The Runaways (album)

The Runaways
Studio album by The Runaways
Released	1976
Genre	Hard rock[1]
Length	34:02
Label	Mercury
Producer	Kim Fowley
The Runaways chronology
The Runaways (1976) Queens of Noise (1977)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	(C-)[3]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

The Runaways is the debut album by the American all-female rock band The Runaways, released in 1976.

Website Allmusic has praised the record (especially band members Cherie Currie, Joan Jett and Lita Ford), comparing the band's music to material by Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses.^[2]

According to multiple sources including Cherie Currie (in her memoir Neon Angel), the liner notes of the Raven Records release of The Runaways, and Fox herself, Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison played bass on the first album, due to manager Kim Fowley refusing to let Fox play on the record.^{[4][dead link]}

The documentary film Edgeplay: A film about The Runaways states that the album's first track "Cherry Bomb" was written ad hoc during the audition of lead singer Cherie Currie and is indeed referring to her. Currie was told to prepare a Suzi Quatro song for the audition; she picked "Fever", a song the band did not like to play. Instead they came up with a song idea which made fun of her first name. In 2009 "Cherry Bomb" was named the 52^nd best hard rock song of all time by VH1.^[5] A cover of the song "Cherry Bomb" is featured in the music video game Rock Band as a downloadable single track.

"You Drive Me Wild" is featured in the 2010 film about the band. Also, Dakota Fanning covers "Cherry Bomb" as well as "Dead End Justice" with Kristen Stewart as they portray Cherie Currie and Joan Jett respectively.^[6]

Track listing

1. "Cherry Bomb" (Joan Jett, Kim Fowley) - 2:18
2. "You Drive Me Wild" (J. Jett) - 3:22
3. "Is It Day or Night?" (K. Fowley) - 2:45
4. "Thunder" (Mark Anthony, Kari Krome) - 2:31
5. "Rock & Roll" (Lou Reed) - 3:17
6. "Lovers" (J. Jett, K. Fowley) - 2:09
7. "American Nights" (M. Anthony, K. Fowley) - 3:15
8. "Blackmail" (J. Jett, K. Fowley) - 2:41
9. "Secrets" (Cherie Currie, K. Fowley, K. Krome, Sandy West) - 2:43
10. "Dead End Justice" (S. Anderson, C. Currie, K. Fowley, J. Jett) - 7:01

Personnel

Band members

• Cherie Currie - lead vocals
• Joan Jett - rhythm guitar, vocals
• Lita Ford - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Jackie Fox - bass, backing vocals
• Sandy West - drums, backing vocals

Production

• Kim Fowley - producer

References

1. ^ Huey, Steve. "The Runaways Allmusic entry". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-runaways-p5321. Retrieved 2011-08-16. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Henderson, Alex. "The Runaways The Runaways review". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/oceanview-motel-r507089/review. Retrieved 2011-08-16. 
3. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Review: The Runaways". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=runaways. Retrieved 2011-08-16. 
4. ^ [1]^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "Vh1 Top 100 Hard Rock Songs". VH1. Spreadit.org. 1 January 2009. http://music.spreadit.org/vh1-top-100-hard-rock-songs/. Retrieved 2011-08-16. 
6. ^ Kreps, Daniel (26 February 2010). "“The Runaways” Soundtrack: Stewart and Fanning, Plus Stooges, Bowie and More". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2010-03-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20100301155230/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/02/26/the-runaways-soundtrack-boasts-stewart-and-fanning-plus-stooges-bowie-and-more/. Retrieved 2011-11-11.