Crank up the volume to celebrate Joan Jett’s iconic anthem that still rocks the world!
I Love Rock’n’Roll is now on every partygoer’s playlist, yet had it not been for an adolescent American rock chick watching English kids telly, it would have been entirely lost.
The original recording by Arrows – a second string glam rock trio from London – flopped. But a year later they performed it on their eponymous TV show while also introducing acts like Tina Charles and Alvin Stardust. Watching in a hotel was Joan Jett, a guitarist from Pennsylvania touring with all-female rockers The Runaways. A mental note was made, and after the band split in 1979, Jett recorded the first version of the song in 1979, with Steve Jones and Paul Cook of Sex Pistols.
It was released on vinyl in 1979 on Vertigo Records as a B-side to You Don’t Own Me to limited success. In 1981, Jett re-recorded the song with her newly-founded band, the Blackhearts, to be featured on the album of the same name.
Her star grew and in 1982, backed by The Blackhearts, her version stayed at No.1 in the US for seven weeks and hit No.4 in the UK.
Put Another Dime In The Jukebox, Baby
The song has an impressive arm-waving chorus, while unironic handclaps enrich its singalong quality. Jett’s voice is on the right side of harsh and the guitar packs a punch. It covers the basics of sounding not at all like hard work, while entirely like a lot of fun.
Jett had five further chart entries outside of the UK Top 40, while her signature song ended up with a life of its own via covers (Britney Spears), sampling (5ive) and parodies (LadBaby). In 1993 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts made another music video for the song as part of the Wayne’s World 2 soundtrack. The video consisted of scenes from the movie, with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, mixed with footage of Jett and her band in concert.
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts are still active touring and releasing albums. Their most recent LPs include: Unvarnished (2013) Changeup (2022) and Mindsets (2023).
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