of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, with whom she has released an extensive and robust catalog of work, beginning with "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "Crimson and Clover," and now, her exhilarating new album. And I was only too happy to clam up for a while - when you're speaking with a music legend with 17 albums under her belt (the first of which was recorded with the seminal group The Runaways when she was only a teenager), you'd better be listening up, and listening good. 1, she was so erudite, focused, and passionate about her art that I barely got a word in edgewise. When I spoke with her on the phone about her forthcoming album, Unvarnished, which will be released on her label Blackheart on Oct. How does a person stay motivated and excited about her work after nearly 40 years of playing music? Just ask Joan Jett - she's got a lot to say on the topic, and she's gonna make sure you hear it. ![]()
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