Joan Jett – I Love Rock And Roll ….Under The Covers Week

Our small town got a record store in 1982. We had one in the seventies but it went out of business. In the new one…this is the first single I bought there. The store only lasted a year at the most but we enjoyed it while we had it. In 1982 you could not go to school, a store, or anywhere without hearing this song. If you didn’t hear it you heard someone hum it. Much like Another One Bites The Dust from two years earlier…you just couldn’t escape it.

In 2016 I saw The Who in Nashville and I didn’t know who was opening up. I was pleasantly surprised when Joan Jett was announced. She and her band were tight and very loud. The Who had ties with Jett back in 1979 as they helped finance Jett’s debut album Bad Reputation.

This was originally recorded by a British group called The Arrows in 1975, and it was written by their lead singer Alan Merrill and guitarist Jake Hooker. The song was released as a B-side with The Arrows’ “Broken Down Heart.” Co-writer Alan Merrill said  “That was a knee-jerk response to the Rolling Stones’ ‘It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll.’ I remember watching it on Top of the Pops. I’d met Mick Jagger socially a few times, and I knew he was hanging around with Prince Rupert Lowenstein and people like that – jet setters. I almost felt like ‘It’s Only Rock and Roll’ was an apology to those jet-set princes and princesses that he was hanging around with – the aristocracy, you know. That was my interpretation as a young man: Okay, I love rock and roll. And then, where do you go with that?”

The Arrows did get their own TV show called The Arrows Show. It ran from 1976-1977 in the UK for two full 14-week seasons on the ITV network. It was this show that Joan Jett saw in 1976. A fun fact about the song. The Arrows were based in England, where they don’t use dimes. At that time they would put a sixpenny in the jukebox to buy a song. That would have had a different ring to it, but the original producer Mickie Most liked dime because it sounded American,  and that’s the way The Arrows recorded it. Joan Jett didn’t really differ much from the Arrows version…just a little louder.

When the Runaways broke up in 1979, Joan Jett and her producer Kenny Laguna put her first solo album together with studio time and travel arrangements fronted by The Who. They struggled to get a record deal and had to form their own label, Blackheart Records, to release the album in America. Joan remembered The Arrows singing I Love Rock N Roll in 1976 while touring the UK and knew it sounded like a hit. She wanted the Runaways to cover the song but they turned it down. The reason they turned it down was that they had already covered a song called Rock and Roll by Lou Reed on their debut album and didn’t want another song with “rock” in the title at that time.

Jett recorded it with Paul Cook and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols and released it as a B-side in 1979. Polygram Records owned that version of the song but they were not excited about the song or Joan Jett. They basically let her go and signed some of the other Runaways. Boy was that a mistake! Joan would end up being the best-known Runaway. Lita Ford was successful also along with Michael Steele with the Bangles but neither became as popular as Joan Jett…and this song was a big reason.

I like the original and both Jett covers. The hit version peaked at #1 on the Billboard 100, #1 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand, and #4 in the UK in 1982.

The album was called I Love Rock And Roll released in 1981. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, #1 in New Zealand, and #25 in the UK in 1982.

The producers were Ritchie Cordell, Kenny Laguna, and Glen Kolotkin.

The song’s co-writer, Alan Merrill, died at 69 on March 29, 2020. Joan Jett offered condolences on Twitter, posting: “I can still remember watching the Arrows on TV in London and being blown away by the song that screamed hit to me.”

Joan Jett: “I think most people who love some kind of rock ‘n’ roll can relate to it. Everyone knows a song that just makes them feel amazing and want to jump up and down. I quickly realized, this song is gonna follow you, so you’re either gonna let it bother you, or you gotta make peace with it, and feel blessed that you were involved with something that touched so many people.”

