The Most Influential 70s Band You’ve Never Heard Of
Ok, if you are a rock nerd, you’ve probably heard of them, but you may not know the extent of their impact.
In some ways, the Runaways’ story echoes that of the 60s band The Velvet Underground.
Neither group was initially successful in its time or in its home market. Both groups were better known for the exploits of their alumni and only later recognized for their outsized influence on the wider music world.
The Underground heavily influenced the emergence of Punk and New Wave, and their alumni, including Lou Reed and John Cale, were key figures in the experimental music scene for decades.
The Runaways’ impact was partly about who they were: women who rocked as well as any of the guys and weren’t shy about it. Following the trail blazed by Suzi Quatro and Fanny, they were the ones who proved that girls could make loud, aggressive music and people would love it.
If Suzi kicked the door down, The Runaways walked through it. They have an additional distinction: They changed the entire musical trajectory of another country, and here I’m not referring to England.
The Runaways, founded in 1975 (the year Fanny disbanded), became the first all-female rock band with significant commercial traction. They only lasted four years, but they sold out shows in major venues, toured extensively with the Ramones, and opened for several other A-list rock bands, including the Talking Heads and Van Halen. Their inability to continue had nothing to do with the music and everything to do with the challenges the five girls (yes, they were all teenagers when the band started) were unprepared to deal with.
Their biggest breakthrough occurred in 1977, in Japan, where they did a headlining tour and were received with Beatlemania-like excitement. That tour inspired a generation of Japanese girls to pick up electric guitars and start bashing drums, directly setting off a boom in female-led rock bands that has continued to this day.
Japan is the world's second-largest market for recorded and live music. Its rock scene today is arguably more vibrant than ours and is dominated outright by women. All of that owes itself largely to the impact of the Runaways.
Those moments of glory notwithstanding, life was not easy for the band. They suffered from much the same resistance as other women when they stepped outside the traditional lanes for women in music. The Runaways had to survive challenges such as egregiously sexist packaging and constant sexual harassment (which was only exacerbated by said packaging). They were sucked into the crazy rock-band life, with drugs and drinking a constant, which did not help.
Toward the end of the Japan tour, bassist Jackie Fox abruptly left the band. She confirmed decades later the rumors that she had been raped by the group’s manager, Kim Fowley. The crime was covered up for years, and Fox didn’t comment on it publicly until after Fowley’s death. Right after the tour, lead singer Cherie Currie also quit, unable to handle the lifestyle, and later built a career as a substance abuse counselor. She still occasionally performs, either solo or with some of her former bandmates.
Most of the Runaways went on to successful solo careers after the band broke up. Lita Ford (lead guitar) and Joan Jett (rhythm guitar, bass, lead vocals from 1977 on) became headliners themselves, and for what it’s worth Jett and her band The Blackhearts are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (they were inducted the same year as Lou Reed).
Various combinations of the band members have continued to record and perform together, some as recently as 2020.
“Cherry Bomb” was — and remains — the Runaways’ most famous hit. Here is a performance from their 1977 Japan tour. They overlaid footage from one concert with audio from another, and the editing is, frankly, terrible. They miss most of Ford’s solo; and they don’t synch the vocals properly. But it is an important artifact of the band’s history. There is a weird cognitive dissonance to watching this, given the blatantly sexualized presentation of lead singer Cherie Currie while the band is riffing out heavy, hard rock. Currie’s voice is deeper than typical female pop voices, distinguishing them further from typical girl bands.
…..
After Fox left the band, Joan Jett took over on bass for the tour's final concert, and then the group recruited Vicky Blue as a permanent replacement. Shortly after the tour, Cherie Currie left as well, and Jett took over lead vocals. This lineup remained in place until the group disbanded in 1979.
“School Days” is from 1977, with Jett on vocals, just after she took over as lead singer. There is a strong punk vibe to the song, befitting a band that was often associated with the Ramones.
…..
“Mama, Weer All Crazee Now” (cover, original by Slade)
Slade were an interesting story unto themselves. Founded in 1966, they hit their peak popularity in the mid-1970s, just around the time the Runaways were doing their thing. They wrote creative, transgressive songs that ranged in style from pop to metal, all overlaid with Noddy Holder’s unique raspy vocals. They enjoyed pushing boundaries, so it makes sense that the Runaways would see them as kindred spirits.
Sources:
The Runaways website
Excerpts and clips from “Edgeplay”, a documentary about the Runaways
Laura Kelly, 2022 “Tragic Details about the Runaways” https://www.grunge.com/284624/tragic-details-about-the-runaways/
The Guardian, 2016 Article on Cherie Currie: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/21/it-was-the-end-of-a-nightmare-cherie-currie-on-putting-the-ghosts-of-the-runaways-to-rest
Joan Jett: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction write-up by Jaan Uhelzski https://www.rockhall.com/sites/default/files/2019-11/Joan%20Jett%20%26%20The%20Blackhearts_2015.pdf
Lucy Mangan, 2021 Review of “Look Away” in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/13/look-away-review-horrifying-stories-of-abuse-at-the-hands-of-male-rock-stars
Wikipedia articles on The Runaways, Joan Jett, Lita Ford
…..
Stay with me and follow if you want to be sure to catch future pieces on Joan Jett and other great Rock and Roll Women.
…..
I want to thank some of the other writers and music nerds who have welcomed me here at The Riff: Kevin Alexander, Steve Goldberg, Nicole Brown, Terry Barr, David Acaster, Charlie Cole, @Elizabethkaldecksmith and Alexander B., among many. Thank you!
