The Runaways: The First True All Female Metal Band

Janis Joplin and Grace Slick for the first queens of rock in the 60's and in the 70's came Ann and Nancy Wilson who were arguably the first modern rock chicks. In the later part of the 70's and early 80's we had such great ladies like Pat Benatar, Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry. All of these women were rock queens in the true sense and their contribution to music will always be remembered.

[caption id="attachment_1501" align="aligncenter" width="256" class=" "] Janis Joplin[/caption][caption id="attachment_1679" align="aligncenter" width="127" class=" "] Grace Slick[/caption][caption id="attachment_1373" align="aligncenter" width="188" class=" "] Debbie Harry[/caption][caption id="attachment_1396" align="aligncenter" width="195" class=" "] Pat Benatar[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_874" align="aligncenter" width="168" class=" "] Heart[/caption][caption id="attachment_1759" align="aligncenter" width="243" class=" "] The Pretenders[/caption]

In 1981, two all female bands made their way into the spotlight, The Go-Gos and Girlschool. While the former had a more commercial rock sound, the latter was straight forward heavy metal and stood alongside of many of the NWOBHM acts that were coming out that year. However, these two weren't the all female bands who could blow speakers with great power chords. Before them came The Runaways.

[caption id="attachment_2299" align="aligncenter" width="278" class=" "] The Go Go's[/caption][caption id="attachment_2373" align="aligncenter" width="276" class=" "] Girlschool[/caption]

I had heard of The Runaways even before the film that came out a few years ago. Even at the tender (small chuckle here) age of sixteen, I was enamoured with these fine ladies who played such aggressive music. I did listen to their debut album and liked it. Likewise, I wanted to listen to their second one "Queens of Noise" but never got the chance. Must rectify that in the future. While, I never heard any of their songs on that cheap AM radio I had back then, they toured extensively and played many sell out concerts in the US and Japan. Furthermore, the likes of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Cheap Trick and Van Halen supported them. Unfortunately, accusations of mismanagement, rows over money and direction plus several personnel changes lead to break up of the band.

Albums:

The Runaways- 1976

Queens of Noise- 1977

Waitin' for the Night- 1977

Live in Japan- 1977

And Now, The Runaways- 1978

The Runaways

Cherrie Currie- vocals

Joan Jett- guitar, vocals

Lita Ford- guitar

Jackie Fox- bass

Sandy West- drums

*Vicki Blue and Laurie McAllister also played bass during The Runaways reign

While The Runaways may be no longer, the members are still around and making themselves known. One of them would dethrone Pat Benatar as the queen of rock in 1982 and possibly become the first metal queen. That one is up for debate. Another ex Runaway would also make a huge splash in heavy metal circles nor would some of the other former members remain completely silent. Almost silently, these ladies would go onto to be an influence on heavy metal and I think the all female metal bands that would spring up less than a decade later can look to them for inspiration. Don't take my word for it, watch the film and listen to their music for yourself.

Next post: 1982- The Floodgates Are Open

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Great Soundtracks of 1980: Up the Academy

There is many a film out there where the film itself wasn't up to much but it had a kick ass soundtrack. One I covered already with "The Last Waltz" although the film itself was a concert and there are more out there which will appear here. One such film from 1980 was the film from Mad Magazine called "Up The Academy." One doesn't need a college degree to figure out that Mad Magazine made this film in an attempt to cash in on the success of their rival National Lampoon whose film "Animal House" is one of the forever classics. Unfortunately, there is no comparison between the two films, "Animal House" wins hands down.

This is not to say that "Up the Academy" is a bad film. Actually, I thought it was funny in many places. The film is about four teenage boys who are sent to military school by their parents on account of things the boys have done to bring dishonour to the family. One got his girlfriend pregnant and his father is a politician campaigning on the anti-abortion platform. One, played by a young Ralph Machio, is the son of a mafia kingpin and is not interested in the family business. Then there is the son of the Arabian Sheik and the pot smoking African American boy whose father is a TV evangelist. Without going into full details, the main characters immediately fall foul of the gung-ho commandant and there is a lot of funny moments as they try to get one over on him. For months after I saw the film, one of my marine buddies who I saw it with, (he went by Mooch,) would impersonate the commandant with "Say ageeen, say ageen."

A scene from the film

What stood out for me more than the laughs was all the great songs that were played in the film. Now classics like "One Way or Another" from Blondie and Cheap Trick's "Surrender" lead a string of cool rock tunes. There are also contributions from Pat Benatar, Sammy Hagar, The Kinks, Dwight Twilley and a ten minute song from the legendary Lou Reed. Ok, they only played a small part of the song. As the case with many soundtracks, there is some unknown band that makes its mark. On this soundtrack, it is the band Blow-Up. Three of their songs appear on the album and I was impressed with all of them. The opener, "Kicking Up a Fuss" reminds me of The Ramones or The Dead Kennedys and the other two, while less punk are still good rock tunes as well. This is definitely a cool soundtrack.

