Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)
Encyclopedia
Bad Reputation is the debut solo album by Joan Jett
, originally self-released in 1980 as Joan Jett after her previous band The Runaways
disbanded, then re-issued on Boardwalk Records
in 1981 as Bad Reputation.
The album sold relatively well, prompting its re-release a year later as Bad Reputation on Boardwalk Records
, with identical tracklisting. Jett said that the new title referred to the bad reputation that she had as a former member of the Runaways.
Recorded before Jett formed The Blackhearts, it includes performances by a large number of well known musicians, including The Sex Pistols' Paul Cook
and Steve Jones
, Blondie
's Clem Burke
and Frank Infante
, The Ramones' Dee Dee Ramone
and Marky Ramone
and The Tyla Gang's Sean Tyla
, Micky Groome
and Paul Simmons.
When the album's European rights were secured through Ariola Records
, "Hanky Panky" replaced "Wooly Bully" as the final song on Side 2. When the record was issued through Boardwalk in the US under the title "Bad Reputation", the label stuck with "Wooly Bully" as the final track, making the "Hanky Panky" import version a real collector's item. However, the song was included as a bonus track on the 1999 CD re-issue.
Rolling Stone
Magazine named the album #36 on their '50 Coolest Albums of all Time' List in 2005.
In 1999, the album was again re-issued, this time on CD with several bonus tracks and a remastered version of the original album.
The title track "Bad Reputation" was covered by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne
and appears as a video montage on her The Best Damn Tour – Live in Toronto DVD, and was later recorded and included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of her 2011 album Goodbye Lullaby
.
* "Do You Wanna Touch Me" listed on the cover as "Touch Me"
** "Wooly Bully" was misspelled on the album cover as "Wully Bully"
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
, originally self-released in 1980 as Joan Jett after her previous band The Runaways
The Runaways
The Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"...
disbanded, then re-issued on Boardwalk Records
Boardwalk Records
Boardwalk Records was a record label founded by Neil Bogart in 1980, after PolyGram acquired his Casablanca Records. The label had a huge hit act with Joan Jett before Neil Bogart died of cancer in 1982...
in 1981 as Bad Reputation.
Background
After independently recording the album with producer Kenny Laguna, Jett took the record to a number of major record labels, all of which were uninterested in releasing the project. Rather than continue to hunt for a willing label, Laguna and Jett decided to fund the pressing of the album themselves. The original, self-released, version of the album was simply titled Joan Jett and was sold directly to concert-goers and record stores out of Laguna's trunk.The album sold relatively well, prompting its re-release a year later as Bad Reputation on Boardwalk Records
Boardwalk Records
Boardwalk Records was a record label founded by Neil Bogart in 1980, after PolyGram acquired his Casablanca Records. The label had a huge hit act with Joan Jett before Neil Bogart died of cancer in 1982...
, with identical tracklisting. Jett said that the new title referred to the bad reputation that she had as a former member of the Runaways.
Recorded before Jett formed The Blackhearts, it includes performances by a large number of well known musicians, including The Sex Pistols' Paul Cook
Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
and Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
, Blondie
Blondie (band)
Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
's Clem Burke
Clem Burke
Clem Burke is an American musician who is the drummer for the band Blondie. Recruited by Chris Stein and Debbie Harry when they were first forming Blondie, Burke remained with the band through its first stage and later returned for its late 1990s reunion and then its extensive 2009 tour.Following...
and Frank Infante
Frank Infante
Frank Infante is an American guitarist and bassist best known as a former member of the punk/new wave band, Blondie.Prior to Blondie, he established himself playing guitar in heavy, electric blues groups such as The Elegant End and World War III. In 1975, he joined Sniper, an early, American glam...
, The Ramones' Dee Dee Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
and Marky Ramone
Marky Ramone
Marky Ramone is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer for the Ramones, but has also played in other notable bands like Dust, Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, and the Misfits.Although he is not the original drummer , Marky is the only living...
and The Tyla Gang's Sean Tyla
Sean Tyla
Sean Tyla is an English rock guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter, sometimes known as the “Godfather of Boogie”...
, Micky Groome
Micky Groome
Micky Groome is an English bassist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer.- Early life and career :...
and Paul Simmons.
