SITE PRE-SALE DATE: 2/12/2010
SITE SHIP DATE: 2/26/2010
LIMITED EDITION QUANTITY: 7000
Theirs was a story truly born on the streets of Hollywood and left for all to review in the annals of recorded music. The history of the Runaways, now coming to life again on the big screen (with Kristen Stewart in the role of Joan Jett), is one of discovery, strong determination, bravado, teen lust and what would later become, to some, “a can of worms.”
But what we have to reflect back on are four albums: The Runaways, Queens of Noise, Live in Japan, and Waitin’ For the Night. All 42 songs that were included on those original albums made for Mercury are contained on two CDs and available now from Hip-O Select.
In 1976, after making several personnel changes since their seminal formation just a year prior, the newly assembled, five-member, all-female, L.A.-based band—all underage minors at the time—and their Svengali-like producer, Kim Fowley, caught the attention of Mercury Records and, soon enough, the dotted lines were signed.
In a span of under three years, with different band members and steady producers, they generated three studio albums and one live recording, taped at performances in front of enthusiastic crowds with their biggest fans present, in Japan. The phenomenon may have been lopsided with their spotty, regional appeal, but they broke the mold and set the trend for future female rockers to come.
Comprised of teenagers using various “stage names,” the original members often referred to as “jailbait rockers” within the industry—Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Lita Ford, Sandy West and Jackie Fox—had stars in their eyes and a fire in their bellies. And they learned their instruments on the fly while developing their songwriting skills under the supervision of Fowley, who would subsequently yield his managerial role as the band, literally, began to disintegrate, since all was not rosy below the surface.
This 2-disc package also contains a set of four Runaways temporary tattoos!