The Runaways are the first truly successful all-female rock band and were formed in late 1975 under the auspices of Kim Fowley, a musician, songwriter, record producer, promoter, and self-promoter who has existed on the fringes of the music industry for decades. The way they are telling the story now, rhythm guitarist Joan Jett and drummer Sandy West had separately introduced themselves to Kim Fowley. He then gave Jett’s number to West, and after they connected, he helped them find the other bandmembers.
Initially the Runaways was a power trio with the other member being bassist Micki Steele. Lead guitarist Lita Ford was added shortly afterward; she had auditioned to be the new bass guitarist. Cherie Currie was added as the lead vocalist. After Steele was fired, Peggy Foster took over on bass and was replaced after a month with Jackie Fox.
At this point, the band was signed by Mercury Records and released their first album, The Runaways in 1976. The credits for the bandmembers on the back of the album included their ages (most were 16 or younger as I recall), thus cementing Kim Fowley’s Svengali reputation. Fowley refused to let Jackie Fox play on the debut album, so Blondie bass guitarist Nigel Harrison filled in.
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One measure of their success is that the Runaways were the headliners in their early concerts, with opening acts that included major bands like Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Van Halen.
When Cherie Currie had auditioned to join the Runaways, the other bandmembers quickly came up with a song called “Cherry Bomb” – named after a famous firework, and not the John Mellencamp song by the same name, “Cherry Bomb” – that she was asked to sing instead of the Suzi Quatro song that she had picked out. The song features a line in the chorus “Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!” that was a play on her first name; Joan Jett and Kim Fowley are credited as the songwriters. “Cherry Bomb” became the opening track on their album and the band’s first single; while “Cherry Bomb” only made it to #106 on the Billboard singles charts, the song was named #52 on the list of the greatest hard rock songs of all time by VH1.
In passing, I should note that the Runaways are overtly a hard rock band; they were later identified with the punk rock scene that was unfolding at the same time, but each of the all-female bands that I mentioned last month – Goldie and the Gingerbreads, the Pleasure Seekers, Isis and Fanny – also has a real edge to them.
After releasing their second album Queens of Noise, the Runaways toured Japan in 1977 and attracted Beatlemania-level attention according to Joan Jett – their popularity in Japan among foreign bands trailed only ABBA, KISS and Led Zeppelin. Their third album, Live in Japan documented their experiences there.
Vicki Blue became the band’s new bassist after they returned home. After releasing two more albums, the Runaways ultimately broke up in early 1979 due to musical differences.
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The biggest star to come out of the Runaways is Joan Jett. After Cherie Currie left the band, Joan Jett took over as lead vocalist on the last two Runaways albums, Waitin’ for the Night and And Now . . . the Runaways. Remarkably, in early 1979, Joan Jett produced the only album by the pioneering L.A. punk rock band the Germs, called (GI).
The Runaways never found the same success at home as they had overseas, so Joan Jett went to England to begin her solo career. In 1979, Jett recorded three songs with Paul Cook and Steve Jones (both formerly in Sex Pistols), including an early version of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” (“I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” had originally been recorded by a British band called Arrows).
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.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have released a total of 10 studio albums, including Unvarnished that was released in 2013. Their debut album, I Love Rock ’n’ Roll was their most successful, reaching #2 on the Billboard album charts and spawning a #1 hit single, “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll”. The title of their third album, Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth (one of my favorite album names ever), refers to her days in the Runaways and includes another version of “Cherry Bomb”. I saw a lively concert by Joan Jett down here in Bay St. Louis not long after I came to the Coast, and she came through again earlier this year.
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Another former Runaway, Lita Ford became prominent in heavy metal in the 1980’s; her manager was Sharon Osbourne. Ford had a hit single with “Kiss Me Deadly”; she and Ozzy Osbourne (Sharon’s husband) recorded one of the great heavy metal duets in 1988, “Close My Eyes Forever” (included on her third album Lita). Lita Ford married Chris Holmes of the controversial heavy metal band W.A.S.P.
Cherie Currie and Sandy West occasionally played in bands together; West formed the Sandy West Band and toured California throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s before succumbing to cancer in 2006. Cherie Currie is still a musician, including a band that she was in briefly with another former Runaway, Vicki Blue, called the Currie-Blue Band; they never recorded any music but did appear together in the film This Is Spinal Tap. Currie’s passion now is as a chainsaw artist.
