Although my expectations for the movie are just sort of lukewarm- I'm sure they're going to water it down a bit- I am excited to see a movie with some teen girls who rock - and also staring some teen girls who can act. I've really liked Kristen Stewart since Panic Room and I think its awesome that Dakota Fanning is coming into her more adult self with an awesome role like Cherie Currie. Also up and comers Alia Shawkat and Scout Taylor Compton have been pretty awesome so far so I'm glad they're getting some good parts.
The Runaways were sort of like the girl punk/pop version of the Modern Lovers in the way that almost everyone went on to have a killer career after the band.
There was Lita Ford the lead guitarist.
Then Lita went on to become the Godmother Of Metal. My favorite Goth Metal bar Lucky 13 has tons of Lita photos on the wall.
Of course there was also Cherie Currie, The Runaway's lead singer at 15!
Cherie went on to have a pretty cool acting career in Foxes, Parasite, Twilight Zone the movie, and This Is Spinal Tap. She also put out a solo album and an album with her twin sister.
These days she enjoys making wood sculptures with her chainsaw.
The Runaways also had a rotating bassist position that was filled with all sorts of gals, such as Mickie Steele who went on to be in The Bangles and Jackie Fox who went on to Harvard to become a lawyer.
But honestly, my heart has always belonged to Joan Jett
When I was a depressed teenager I hit a point where I'd completely given up on feeling good. Life involved the saddest of indie music and trying to sleep as much as possible so I wouldn't think about my shitty boyfriend and why he'd dumped me. Then I discovered Joan Jett and AC/DC and it was like having a total breakthrough. I believe Oprah refers to this as "your ah-ha moment". Anyhow, I realized that I didn't have to listen to sad music, and I didn't have to save the lost cause of a boyfriend. I'd always known about Joan Jett but hadn't ever considered it a thing to listen to on your own. I'd put on the Joan Jett and try on tight black jeans and practice what my "look" was going to be for college. It's totally embarrassing to think about that phase now, but having some bad-ass music and college to look forward to was the only thing that got me through those last few months of living at home. That summer I used to tape over old audio tapes by putting tape over this little indent on the top - so I could listen to them in my car. Anyhow, I ended up taping over my mom's autographed Livingston Taylor tape with the best of Joan Jett. This consequently got my cd player and all my music taken away until I could find her a new version. In a roundabout way it lead to her finding out that I'd been smoking pot and drunk driving so the car was taken away. I was working at a music store that summer and found her a copy of The Best of Livingston Taylor, the best I could do. However when I think back on that crappy summer, I think about the video to I Love Rock and Roll. Joan is singing about a 17 year old boy standing by the record machine and how she knows she's gonna make him hers. It felt really cool to have a song about a girl checking out a 17 year old guy. It felt like there was going to be some place for me that had cute guys my age who were into good music - but more importantly it felt like I could just do Joan's swagger and call the shots all on my own.
Joan Jett continues to rock even today.
Did you guys know she produced this Bikini Kill song Rebel Girl. You can totally tell. More proof that Joan Jett will continue to influence generations of future musicians.
I hope The Runaways movie is cool. Cause when you watch this video below you can just tell how bad girls probably wanted to be just like them. I don't think I'll ever stop wanting to be like them.
No comments:
Post a Comment