Tag Archives: I Love Rock N Roll

by

Song of the Day #5,191: ‘I Love Rock ‘n Roll’ – The Arrows

Joan Jett’s status as a rock icon is due in part to her 1981 recording of ‘I Love Rock ‘n Roll,’ which spent seven weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains her biggest hit. However, though the song will always be associated with the groundbreaking rocker, it did not originate with her.

Jett first heard the song five years earlier, while touring the United Kingdom with the Runaways. It appeared in a show called Arrows, a weekly series aimed at teens which featured music by a band called The Arrows as well as guest musicians.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,805: ‘Crimson and Clover’ – Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

The Go-Go’s set a record for sales by a female act, but they weren’t the only trailblazers in 1981. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts’ I Love Rock ‘n Roll sold more than 10 million copies and put its title track atop Billboard’s Hot 100 for seven weeks.

Jett released several albums with the Runaways and one solo record before forming The Blackhearts and dropping this smash hit. The album is full of crunchy guitars and sexy swagger. It’s not so much a collection of great songs as a half hour of raw, seductive girl power turned up to 11.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #404: ‘I Love Rock n Roll’ – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

joanjett20 Best Songs of the 80s – #4

It’s hard to imagine an Avril Lavigne without Joan Jett. Or a Gwen Stefani, Shirley Manson or Courtney Love. Jett, Chrissie Hynde, Pat Benatar and Debbie Harry are the names that come to mind when I think of women who were pioneers of rock. But Jett is the one I consider most fondly, because I have great associations with this song, her biggest hit.

The allmusic biography of Jett lists 17 contemporary acts she has influenced. Almost every one is a woman. The same article lists 21 artists who influenced Jett, and every one is a man. Funny how you can look at two lists like that and see in an instant what it means to be a trailblazer.

Continue reading →