#181
May 17 1980
Joan Jett
Bad Reputation
Genre: Rawk
4.5 out of 5
Highlights:
Bad Reputation
Make Believe
You Don’t Know What You’ve Got
Do You Wanna Touch Me There?
Let Me Go
Did you know Joan Jett produced the Germs record, G.I.? Don’t know why I wanted to put that out there. Ok. Maybe because that’s considered one of the pre-eminent punk albums of the era and I don’t consider Joan “punk”. I think The Runaways were a terrific Power Pop Girl group. And, if her own success proved anything to me it’s that Joan is a Pop Rocker with a snarl.
And that’s what this album is filled with.
It’s a waste of time to put “requisite 80s covers” on this thing because it’s replete with them. And yet, Joan’s originals are just as good, if not better than her choices of covers.
This is glam, this is power pop rock, this is 50s girl group gone bad. “You Don’t Own Me” is a striking cover that, in many ways (for me, at least) announces the beginnings of Riot Grrl by taking ownership of a trope from 20 years before and, well, owning it.
And it doesn’t stick around long, giving way to some boogie rock on “Too Bad On Your Birthday”, which only suffers from sounding like Joan is singing her vocals separately from the band. She comes across as a lead vocalist and less the guitar slinging front woman on that cover. She seems distanced from the band. But that’s picking nits.
I find myself in a bit of a quandary, though. I am usually one who can separate the art from the artist but I have real trouble tapping my feet to anything written by Gary Glitter. And yet, tap my feet I did while listening.
And that’s just Side One. Which is a fucking timeless party album. I defy you to put any track on at a barbecue and stop someone from swaying, dancing or tossing the hostess in the pool and then everyone diving in with her.
Points off only for being so cover heavy and two of those being Glitter tracks and I…I just can’t…
Also, her version of “Shout” comes too soon after Animal House and that, my friends, is the definitive version of that song. Here she just seems like she’s rushing through it like she has a contract obligation to do the song.
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