Cherry Bomb (The Runaways song)

"Cherry Bomb"
Cover of the 1976 Japan single
Single by The Runaways
from the album The Runaways
B-side	"Blackmail"
Released	1976
Format	7"
Genre	Hard rock punk rock
Length	2:19
Label	Mercury
Songwriter(s)	Joan Jett Kim Fowley
Producer(s)	Kim Fowley
The Runaways singles chronology
"Cherry Bomb" (1976) "Rock & Roll" (1976)
"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, and is often regarded as the band's signature song.^[1] "Cherry Bomb" was also ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.^[2] It reached number 1 on the Japanese chart and number 106 on the U.S chart.^[3]

Singer/guitarist Joan Jett composed the song with Kim Fowley, the band's then-manager. 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.

Jett re-recorded the song with her band the Blackhearts for the 1984 album Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth. Cherie Currie also re-recorded "Cherry Bomb" with Marie Currie, her twin sister, on their 1997 re-released version of the album Messin' with the Boys.

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 film Dazed and Confused (1993), and was included on the latter film's soundtrack album.^[4]

"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]

The "Cherry Bomb" refrain is sung by Jojo Levesque in a scene of the 2006 movie RV. Levesque had to be trained to sing the song poorly for humorous effect.

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

Joan Jett recorded a live version backed by L7 for inclusion on the benefit album Spirit of '73: Rock for Choice.

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

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]

References