I have had quite the love and admiration for female rockers for some time now. I joke that it was my dad's fault as he and mum listened to all that old stuff before I was born. Of those musicians, Joan Jett and Pat Benatar are most definitely my faves. Imagine my friggin' shock when I heard they were making a movie about her first band, The Runaways. I'm a bit embarassed to say that I didn't know about The Runaways, but I had heard of "Cherry Bomb" so I figured that's got some redeeming quality to it.
Much to my dismay, the producers or the studio (whoever it was!) didn't release the movie to alot of theaters so I had to be content with youtube footage and facebook pictures while I was stuck waiting on the dvd release. Lo and behold girlies! I got the movie finally, and it did not disappoint! Really, I shouldn't have been worried as it does feature my most fave actress, Kristen Stewart (can the girl do no wrong.. seriously?).
True, the movie is WAY too mature for some people (and by that, I mean teenagers!), but helloo?? I'm 24 so I think we're good. I loved being able to get an inside look at the making of the band, and it didn't hurt that the movie sparked an interest in 70's style for me. As such, being the fashion whore that I am, I made some outfits on polyvore:
Cheri Currie
Currie's parents were Don Currie and actress Marie Harmon. She was raised in the Encino district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. Her sisters are actress Sondra Currie and her twin, Marie Currie.
Currie was the teenage lead vocalist for the all-female rock band The Runaways with bandmates Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Sandy West and Jackie Fox. Bomp! magazine described her as "the lost daughter of Iggy Pop and Brigitte Bardot."
Currie, not yet 16, joined The Runaways in 1975. The teen rock anthem "Cherry Bomb" was written for her at the audition. Attitudes to her impact at that time differ; one reviewer has written that "the received wisdom that [the Runaways] carved out new territory for female musicians is hard to justify - it's doubtful that the predominantly male audience who flocked to see the 16 year old [Currie] in her undies picked up any feminist subtext".
After three albums with The Runaways, (The Runaways, Queens of Noise, and Live in Japan ), Currie went on to record two independent albums (Beauty's Only Skin Deep for Polygram Records, and Messin' With The Boys with twin sister Marie Currie for Capitol Records). She then worked as an actress, starring in movies such as Foxes, Parasite, Wavelength, Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Rosebud Beach Hotel, Rich Girl, and others, as well as numerous guest spots on TV series (Matlock and Murder She Wrote, among others).
Currie developed a serious drug addiction. She later wrote a memoir of her teen years called Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway. The book revolves around her struggles with drugs and alcohol, her dysfunctional family, and her days with The Runaways. The Runaways movie, a 2010 musical biographical drama film (which was executive-produced by Joan Jett), focuses on the group's early beginnings and explores the relationship between Currie and Jett. In the film Currie is portrayed by Dakota Fanning.
Joan Jett
Joan Jett was born at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She moved to Rockville, Maryland, in 1967 where she attended Randolph Junior High and Wheaton High School. In her teens, Jett would sneak out at night to go to concerts with friends. She got her first guitar for Christmas from her parents at the age of 13, and she mostly spent time after that writing songs. She also became involved with a bartender at a club from the town, at which point her family then re-located to West Covina, a suburb of Los Angeles, providing Jett the opportunity to pursue her musical endeavors. In Los Angeles, Joan interacted with some of her idols, including Suzi Quatro, one of the first female rock musicians who played an instrument. As reflected in the film The Runaways about Jett's beginnings, Quatro was vital to Joan's career, and Joan adopted many of Suzi's qualities including her shag haircut and style. Jett would quietly wait in the lobby of various hotels that Suzi was staying in during her US tours, just to catch a glimpse of her. She wore wooden platform shoes with "Suzi Quatro" carved into the side. Her favorite night spot was Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco. Joan was further introduced to the glam-rock style she so adored as this genre was explosive in the UK and Europe, but never quite took off in the US. Rodney's was the only place Jett could hear this style of music, and it certainly helped develop her image.
