Blackheart Records is an American record label founded by rock musicians Joan Jett and Kenny Laguna. Artists include The Eyeliners, Girl in a Coma, the Cute Lepers, the Dollyrots, The Vacancies, and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. (More from Wikipedia)
Her first solo album, Joan Jett was released in England in May 1980; however, after shopping the album in America, she was turned down by 23 different record companies. Eventually Joan Jett founded Blackheart Records and had albums pressed herself, financed by her daughter’s college savings account. At concerts, the records were literally sold out of the trunk of producer Kenny Laguna’s car. The album was eventually picked up by Boardwalk Records and re-released under the name Bad Reputation.
Joan Jett then placed an ad in L.A. Weekly saying that she was “looking for three good men” (a play on the advertising campaign of the U. S. Marine Corps at the time). John Doe of X sat in on bass guitar during the audition sections; and he mentioned Gary Ryan, a bassist that he knew who was crashing on his couch at the time. Ryan was a long-time fan of the Runaways and was picked after Joan Jett recognized him. Gary Ryan in turn recommended guitarist Eric Ambel; they had both been playing with a local punk rock artist named Rik L. Rik. Rounding out the band was drummer Danny “Furious” O’Brien, who was in the San Francisco punk band the Avengers, whose frontwoman was Penelope Houston. Joan Jett’s band was named the Blackhearts after the name of her record company Blackheart Records, and not the other way around.
(November 2013)