When the album's European rights were secured through Ariola Records
Ariola Records
Ariola Records is a German record label. As of the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of BMG which in turn has since become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment...
, "Hanky Panky" replaced "Wooly Bully" as the final song on Side 2. When the record was issued through Boardwalk in the US under the title "Bad Reputation", the label stuck with "Wooly Bully" as the final track, making the "Hanky Panky" import version a real collector's item. However, the song was included as a bonus track on the 1999 CD re-issue.
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Magazine named the album #36 on their '50 Coolest Albums of all Time' List in 2005.
In 1999, the album was again re-issued, this time on CD with several bonus tracks and a remastered version of the original album.
The title track "Bad Reputation" was covered by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
and appears as a video montage on her The Best Damn Tour – Live in Toronto DVD, and was later recorded and included as a bonus track on the deluxe edition of her 2011 album Goodbye Lullaby
Goodbye Lullaby
Goodbye Lullaby is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne. The album was first released on 8 March 2011 through RCA Records . Recording sessions began in November 2008, and took place over a period of almost two years, concluding in October 2010...
.
Track listing
- "Bad Reputation" (Jett, Ritchie Cordell, Kenny Laguna, Marty Joe Kupersmith)
- "Make Believe" (Joey Levine, Bo Gentry)
- "You Don't Know What You've Got" (Jett, Ritchie Cordell, Kenny Laguna)
- "You Don't Own MeYou Don't Own Me"You Don't Own Me" is a popular song written by the Philadelphia songwriters John Madara and David White, and recorded by Lesley Gore in 1963, when Gore was 17 years old. The song reached No...
" (John Madara, Dave White Tricker) - "Too Bad On Your Birthday" (Charlie Karp, Arthur Resnick)
- "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" (Gary GlitterGary GlitterGary Glitter is an English former glam rock singer-songwriter and musician.Glitter first came to prominence in the glam rock era of the early 1970s...
, Mike LeanderMike LeanderMichael George Farr professionally known as Mike Leander was an arranger and record producer for Decca Records in the 1960s and Bell Records in the 1970s and worked with such artists as Marianne Faithfull, Billy Fury, Marc Bolan, Joe Cocker, The Small Faces, Van Morrison, Alan Price, Peter...
)* - "Let Me Go" (Jett, Ritchie Cordell, Kenny Laguna)
- "Doing All Right With The Boys" (Gary Glitter, Mike Leander)
- "Shout" (O'Kelly Isley, Ronald IsleyRonald IsleyRonald Isley is an American singer and is known as the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers.-Career:...
, Rudolph IsleyRudolph IsleyRudolph Bernard Isley , better known as Rudy Isley, is an American singer-songwriter and is one of the founding members of the legendary family group, The Isley Brothers.-Biography:...
) - "Jezebel" (Jett, Kenny Laguna)
- "Don't Abuse Me" (Jett)
- "Wooly BullyWooly Bully"Wooly Bully" is a popular song originally recorded by novelty rock 'n' roll band Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1965. Based on a standard 12-bar blues progression, it was written by the band's leader, Domingo "Sam" Samudio. It was released as a single on the Memphis-based Pen label and...
" (Domingo Samudio)**
Bonus tracks
- "Call Me Lightning" (Pete TownshendPete TownshendPeter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
) - "Hanky Panky" (Ellie GreenwichEllie GreenwichEleanor Louise "Ellie" Greenwich was an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer. She wrote or co-wrote "Be My Baby", "Christmas ", "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Leader of the Pack", "Do Wah Diddy Diddy", and "River Deep, Mountain High", among many others...
, Jeff BarryJeff BarryJeff Barry is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer.-Early career:...
) - "What Can I Do For You?" (Kenny Laguna)
- "You Don't Own Me"
- "Bad Reputation" (Live)
- "Summertime BluesSummertime Blues"Summertime Blues" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran. It was written in the late 1950s by Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. Originally a single B-side, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on...
