| "I Love Rock 'n Roll" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Arrows | ||||
| B-side | "Broken Down Heart" (R. Ferris) | |||
| Released | 1975 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Recorded | 1975 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:48 | |||
| Label | RAK Records | |||
| Writer(s) | Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker | |||
| Producer | Mickie Most | |||
| Arrows singles chronology | ||||
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"I Love Rock 'n Roll" is a rock song written in 1975 by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker of Arrows, who recorded the first released version. The song was later made famous by the hit version recorded by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts in 1981.
The song was originally recorded and released by the Arrows in 1975 on RAK Records, with lead vocals by Alan Merrill and produced by Mickie Most. In an interview with Songfacts, Merrill said he wrote it as "a knee-jerk response to The Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)'."[1] This version was first released as a B-side, but was soon re-recorded and flipped to A-side status on a subsequent pressing of the record. Although not a chart hit in its original version as a result of non-existent promotion by the band's label, the song has come to worldwide prominence due to very successful cover versions that have been recorded.
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| "I Love Rock 'n Roll" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts | ||||
| from the album I Love Rock 'n Roll | ||||
| B-side | "You Don't Know What You've Got" "Love Is Pain" "You're Too Possessive" |
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| Released | January 20, 1982 | |||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | |||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||
| Genre | Rock, hard rock | |||
| Length | 2:52 | |||
| Label | Boardwalk Records | |||
| Producer | Richie Cordell, Kenny Laguna | |||
| Certification | Platinum | |||
| Joan Jett and the Blackhearts singles chronology | ||||
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Joan Jett saw the Arrows perform "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" on their weekly television series Arrows when she was touring England with The Runaways in 1976. She first recorded the song in 1979 with two of the Sex Pistols: Steve Jones and Paul Cook. This first version was not released until 1993 in Flashback. In 1981, Jett re-recorded the song, this time with her band, The Blackhearts. This recording became a U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single for seven weeks,[2] effectively launching Jett's solo career. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing one million units sold. All versions count once toward certification. This success propelled Jett's I Love Rock 'n Roll album to number two on the Billboard 200. Joan Jett's version was ranked #89 in the list 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of Rolling Stone.[3]
"I Love Rock 'n Roll"'s gritty, black-and-white music video received heavy play from the then-young MTV network. In it, Jett and the Blackhearts travel to a small, dingy bar and proceed to excite the drunken crowd by performing the song and yelling out its famous chorus. A snippet of Jett's 1981 hit, "Bad Reputation," is featured at the beginning of the video. Jett followed "I Love Rock 'n Roll" up with another cover — her version of Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" was a top-ten U.S. hit. The video was originally in color, but it was converted to black and white due to the way Joan Jett felt her red leather jacket looked in color.
In 1993 Joan Jett and the Blackhearts made another music video for the song as part of the Wayne's World 2 soundtrack. In the video appear several scenes from the movie with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey mixed with Joan and her band playing in a concert. It was again released as a single by Warner/Reprise with "Activity Grrrl" as the B-side.
Jett's version has received many accolades, including:
In 1983, "Weird Al" Yankovic released a parody of Jett's version, titled "I Love Rocky Road", which appeared on his self-titled debut album. Besides the song using Jett's version for the music, a music video was also released modeled after Jett's video.
Also, cover versions of Jett's version have appeared in two music video games: Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution Party. The original version made an appearance in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, as well as in Rock Band 3.It is also featured in 2000 movie Coyote Ugly.