Blondie

Cheap Trick

Track Listing:

1. Blow-Up- Kicking Up a Fuss

2. Iggy and the Stooges- Gimme Danger

3. Dwight Twilley Band- Trying to Find My Baby

4. Blondie- X Offender

5. Eddie and the Hot Rods- Do Anything You Wanna Do

6. The Kinks- Yes Sir, No Sir

7. Ian Hunter- We Gotta Get Out of Here

8. Lou Reed- Street Hassle

9. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers- Roadrunner

10. The Boomtown Rats- Rat Trap

11. David Johansen- Girls

12. Blondie- One Way or Another

13. Cheeks- Coquette

14. Blow-Up- Local Hero

15. Sammy Hagar- Bad Reputation

16. Iggy Pop and James Williamson- Night Theme

17. Cheeks- Bony Moronie

18. Nick Lowe- Heart of the City

19. Pat Benatar- We Live for Love

20. The Babys- Midnight Rendezvous

21. Cheap Trick- Surrender

22. Blow- Up- Beat the Devil

So if you want a good laugh while rocking out to some great tunes then your task is simple. Watch "Up the Academy" and then listen to the soundtrack, it's definitely worth it. But it does seem a shame that Blow-Up never seemed to make it big.

Next post: Great Rock One Hit Wonders of 1980

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to: www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Blondie- Eat to the Beat

There's no denying it, it is a fact that 1979 was the year for Blondie. They began the year with their 1978 release "Parallel Lines" which included the number 1 hit single "Heart of Glass." One of the few songs to successfully make the rock-disco crossover that year. Debbie Harry became a common fixture on the walls of many teenage boys, including mine. Then they ended the year with "Eat to the Beat," also a good album. Along with "Get the Knack" and "The Long Run" by the Eagles, this was also one of the albums that first greeted me when I came home on leave from that no contact with the outside world three month period I call boot camp.

 

 

 

Debbie Harry

 

 

 

 

 

I won't go into a compare/contrast with "Parallel Lines" the way I did with Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" album. "Eat to the Beat" took Blondie into a more new wave direction. The hard rock sound is still there but it seems more melodic this time around. There are some very good tracks like the singles, "Dreaming" and "Atomic" and I really like "Accidents Never Happen." It is a good album on its own and kept Blondie at the top of the rock music hill for 1979 and early 1980.

Track Listing:

1. Dreaming

2. The Hardest Part

3. Union City Blues

4. Shayla

5. Eat to the Beat

6. Accidents Never Happen

7. Die Young, Stay Pretty

8. Slow Motion

9. Atomic

10. Sound Asleep

11. Victor

12. Living in the Real World

Blondie

Deborah Harry- vocals

Chris Stein- lead guitar

Jimmy Destri- keyboards, backing vocals

Nigel Harrison- bass

Frank Infante- guitar, backing vocals

Clem Burke- drums

"Eat to the Beat" was the second of two great albums from Blondie and the reason why 1979 was their year. Many boys like me first listened to them because they liked the lead singer, but stayed with them because of the music. It was something great to come home from boot camp to.

Next post: Jethro Tull- Stormwarning

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London

Great Rock Albums of 1979: Blondie- Parallel Lines

Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson were the first rock ladies to tingle my teenage hormones and Deborah Harry from Blondie was definitely the second. I still have nice memories of when I first saw her on the old Midnight Special show in the mini skirt and green tights. The band played their most popular hit, "Heart of Glass" and while I class the song as one that's not bad, it wasn't the song that I was thinking about.
Musically, while most people will say that "Heart of Glass" was their best song, it wasn't the song that attracted me to them in that way. That honour belongs to another single from the album, "One Way or Another." For me, that song proved to me that Blondie could rock. Furthermore, there are song other cool rock type songs like "11:59" and "Will Anything Happen." The rest of the album contains some good to passable rock tunes which makes this it all around, a pretty good album.

Track Listing:

1. Hanging on the Telephone

2. One Way or Another

3. Picture This

4. Fade Away, Radiate

5. Pretty Baby

6. I Know But I Don't Know

7. 11:59

8. Will Anything Happen

9. Sunday Girl

10. Heart of Glass

11. I'm Gonna Love You Too

12. Just Go Away

Blondie

Deborah Harry- vocals

Frank Infante- guitars

Chris Stein- guitar, 12 string guitar and ebow

Jimmy Destri- keyboards

Nigel Harrison- bass

Clem Burke- drums

I admit, it was the fabulous look of Deborah Harry which first got me into Blondie and I know I wasn't the only teenage boy guilty of this. But beyond the sex, there is some really good music from "Parallel Lines" and it is easy to see why it went so high in the album charts and why it's considered Blondie's most popular album. So, here's a photo of Deborah Harry so those who aren't old enough to remember her in her prime can see what the fuss was all about.

Next post: Jefferson Starship- Gold

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London