An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!
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| More of the pop noir genius of Todd Alcott |
Single, Mercury Records, 1976
No one would believe me if I claimed my initial and immediate interest in the Runaways wasn't at least partially prurient. I was 16 when I stumbled across a used copy of the Runaways' eponymous debut LP at a record store in Cleveland Heights in 1976 or very early '77. I was visiting my sister over Christmas break, and also spending as much time as schedule and budget would allow me to burrow through the used record bins at Record Revolution and The Record Exchange. And I encountered this...vision: five cute girls about my age (give or take), pouting and/or sneering at me from the cover and gatefold of this unfamiliar LP. It got my attention.
But I didn't buy it. I'd never even heard of the Runaways, had no idea what they sounded like, and reluctantly passed on this retail opportunity to initiate myself into the arms of the Runaways. I regretted that decision in a heartbeat.
When I got to college in August of 1977, my most pressing concern was my classes. NO! I KID! I'm a kidder. Aside from the ongoing goal of securing distaff companionship, my primary aim was to hear some of this punk rock and new music I'd been reading about. That included the Runaways, so I badgered jocks at the campus radio station to play a Runaways song: "Cherry Bomb." It was--at long last!--love at first spin.
Electrified sex.
I had no idea about the toxic circumstances of the Runaways' story. Manager Kim Fowley was, at best, a would-be Svengali, and at worst...well, much worse. Fowley assembled and manipulated the band, and was known to play singer Cherie Currie, guitarists Joan Jett and Lita Ford, bassist Jackie Fox, and drummer Sandy West against one another. Fox has claimed Fowley raped her. Cherie Currie was all of 15 years old when she joined the group in '75, directed to appear on stage in lingerie, writhing seductively while delivering "Cherry Bomb"'s bluntly sexual lyrics. Sex. Drugs. Rock 'n' roll. As a teenager myself, I found the image exciting and enticing. If given a glimpse behind the curtain, I would have been horrified.
Although "Cherry Bomb" has become something of an alt-rock classic, the Runaways could never quite overcome the obstacles in their path to stardom: obstacles of sexism, substance abuse, and entrenched mainstream resistance to anything remotely punk, anything not tame, not bought and paid for. Lita Ford had some solo success. Joan Jett had a lot of success. Jett's well-known love of rock 'n' roll was first declared as a member of the Runaways. Five cute girls about my age? I had no idea. Maybe the world wasn't quite ready for the Runaways in 1976. But a ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-change was gonna come. Hello Daddy, hello Mom.
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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/
If it's true that one book leads to another, my next book will be The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). Stay tuned. Your turn is coming.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
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