Sans Innovation, No Rock 'n Roll
The late 1970s and early 1980s were a turbulent time on the music scene. “Punk rock” came into vogue. Disco was breathing its last. A band of teenage girls called The Runaways went through several lineups and had a minor hit with “Cherry Bomb.” They never really got that far in the United States or Europe, but they opened for several prominent bands. They also made it big in Japan. Several Runaways became stars after the band broke up. Lita Ford went on to solo success. Original member Micki Steele joined the Bangles. The group’s biggest eventual star was Joan Jett, who would lead Joan Jett and the Blackhearts to the top of the charts with a cover of Arrow’s “I Love Rock & Roll” in 1981. Over the next decade or so, they would produce memorable hits like “Bad Reputation” and “I Hate Myself for Loving You.” Their 1990 album The Hit List featured covers of songs like AC/DC’s iconic “Dirty Deeds.” She and her band would be semi-satirized memorably in my favorite comic strip, “Bloom County,” as “Tess Turbo and the Blackheads.”
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