Take a minute to think about Joan Jett. More than one song. More than just “I Love Rock and Roll”, as great as that radio song is. She’s called “The Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” and “The Godmother of Punk.”
Let’s think about the rock and roll in her catalog and the influences she ultimately passed along. In the podcast, we talk about her career and how – somehow – she’s may even be a bit undervalued as one of the rock and roll greats.
Jett’s self-titled solo debut was released in Europe in 1980. In the US, the is that after the album was rejected by 23 major labels, so Jett and and manager Kenny Laguna formed Blackheart Records and released it independently – started with Laguna’s daughter’s college savings – sometimes selling the albums out of the trunk of Laguna’s car after a show. They eventually made a deal with Casablanca Records head Neil Bogart, and he signed Jett to his new label, Boardwalk Records and re-released the Joan Jett album as Bad Reputation.
That statement and that song – what Joan Jett sang about – “I don’t give a damn about…” was what she became. That’s the image she made real. It is her brand. It cements her place as an integral part of the melding of punk rock and rock and roll.
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