" (1992 Bonus)
Singles
- "Make Believe" was released as a 7-inch single on the AriolaAriola RecordsAriola Records is a German record label. As of the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of BMG which in turn has since become a part of the international media conglomerate Sony Music Entertainment...
label. The record was accompanied by a fold-out mini-poster sleeve featuring the album cover photo. The record's b-side was a cover version of "Call Me Lightning" which eventually turned up again on Jett's odds-and-sods release "Flashback". - "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" was released as a Boardwalk single following the success of Jett's versions of "I Love Rock 'n Roll" and "Crimson and Clover". The b-side was "Victim of Circumstance" which was culled from the later album.
- Curiously, Boardwalk also released "Jezebel" as a single (which had been successful overseas), but the song was ignored by US rock radio.
Reception
- "Joan Jett's debut album is an infectious romp through her influences, ranging from classic '50s and '60s rock & roll through glam rock, three-chord loud'n'fast Ramones punk, and poppier new wave guitar rock." (Steve Huey, Allmusic)
- "Unfortunately, Bad Reputation is flawed by its literal-mindedness — the arrangements pump along gamely yet rarely swing or soar — and by some unresourceful material. But in its mood and feel, Joan Jett's first solo album is a determined retelling of what sometimes seems like the truest rock story there is." (Tom Carson, Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
)
Personnel
- Joan Jett - Guitars (Electric and Rhythm), Vocals and Multi Instruments
- Eric AmbelEric AmbelEric Ambel is a New York City-based guitarist and record producer, originally from Batavia, Illinois. He has worked with a wide range of artists including Steve Earle, the Yayhoos, Del Lords, The Bottle Rockets, Joan Jett, Mojo Nixon, Blood Oranges, Blue Mountain, Freedy Johnston and Mary Lee's...
- Guitar - Jeff Bannister - Piano
- Clem BurkeClem BurkeClem Burke is an American musician who is the drummer for the band Blondie. Recruited by Chris Stein and Debbie Harry when they were first forming Blondie, Burke remained with the band through its first stage and later returned for its late 1990s reunion and then its extensive 2009 tour.Following...
- Drums - Ricky Byrd - Guitar, Vocals
- Buzz Chanter - Guitar
- Commander Goonwaddle - Tubular Bells
- Paul CookPaul CookPaul Thomas Cook is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band Sex Pistols.-Early life and career:...
- Drums, Producer - Ritchie Cordell - Sound Effects, Vocals, Producer, Photography
- Lee Crystal - Drums
- Richard d'Andrea - Bass
- Johnny Earl - Saxophone
- Mick Eve - Saxophone
- Micky GroomeMicky GroomeMicky Groome is an English bassist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer.- Early life and career :...
- Bass - Lea Hart - Guitar (Electric & Rhythm), Vocals
- Frank InfanteFrank InfanteFrank Infante is an American guitarist and bassist best known as a former member of the punk/new wave band, Blondie.Prior to Blondie, he established himself playing guitar in heavy, electric blues groups such as The Elegant End and World War III. In 1975, he joined Sniper, an early, American glam...
- Guitar - Steve JonesSteve Jones (musician)Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
- Bass, Guitar (Rhythm), Multi Instruments, Producer - Kenny Laguna - Organ, Piano, Keyboards, Tambourine, Vocals, Clavinet, Multi Instruments,
- Lou Maxfield - Guitar
- Jeff Peters - Bass, Vocals
- Barbara Ramone - Bass
- Dee Dee RamoneDee Dee RamoneDee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
- Guitar - Marky RamoneMarky RamoneMarky Ramone is an American musician. He is best known for being the drummer for the Ramones, but has also played in other notable bands like Dust, Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, Richard Hell & The Voidoids, and the Misfits.Although he is not the original drummer , Marky is the only living...
- Drums - Gary Ryan - Bass, Vocals
- Paul Simmons - Drums, Vocals
- Joel Turrisi - Drums
- Sean TylaSean TylaSean Tyla is an English rock guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter, sometimes known as the “Godfather of Boogie”...
- Guitar (12 String & Acoustic) - Marilyn Watson - Vocals
- Martyn Watson - Vocals
Chart performance
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 51 |
| Australian Albums Chart | 45 |
External links
- Joan Jett (album) at JoanJett.com (archive link)
- Bad Reputation at JoanJett.com (archive link)
- Lyrics at Wikia