Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I Love Rock N' Roll & Bad Reputation

I Love Rock N' Roll

Bad Reputation

Joan Jett has a pretty incredible music career. It may sound like I am stating the obvious, but I think the general opinion of Jett is perhaps understated. She started her career with The Runaways when she was very young and has remained popular and relevant pretty much ever since. She never lost the respect of the critics, and she never lost the admiration of her fans. 

Joan Jett is probably best remembered for two songs; I want to talk about them both because each song represents two different characteristics about Jett that result in her being unlike the vast majority of her peers.

Like a people presumably, the first Joan Jett song I ever heard was “I Love Rock N’ Roll.” I even remember seeing the music video on MuchMusic, back when MuchMusic played music videos. As a young man who was discovering rock and roll for the first time, I naturally gravitated towards the song. Firstly, because I loved rock and roll. Secondly, it is a good a rock song, which a simple but valid reason. Thirdly, the age factor, when I was seventeen, man did I wish a sexy older rock babe like Joan Jett would have taken notice of me. I suspect I am not alone, a lot of young men really like Joan Jett for so many obvious reasons.

It is hard to imagine “I Love Rock N’ Roll” being anything other then a Joan Jett song, everything about it, is just so Joan Jett; so of course, having said that, it is a cover song. Arrow performed the original.

Arrow - I Love Rock N' Roll

The existence of Arrow’s “I Love Rock N’ Roll” is not a rare piece of trivia, many people know about it. However, I went a long time without knowing about Arrow. Many years of my life I assumed Joan Jett wrote “I Love Rock N’ Roll,” and I do not blame me. “I Love Rock N’ Roll” just fits Jett perfectly, like it must have been her personality that created this song, so fifteen years ago or so, when I first learned that Jett covered “I Love Rock N’ Roll,” I was surprised.

Here is a thought exercise, stop and list all the famous Joan Jett songs off the top of your head.

Go.

So nice list right, she has a lot of great songs, but how many of them are cover songs? I am guessing many.

Last month I wrote about Tommy James and The Shondells “Crimson and Clover.” I had to mention Joan Jett’s fantastic cover, in some circles her version is more well known then the original.

The other review I wrote in April was on Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain.” You know what, Joan Jett has a cover of that one too.

Then I performed the thought exercise I described earlier, and yeah, about half the Joan Jett songs I can call from memory are cover songs.

So, here we go, off the top of my head, Joan Jett covers:

- Arrow – I Love Rock and Roll
- Tommy James and the Shondells – Crimson and Clover
- Creedence Clearwater Revival – Have You Ever Seen the Rain
- ACDC – Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
- Sweet – ACDC
- Nazareth – Love Hurts
- Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant
- The Doors – Love Me Two Times
- The Dave Clark Five – Bits and Pieces
- Richard Berry – Louie Louie
- J. Geils Band – Love Stinks

That is eleven cover songs, there are probably others I either do not remember or failed to identify as covers. One I forgot to include in the list is The Raindrops “Hanky Panky,” a song most famous for being covered by Tommy James and the Shondells. Tommy James and the Shondells, more relevant then the average person might have thought.

A casual fan of Jett’s might be forgiven for thinking she specialized in cover songs, but of course that is a flawed perspective. Which brings us to Joan Jett’s second most famous song, “Bad Reputation.”

“Bad Reputation” was a popular song when it was first released, but we have witnessed a resurgence in this song’s popularity in recent years. I noticed this by its use in the popular movie franchise “Kick Ass,” and also Ronda Rousey often used this song as her walkout music, and Ronda proved to be one of the most marketable UFC fighters in history so there is some significance there. The point is, “Bad Reputation” has legs. It is a song with a message that any sort of rebel or outsider can relate to, and interestingly enough, most of us feel like we have a bad reputation at some point or in some places; hence, the transgenerational appeal of “Bad Reputation.”

So other then being a great song, with a resonating message, what makes “Bad Reputation” so significant? Well, even more so then “I Love Rock and Roll,” “Bad Reputation” captures what I believe to be Joan Jett’s persona perfectly. Badass rock babe who can and will do she decides she is going to do, and frankly she is not much bothered by some plastic drones telling her what is expected of her.

I cannot imagine “Bad Reputation” being anything other then a Joan Jett song, everything about it, is just so Joan Jett. This time, everything makes sense though, because Joan Jett did write “Bad Reputation.”

Let us bring this dialogue full circle.

Joan Jett’s career is made up to two halves.

Joan Jett had a knack for covering songs, some with obvious rock and roll appeal which suited her perfectly like “Dirty Deeds” by ACDC or Sweet’s “ACDC” and others which on paper probably should not have worked yet she found a way to remake the song in such a way that her personality made it’s sounds feel authentically her own.

On the other side, Joan Jett is a talented song writer, she brought her powerful rebellious energy into her entire discography creating perfect anthems for her own unique brand with songs like “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” “Fake Friends,” “Activity Grrrl” and what might be her magnum opus “Bad Reputation.”

If rock and roll took the form of a woman, I believe Joan Jett would be the prototype.

- King of Braves