Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXVIII--The Runaways: Cherry Bomb

Because of (mostly) Joan Jett and (a little) Lita Ford, I was familiar with The Runaways by name...and thanks to No Thanks! The 70's Punk Rebellion I am now familiar with their most successful tune, which becomes the second entry from that album to join the exalted (or not) ranks of Friday Night Jukebox...

The Runaways formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, and while their time together may have been short, they certainly made their mark.  Joan Jett, Lita Ford, Cherie Currie, Sandy West, and Jackie Fox would be the most famous incarnation of the band (there were a few replacements along the way) that would last until 1979.  During that time they released four studio albums, 1 live album, and in the years since, have released 8 compilation albums.   Their standing as the first all girl metal band is firmly entrenched, though the band had very little commercial success outside of Japan (Japan absolutely adored this week's featured tune and gave them a Beatlesque welcome to The Land of the Rising Sun--so many cool kids in Japan!).  After their break-up, Joan Jett had a great deal of success with several top ten hits, and eventually was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.  Lita Ford had a top ten hit with a duet with, of all people, Ozzy Osbourne.  The other members remained in music or left the music industry for other careers (Fox became a lawyer).  Sadly, Sandy West passed away in 2006 from complications from lung cancer.  Their influence on female bands and artists (including the Go-Go's Courtney Love, the Donnas, and White Flag), as well as on the punk and alternative movements, is widely acknowledged.

"Cherry Bomb" was released as a single in 1976 from the Runaways quite aptly named debut LP The Runaways.  Neither the album nor the single had much commercial success, though the single did make it to #106 (with a bullet!) on Billboard's "Bubbling Under" (the Hot 100) chart.

"Cherry Bomb" was originally written by Joan Jett as a vehicle for Cherie Curie to audition for the band's lead vocalist (the band didn't know the song Curie actually wanted to do--oh the joys of youth).  The song is your basic "I'm not Mommy and Daddy's little girl anymore" tune (none of The Runaways were out of their teens when the song was released), and Curie sings it with all the exuberance you would hope for from a liberated teen.  Ford (lead guitar) and Jett (rhythm guitar) play off each other well and produce a staccato effect (with help from West on drums) that gives "Cherry Bomb" the bad ass feel that the song's protagonist is projecting.  And when you throw in a catchy as all hell chorus, replete with a head banging stutter, we have a winner.  In the end it's a stellar piece of youthful exuberance, made all the more powerful by the fact that it's an all female rock band from a time when women were fighting like hell to be accepted into virtually every male dominated profession in America, including rock and roll musicians...and The Runaways succeeded quite nicely.

Lyric Sheet:  "Hello Daddy, hello Mom/I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. LVI--The Angels: My Boyfriend's Back

I'm in love with some Jersey girls this week....

A few years back I was working at Kmart doing some bullshit far beneath my God given abilities task when "My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels come on the piped in music over the PA system and about halfway through the song I thought to myself, "Has this song always been this good?" I moved so that I stood directly underneath one of the speakers so I could have an optimal listening experience, and sure enough, it was that good.  Just to make sure, when I went home that night I downloaded it from iTunes and listened to it about ten times in a row, all the while wondering just how far my head had to have been up my fanny for umpteen years to have never noticed how utterly  fantastic "My Boyfriend's Back" actually is.

The Angels actually began as The Starlets in 1961, with the sisters Phyllis and Barbara Allbut among others.  The group would go through several incarnations in a relatively short period of time and fail to find a producer, after which the Allbut sisters would turn back to their education.  Eventually one Gerry Granahan saw their potential and they released the single "Till" with Linda Jansen doing the lead vocals.  Jansen would quit in 1962 and was replaced by Peggy Santiglia.  Together the three Jersey girls would record "My Boyfriend's Back," with Santiglia on lead vocals, as a demo to be considered by the Shirelles, but--and thank heaven for small miracles--someone saw something in The Angels  version and decided to release it as a single.  It would go on to reach #1 (most assuredly with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  The Angels would never again reach such heights, but still perform occasionally to this day.

"My Boyfriend's Back" is basically the story of a young woman telling a rejected suitor who has spread lies about her love life that her boyfriend is back in town and he's going to open a can of whoop ass on him.  Released in 1963 on the quite aptly titled My Boyfriend's Back LP, the song features Santiglia on lead vocals, with the Allbut sisters harmonizing after each of her throaty declarations the ever so cool "Hey-la, hey-la, my boyfriend's back" with all the buddy you are so fucked now swagger their hearts can muster.  Throw in some subtle drums and electric guitars, replete with some rhythmically magical hand claps (courtesy of the Allbuts), and that alone would be enough to brand "My Boyfriend's Back" as a classic, but--yes, it gets even better--before the song fades out Santimiglia bursts into a buckshot scream crescendo, singing over the Allbut sisters repeated harmonies rat-a-tat-tatting pure euphoria at the rebuffed young man's comeuppance.  And at that point "My Boyfriend's Back" shoots into another stratosphere of classic song.

At least it does for me--it is a true case of pop music lightning in a bottle.

O joy! O rapture! words:  "If I were you I'd take a permanent vacation, hey-la, hey-la...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee