![]() Thus constituted as an entirely teenaged quintet, it didn't take long for the Runaways to score a record deal Currie's stage wardrobe (lingerie) and Fowley's well-established contacts made sure of that. Cherie Currie became the new lead vocalist, and after an extremely brief stint with a bass player known only as Peggy (which lasted just a few weeks), the band settled on Jackie Fox (born Jacqueline Fuchs), who switched to bass from guitar in order to join the band. As a trio, this lineup recorded a demo titled Born to Be Bad in late 1975 shortly thereafter, guitarist Lita Ford successfully auditioned through a trade-paper ad, and Steele left the group (she would later join the Bangles). However, it soon became apparent that Krome was not much of a singer, and she was replaced by vocalist Michael "Micki" Steele (born Sue Thomas), who also began learning the bass. Krome's friend, guitarist Joan Jett (born Joan Larkin), had been forming a band of her own with drummer Sandy West (born Sandy Pesavento), and Fowley quickly had a trio on his hands. Fowley was impressed with Krome's streetwise perspective and set about putting together a female band. The genesis of the Runaways can be traced to a 1975 Alice Cooper party, where Fowley met teenage lyricist Kari Krome. But in the end, the Runaways' sound and attitude proved crucially important in paving the way for female artists to crank up the volume on their guitars and rock as hard as the boys plus, they produced one undeniably classic single in the rebel-girl manifesto "Cherry Bomb." Fowley's insistence on a sleazy jailbait image for the group made it easy for the press to dismiss them as nothing but a tasteless adolescent fantasy - an impression bolstered at the time by the admittedly erratic quality of their music. In the media, the Runaways were victims of their own hype, supplied by maverick promoter/manager Kim Fowley. Since all of the members were teenagers (some of whom were still learning to play their instruments when they passed their auditions), the band's music was frequently raw and amateurish, but it neatly combined American heavy metal with the newly emerging sound of punk rock. Jett's will be back on tour in 2021 with Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard and Poison.Often dismissed during their existence as a crass marketing gimmick, the Runaways have grown in stature over the years as the first all-female band to make a substantial impression on the public by playing loud, straight-up, guitar-driven rock & roll. The version that became a hit for her in 1981 was at least her second try and recording it. When The Runaways turned down the idea of recording the song, Jett said she kept it in her back pocket for a future project. Jett first heard the song while watching television in the U.K. ![]() The original song was written by Jake Hooker and Alan Merrill and released in 1975 by the Arrows. To me it's geeky.It was just too much 'rock.' They didn't want to do it." ![]() "When I found the song, our first album had just come out and we had covered Lou Reed 's 'Rock N' Roll.' I didn't want to just turn right around and do another song with rock n' roll in the title. "It was a completely rational reason why we didn't do it.I totally kind of agreed with the girls," Jett recalled. She tells SXM's Volume that the only reason The Runaways didn't record "I Love Rock 'N Roll" was because they had just done another song with a similar title. ![]() Two years later, "I Love Rock 'N Roll" became a massive hit for Jett in the U.S and set the tone for her Hall of Fame career with her own band. Jett showed the song to the The Runaways in 1977. The title track for Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' best-selling album could easily have been a hit for Jett's previous band, The Runaways, but they turned it down.
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