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Kent Music Report | 1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 4 |
| Canadian Singles Chart[5] | 1 |
| Dutch Singles Chart[6] | 1 |
| German Singles Chart | 6 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 3 |
| UK Singles Chart | 4 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 1 |
| US Billboard Top Tracks | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs | 1 |
| Preceded by "Centerfold" by The J. Geils Band |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Joan Jett version) March 20, 1982 - May 1, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Chariots of Fire" by Vangelis |
| Preceded by "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell |
Canadian "RPM" Singles Chart number-one single (Joan Jett version) March 20, 1982 - May 8, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League |
| Preceded by "What About Me" by Moving Pictures |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single (Joan Jett version) May 3, 1982 - May 31, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Mickey" by Toni Basil |
| "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Britney Spears | ||||
| from the album Britney | ||||
| Released | May 28, 2002 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Recorded | March 2001 | |||
| Genre | Pop rock, dance-pop | |||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | Jive | |||
| Writer(s) | Nigel Burt | |||
| Producer | Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins | |||
| Certification | Gold (ARIA)[7] | |||
| Britney Spears singles chronology | ||||
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"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is the fourth European single released by pop singer Britney Spears from the album Britney during the second quarter of 2002. The song was used in her 2002 movie Crossroads. Spears's character, Lucy, performs it in a karaoke bar. Spears said of the song, "They asked me to sing karaoke in the movie Crossroads and I've actually sung I Love Rock 'n' Roll in a lot of clubs that I've been to."[8] Spears has publicly admitted the original song to be one of her favorites. Spears listened to the Arrows' original Mickie Most-produced version just before she recorded the song, according to her Jive A&R man Steve Lunt. The scratches performed on this song were performed by Corey Chase, at Hit Factory Miami. When promoting the single's release she infamously attributed the hit version of the song to Pat Benatar instead of Jett, although she claims this was a remark made in sarcasm rather than a mistake.[9] The song is a pop rock and dance-pop song.[10]
The song was later met with criticism by Matthew Wilkening of AOL Radio, who ranked it at #37 on the list of the 100 Worst Songs Ever in 2010 and said that Spears was "[d]oing her best to single-handedly set the women-in-rock movement back 20 years."[11] David Browne wrote for Entertainment Weekly that "her remake is neither imaginative (it simply xeroxes Joan Jett's arrangement) nor all that believable."[12]
However, the song received favorable reviews. NME's Ted Kessler wrote that Britney "still works best when making a good pop cheese and dance sandwich: there's the ace Rodney Jerkins-produced version of Joan Jett's 'I Love Rock'n'Roll', which does exactly what is says on the tin."[13] Rolling Stone's Barry Walters wrote that "producer Rodney Jerkins' hip-hop blaspheming of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" doesn't go as far as it should (is a Limp Bizkit remix in its future?), but it certainly beats what her earlier studio architects did to those Sonny and Cher (The Beat Goes On on ...Baby One More Time) and Stones ((I Can't Get No) Satisfaction on Britney) songs."[14] Another positive reception came from PopMatters's editor Nikki Tranter,who enjoyed that the song is "different from the average run-of-the-mill pop offering, and praised that "she does strange justice to the tune vamping up her vocals and turning out something, that while silly and camp, is actually a fun listen."[15]
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" failed to make the top ten in most countries. However, the track was not a total flop as it made at least top forty placement in most regions. The song was moderately successful in the UK, where it peaked at number thirteen (which, at the time, was her lowest peak for a single released there, until "Till the World Ends" only managed to reach number twenty-one in 2011). The single sold a total of 65,000 copies.[16] The single also got Gold certification in Australia despite missing the top ten.
Directed by Chris Applebaum, the music video for "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" features Spears in a tight-fitting leather getup. Straightforward, it features Spears jamming in a large red room, complete with her own band, a stack of speakers, and flashing lights. She crawls along on the floor, and plays air guitar before smashing the speakers with a real guitar. Spears also dances on a rotating motorcycle and gets covered with confetti. The video made its way to the No. 2 spot at the 100 Best Videos of 2002 at MTV Latin America's countdown, only behind Avril Lavigne's "Complicated". The Director's Cut version of the video was later leaked; it included previously unseen scenes from the video. The Bar where it was shot is called The Inn, in Long Beach, New York.
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| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia Singles Chart[17] | 13 |
| Ö3 Austria Top 75[17] | 9 |
| Belgium Singles Chart (Flanders)[17] | 15 |
| Belgium Singles Chart (Wallonia)[17] | 27 |
| Finland Singles Chart[17] | 19 |
| Irish Singles Chart[17] | 8 |
| Italian Singles Chart[17] | 20 |
| Netherlands Singles Chart[17] | 18 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[17] | 15 |
| Swiss Singles Chart[17] | 15 |
| UK Singles Chart | 13 |
| Country | Certification | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia[18] | Gold | 35,000 |
| "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Alex Gaudino & Jason Rooney | ||||
| Released | 3 December 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | Dance | |||
| Length | 3:37 | |||
| Label | 541/NEWS | |||
| Writer(s) | Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker | |||
| Alex Gaudino chronology | ||||
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The Alex Gaudino & Jason Rooney cover version was released in 2008.
| UK Digital download | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Radio Edit) | 3:37 | |||||||
| 2. | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Extended Mix) | 7:43 | |||||||
| 3. | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Dabruck, Klein Remix) | 6:01 | |||||||
| 4. | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Mari & Milani Remix) | 5:35 | |||||||
| 5. | "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" (Disko Kirminals Remix) | 7:05 | |||||||
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[19] | 10 |
| Region | Date | Format |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 3 December 2008 | Digital download[20] |
"I Love Rock 'n Roll" is an often-covered song, and has been notably recorded by such artists as:
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