Producer Kenny Laguna on Polygram Records: “They could care less about Joan Jett, they were busy signing every other Runaway. They thought Joan was the loser and they signed the other girls, who we’re all friends with, but I looked at the band and thought she was the Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the band. The company decided that if I would pay the studio cost of $2,300, I could have all the rights, and I got three songs. I got ‘I Love Rock and Roll’ with The Sex Pistols, I got ‘You Don’t Own Me’ – they did a great version of the Lesley Gore hit, and they did a song Joan wrote called ‘Don’t Abuse Me.’ So I buy these songs back. In the meantime, Joan has a couple of fans. Rodney Bingenheimer of K-ROCK, KMAC in Long Beach, BCN in Boston, LIR in Long Island, they were playing The Sex Pistols’ kind of cruddy version of the song, and it was #1 on the alternative stations. It was really alternative music, they were way-out stations that would play some pretty adventurous stuff, that’s why they would play Joan, because Joan was not getting a record deal, Joan was way on the outside, like a Fugazi of her day. We saw some kind of potential there. I remember these guys from the big record distributors in Long Island kept calling and saying, ‘This is a hit record, we’re getting so many requests for it.’ So we cut it over and did a really good version of it.”

THE 1979 VERSION

I Love Rock and Roll

I saw him dancin’ there by the record machine
I knew he must a been about seventeen
The beat was goin’ strong
Playin’ my favorite song
An’ I could tell it wouldn’t be long
Till he was with me, yeah me, singin’

I love rock n’ roll
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby
I love rock n’ roll
So come an’ take your time an’ dance with me

He smiled so I got up and’ asked for his name
That don’t matter, he said,
‘Cause it’s all the same

Said can I take you home where we can be alone

An’ next we were movin’ on
He was with me, yeah me

Next we were movin’ on
He was with me, yeah me, singin’

I love rock n’ roll
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby
I love rock n’ roll
So come an’ take your time an’ dance with me

Said can I take you home where we can be alone

An we’ll be movin’ on
An’ singin’ that same old song
Yeah with me, singin’

I love rock n’ roll
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby
I love rock n’ roll
So come an’ take your time an’ dance with me

…

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

49 thoughts on “Joan Jett – I Love Rock And Roll ….Under The Covers Week”

      3. The magazine keeps changing and now Kanye West has the #1 song which I think is a disgrace, but they wat to attract people who listen to Hip-Hop which proves that they sold out to the people that are buying the newer records.

        Liked by 3 people

      4. They have sold out…although like the statistics that you stated not long ago…classic rock still makes up such a big percentage.

        Liked by 2 people

  2. Thats awesome the two Grumps in The Who helped finance Jett’s debut. Never knew that Max. Joans version is the best as I’m used to it the most to be honest with ya. Really cool as well you saw her open for The Who as well…

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Oh I yea I like it as well…it was interesting to see the songs progress…I didn’t know it was a cover until a few years ago.
      She is close to punk rock live…it was good.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Plus she is opening for Bryan Adams this summer. Jett is like Cheap Trick as they can still find their ways onto being an opening act on arena tours. Impressive to say the least and a better payday I’m sure as well…

        Liked by 3 people

  4. Some of those execs must have been regretting their assessments of her back then! Certainly one of the huge singles of the entire decade. I didn’t know the Who had anything to do with it or her, that’s cool. Also, I did know she did it in ’79 as an indie single, but I don’t think I’d ever heard it before. It was raw enough to have maybe gotten on college rock and the few alt rock stations , right alongside things like the Ramones. gotta give her credit for perserverance and a very durable career too.

    Liked by 3 people

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    1. Yea I like all three of the versions and she didn’t differ much from the Arrows version…just a tighter and louder version.
      Yea what a mistake…ignoring her. She had the best voice of them all to me.

      Liked by 1 person

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  6. Its a great record and better than Arrows version, though they had a great song hit with Touch Too Much in the UK. You give the UK too much credit though, 2 of the 3 were American, including singer Alan Merrill and guitarist Jake Hooker. They seemed more authentic as Rock Stars with their accents on TV. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  8. Holy crap! I had NO idea this was a cover. Didn’t know about the ’79 version or the Arrows. I am just the opposite. I am preferring the Arrows/’79 versions, better. I am actually sick to death of the ’82 version.

