The Runaways (album)

The Runaways
Studio album by The Runaways
Released June 1, 1976
Recorded Fidelity Recorders in Studio City and Criterion Studios in Hollywood, California, 1976
Genre Hard rock, punk 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]

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 and The Stooges.

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

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 52nd best hard rock song of all time by VH1.[5] A cover of "Cherry Bomb" is featured in the music video game Rock Band as a downloadable single track. The song also featured in the movies Dazed and Confused, RV, Cherrybomb, The Runaways and Guardians of the Galaxy.

"You Drive Me Wild" is featured in the 2010 film about the band. Actress 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

Side A
No. TitleWriter(s)Lead vocals by Length
1. "Cherry Bomb"  Joan Jett, Kim FowleyCherie Currie 2:18
2. "You Drive Me Wild"  JettJett 3:22
3. "Is It Day or Night?"  FowleyCurrie 2:45
4. "Thunder"  Mark Anthony, Kari KromeCurrie 2:31
5. "Rock & Roll"  Lou ReedJett 3:17
Side B
No. TitleWriter(s)Lead vocals by Length
6. "Lovers"  Jett, FowleyJett 2:09
7. "American Nights"  Anthony, FowleyCurrie 3:15
8. "Blackmail"  Jett, FowleyJett 2:41
9. "Secrets"  Currie, Fowley, Krome, Sandy WestCurrie 2:43
10. "Dead End Justice"  Scott Anderson, Currie, Fowley, JettJett and Currie 7:01

Personnel

Band members
Additional musician
Production

Charts

Album
Chart (1977) Position
US Billboard 200[7] 194
Singles
Title Chart (1977) Position
"Cherry Bomb" US Billboard Hot 100[8] 106
Australian Singles Chart 57
Japanese Singles Chart[4] 1
Ukraine singles 2
Scandinavia Chart 1

References

  1. ↑ Huey, Steve. "The Runaways Allmusic entry". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  2. ↑ Henderson, Alex. "The Runaways The Runaways review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  3. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Review: The Runaways". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Heatley, Michael (2003). The Runaways (CD Booklet). The Runaways. London , UK: Cherry Red Records. CDMRED 237.
  5. ↑ "Vh1 Top 100 Hard Rock Songs". VH1. Spreadit.org. 1 January 2009. 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. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  7. ↑ "The Runaways: Awards – Billboard Albums". AllMusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. Retrieved June 9, 2012.
  8. ↑ http://www.musicvf.com/The+Runaways.art