I bought Joan Jett's self-titled solo debut, aka "Bad Reputation," at Rocks In Your Head on Prince Street in NYC, 42 years ago.
How is that possible?
I played that record twice a day for a year and I played it last week for the first time in a while. It still holds up. It also brought back some memories.
My
girlfriend at the time, a Joan Jett wannabe, would get right up in my
face and sing/spew “You Don’t Own Me," which Jett faithfully covers on the album, just about anytime I would ask a question, as if to tell me that by suggesting we meet at 7:30 for an 8:00 movie, I was being too possessive. That was always fun. Things only got worse when Jett released her follow-up "I Love Rock 'N' Roll," which included an updated cover of The Runaways track "You're Too Possessive." Just my luck. More singing. I was fully expecting Jett's next LP to be called, "Sal's A Schmuck," but thankfully things ended between us before the Blackhearts third album, called "Album" was released, and I was spared another musical spit show to the tune of "Fake Friends," the lead single.
Good times!
But I digress.
My favorite track on "Bad Reputation" is "Make Believe," which is a fantastic combination of punk rock and girl group, and even has a little bit of a Four Seasons "Tell It To The Rain" vibe. For 42 years, I thought this was Joan Jett's song. I knew she didn't write it, but Bo Gentry did, and he along with Ritchie Cordell, and Jett's producer Kenny Laguna, all came from the Tommy James & The Shondells camp and now were all part of the "Bad Reputation" album. I assumed it was written for her, for this album, but I was wrong.
"Make Believe" was actually a Top 40 Billboard hit for a group called Wind, whose lead vocalist was Tony Orlando. How this eluded me for 42 years I don't know? But Wind's version is even closer to that Four Seasons vibe than Jett's version.
8 comments:
Please excuse the self promotion, but you might enjoy these compilations of Joan's cover songs and their sources. She got good taste!
https://jonderblog.blogspot.com/2022/04/joan-jetts-jukebox.html
PS - the flipside of Wind's "Make Believe" single was a throwaway instrumental called "Groovin with Mr. Bloe" which was re-recorded in the UK and became a big hit there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Bloe
Jonder,
These are great!
Thx!
Your spit story made me laugh out loud! Great stuff. Keep entertaining us with these glimpses into your life (and write that book already!). Joan Jett still rocks on stage, and all fans should see her at least one more time.
Thanks for reminding what a fun album is Bad Reputation!
And the Wind is great. I just watched the new HBO doc on George Carlin. Tony Orlando is one of the talking heads and said "George Carlin asked me for a job. I would have thought I was the last guy in Hollywood who George would ask for a job. Then I figured ... I was the last guy!" What a goofy world!
Now to dig into Jonder's treasure box!
I agree with you. The Wind version has a definite Four Seasons feel. Great song. Don't know why, but while listening to the Wind version I imagined it being done by The Ronettes.
Those two Joan Jett albums are awesome. I had a recent "how did I not know this?" moment, but I think they come faster the older you get. Maybe just because you have so many interests you find more and more connections. You weren't lacking info then. You're gaining info now and there's always more to learn.
"Too Bad on Your Birthday" was an album cut on the Ram Jam Black Betty album.
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