Jett is a founding member of The Runaways along with drummer Sandy West. Micki Steele (who was later replaced), Jackie Fox, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie completed the line-up. While Currie initially fronted the band, Jett shared some lead vocals, played rhythm guitar and wrote or co-wrote a lot of the band's material along with Ford, West and Currie. The band recorded five LPs, with Live In Japan becoming one of the biggest-selling imports in U.S. and U.K. history. The band toured around the world and some of their opening acts included Cheap Trick, Van Halen and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They found success abroad, especially in Japan.
Lita Ford
Lita Ford was born to a British father and an Italian mother in London, England. She moved with her family to the United States at the age of 4 and began playing the guitar at the age of 11. Her vocal range is mezzo-soprano.
In 1975 at the age of 16 she joined the all-female rock band The Runaways, for whom she played lead guitar. They would score a record deal and have their first album released in 1976.
[edit]The Runaways
It was not long before the all-girl formation caught the eye of the media. Lita Ford's guitar skills made her a driving force in the band and a permanent member from her arrival to the band's eventual break-up.
In 1979, disagreements were erupting within the band, who had since parted ways with both producer Kim Fowley and lead singer Cherie Currie. Rhythm guitarist Joan Jett and bassist Vicki Blue wanted the band to shift more towards Ramones-influenced punk music while Ford and drummer Sandy West wanted to continue playing hard rock-oriented songs. With neither side being able to compromise, the band finally broke up that year.
Robyn Robbins (based on Micki Steele and Jackie Fox)
Fox joined The Runaways shortly before her sixteenth birthday in 1976, making the switch from guitar to bass. A merit scholar, Fox was set for an early entry to UCLA to study mathematics when the opportunity to join the fledgling rock band arose. Fox was "discovered" dancing at the Starwood nightclub by Rodney Bingenheimer, the self-proclaimed 'mayor of the Sunset Strip,' who introduced her to Kim Fowley as the band was on a search for a singer and bass player to replace Peggy Foster.
Fox played with the band on the second studio album Queens of Noise but not on the band's debut album. According to multiple sources including Cherie Currie (in her memoir Neon Angel), the liner notes of the Raven Records release of The Runaways, and Fox herself, Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison played bass on the first album due to manager Kim Fowley refusing to let Fox play on the record.
She also appears on the Live in Japan album, and on Flaming Schoolgirls, which contains outtakes from the Queens of Noise recording sessions, and appears on the compilation albums, Neon Angels and Best of the Runaways. She played with the band on two tours of the U.S., one UK tour during which three band members were arrested, and the Japanese tour during which the band's live album was recorded. She left the band near the end of that tour.
Fox refused to give the rights for her to be portrayed in the 2010 film The Runaways. Instead, the bass player for the band is a fictional character named Robin portrayed by Alia Shawkat.
Sandy West
Sandy (born Sandy Pesavento) was born in Long Beach, California. When she was 9 years old, her grandfather bought her a drum kit, and being an avid fan of rock and roll acts of the 1960s and 1970s, she began practicing rock music immediately and regularly. She proved to have a natural talent and quickly became a proficient drummer.
[edit]The Runaways
Driven by her ambition to play professionally, she sought out fellow musicians and other industry contacts in southern California with the idea of forming an all girl rock band. In 1975, she met producer Kim Fowley, who gave her the phone number of another young musician in the area, guitarist Joan Jett. When Joan and Sandy met shortly thereafter (Joan took a bus to Sandy's home to play through some songs), there was a palpable synergy between them, and the inception of the eventual Runaways arguably took place that day. The girls subsequently played for Fowley, who agreed to help them find other female musicians to round out the band, most notably Lita Ford and Cherie Currie.
Interested in the entire collection??
The Runaways Soundtrack
(They left out some really great songs that were in the film!)
Dead End Justice
Queens of Noise
Cherry Bomb
California Paradise
I Love Playing With Fire
The Wild One (Suzie Quatro)
Do You Wanna Touch (Joan Jett)
Rebel Rebel (David Bowie)
Wild Thing (Troggs)
Gimme Danger (Iggy Pop & the Stooges)
Hollywood
You Drive Me Wild
I Wanna Be Your Dog (Iggy Pop & the Stooges)
Pretty Vacant (Sex Pistols)
Bad Reputation (Joan Jett)
Crimson and Clover (Joan Jett)
Enjoy some more great photos
from the film!
