Cherry Bomb (The Runaways song)

"Cherry Bomb"
Single by The Runaways
from the album The Runaways
B-side	Blackmail
Released	1976
Genre	Punk rock, hard rock
Length	2:19
Label	Phonogram
Writer(s)	Joan Jett, Kim Fowley
Certification	Gold
The Runaways singles chronology
"Cherry Bomb" (1976) "Rock & Roll" (1976)

"Cherry Bomb" is a 1976 punk-influenced hard rock single by the all-girl band The Runaways from their self-titled debut album. It is regarded by many as the band's signature song.^[1] "Cherry Bomb" was also ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.^[2] Singer/guitarist Joan Jett composed the song with the band's then-manager, Kim Fowley, and would later go on to re-record it with her band The Blackhearts for the 1984 album Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth. Cherie Currie also re-recorded "Cherry Bomb" with her identical twin sister, Marie Currie, on their 1997 re-released version of the album Messin' with the Boys. In the 2005 documentary Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways, Fowley and former Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie claimed that "Cherry Bomb" was quickly written just for Currie to audition for the band, because the band members could not perform the song she originally chose to sing. The Runaways' song "Cherry Bomb" charted number 1 on Japan charts. The song charted number 106 on United States charts.^[3]

Chart performance

Popular culture

The Runaways' version of "Cherry Bomb" was used in the television film Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway (1976) as well as the cult classic film Dazed and Confused (1993), and was featured on the latter film's soundtrack album.^[4] The song also appears in the Highlander: The Series episode "Free Fall" (1992), which also features Joan Jett as a special guest star.

"Cherry Bomb" can be partially heard a capella by JoJo in the comedy film RV (2006) where she is singing intentionally badly and air drumming with her earphones plugged in to distract her from riding with her family.

"Cherry Bomb" was re-recorded by Jett and Currie for use in the 2010 video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock as a playable song.^[5] This version was heard in the season 5 premiere of the HBO drama series True Blood ("Turn! Turn! Turn!", 2012) which features characters playing the game.

Currie performed "Cherry Bomb" with Warehouse 13 star Allison Scagliotti in the series' Season 4 episode "Runaway" (2013).

"Cherry Bomb" was covered by Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart (who played Currie and Jett, respectively) for the biographical film The Runaways (2010).^[6]

The song was covered by Verbal + Yoon on the compilation disc 50 Years of Dr. Martens (2010), and Miley Cyrus covered it for her 2011 Gypsy Heart Tour.

Jett's version of "Cherry Bomb" is featured in the 2012 video game Lollipop Chainsaw, developed by Suda 51 and James Gunn, who later uses the song again for his film Guardians of the Galaxy.

The song is heard in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), during the opening moments of the film's climactic battle sequence. It is also included on the film's soundtrack.^[7][8] The film's director James Gunn previously used the song for his video game Lollipop Chainsaw.

References