    I saw Jett, once. She and her entourage showed up at the 2005 ROT Rally in Austin. THAT was an interesting experience. Lots of drunken debauchery took place, there. I was not involved. 😝 I was merely a bystander. 😁

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. The Arrows version is not bad either. She stuck to the original but just more streamlined.
      Yea I can imagine! You should have joined in!

      Like

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      1. OH, no, no, no…

        I was in a lawn chair, hanging with my buddy Hank & his wife, Karen. The rally was held on private property, hence the debauchery. A public venue would never have allowed all the nudity. Anyway, there was a mile long dirt road loop that the motorcycles & ATVs would circle on. I nearly went blind over a dude, in his 80s, riding a motorized, skateboard/scooter looking thing. He was completely nude, except for a weiner sock. 🤨🤔🤭😵‍💫😵🥴😖😳🤣

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Ain’t that the damn truth. That place is off the rails, now. Even my former partner, Dave, can’t stand the place, anymore. He moved to a neighboring county and, luckily, gets to work from home. I’m glad I never lived there. The ex-Marine & I were farther north, next county up. I just worked downtown.

        Now, the place is overrun with Californians.

        Liked by 1 person

      10. Yea…here one of the reasons for the California migration is they built a Lowes distribution center in our small town…that brought a lot of people in. Plus Doctors, Lawyers, and music stars/producers live here because it’s in the country but near Nashville.

        Like

  9. It had all the bones to be a HUGE hit, but the Arrows just didn’t quite just didn’t really let themselves go. I look at their look-no dingy moustaches or sideburns, styled hair kinda in the David Cassidy vein- and can’t quite believe they were deemed worthy of a TV series either. A year or so and that look was so passé. Jett really kicked it up a notch, and it’s one of those songs that benefits from a female voice.

    Liked by 1 person

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  12. It’s kind of an epic song. For the longest time, I also only knew Jett’s famous version. Even though it hasn’t exactly suffered from obscurity, it still is my favorite of the three. That said, Arrows’ original isn’t bad either.

    BTW, I also saw Joan Jett and the Blackhearts open for The Who and thought they kicked ass. That was in Queens, New York in May 2015 during The Who’s 50th anniversary tour.

    I found both shows on setlist.fm: 🙂

    Joan Jett: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/joan-jett-and-the-blackhearts/2015/forest-hills-stadium-queens-ny-1bc99958.html

    The Who: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-who/2015/forest-hills-stadium-queens-ny-13c99959.html

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. That was the same tour I saw her on! I didn’t know they helped finance her first recordings. She was tight and the songs were loud in your face.

      Dang it..when I saw her they don’t have a setlist yet. It probably is the same one when you saw her.

      Liked by 1 person

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  14. I loved this song when it came out. I had no idea of the back story. It’s an amazing saga. I saw Joan Jett in KC on her 1982 tour to promote this album. I think she was touring with The Police, and I don’t remember who opened for who.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. I was so pleasantly surprised when I saw her open up for The Who. I didn’t know they helped her out early in her career either. She has such a good voice and stage presence.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. I had no idea about The Who’s early role either. That is very cool to know. They were having their own huge surge of success and productivity at that time, too, with Who Are You. I would have expected them to be too busy with their own projects and promotion to notice an up-and-comer and get involved. It says a lot about them. It’s great you got to see them both in 2016.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. The Who had bought Rampart Studios earlier…I wonder if they let her use their studio? It surprised me also…her producer knew them so I guess that is where they made a connection with her.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. 🥹 great post!

    Loved the runaways and Joan… solo… lol it’s no crime when you’re doing the time… I can’t remember who said this but it’s good for music references 😅

    the links aren’t working for me… but the post is wonderful!! Thanks for sharing!!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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