Bad Reputation | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 1980 (Joan Jett) January 23, 1981 (Bad Reputation) | |||
Recorded | March 1979 – March 1980 | |||
Studio | Chappell Recording Studios and Ramport Studios, London, UK, Fidelity Studios, North Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 38:31 | |||
Label | Ariola, Blackheart (Joan Jett) Boardwalk (Bad Reputation) | |||
Producer | ||||
Joan Jett chronology | ||||
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Singles from Bad Reputation | ||||
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Bad Reputation is the debut solo studio album by American recording artist Joan Jett. It was originally released independently in May 1980 as a self-titled album after her previous band The Runaways disbanded. After Jett signed with Boardwalk Records, the album was re-released worldwide with the new title on January 23, 1981. The album was positively received by critics and reached number 51 on the Billboard 200.
Record producer Kenny Laguna financed the album's recording sessions using borrowed studio credits. [2] Recorded before Joan Jett formed The Blackhearts, the majority of the album featured Jett backed by members of the Roll-Ups, with Lea Hart on guitar, Jeff Peters on bass and Paul Simmons on drums. Other tracks include well known musicians, such as the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook, and Blondie's Clem Burke and Frank Infante.
After independently recording the album with Laguna, Jett took the record to a number of major record labels, none of which were interested 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. [3]
The album sold relatively well, prompting its re-release a year later as Bad Reputation on Boardwalk Records, with rearranged but otherwise identical track listing. Jett said that the new title referred to the bad reputation that she had as a former member of The Runaways. [4]
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 album was issued through Boardwalk Records in the U.S. under the title Bad Reputation, the label stuck with "Wooly Bully" as the final track, making the "Hanky Panky" import version a collector's item. However, the song was later included as a bonus track on CD re-releases.
The original Australian release featured a completely different cover, and "Hanky Panky" replaced "Shout" as track 9. "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" was also a huge hit in Australia when it was released hot on the heels of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "Crimson and Clover" from Jett's 1981 album, I Love Rock 'n Roll .
In 1999, the album was again re-issued, this time on CD with several bonus tracks and a remastered version of the original album. All subsequent reissues feature the tracks in their original pre-Boardwalk release order.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Rolling Stone | [5] |
The Village Voice | A− [6] |
Reviewing Bad Reputation in 1981, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice said, "Producers Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell make the old glitter formula of readymade riffs 'n' blare sound suitable for albums, and they get plenty of help from reformed Runaway Jett, who has writing credit on four of these twelve tunes and comes on tuffer than any gurl in history." [6] Tom Carson of Rolling Stone found that Bad Reputation "is flawed by its literal-mindedness – the arrangements pump along gamely yet rarely swing or soar – and by some unresourceful material", but concluded that "in its mood and feel", the album "is a determined retelling of what sometimes seems like the truest rock story there is." [5]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic critic Steve Huey described Bad Reputation as "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." [1] Rolling Stone placed Bad Reputation at No. 36 on its list of the "50 Coolest Albums of All Time" in 2002. [7]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Bad Reputation" |
| 2:49 |
2. | "Make Believe" |
| 3:11 |
3. | "You Don't Know What You've Got" |
| 3:44 |
4. | "You Don't Own Me" | 3:27 | |
5. | "Too Bad on Your Birthday" | 2:58 | |
6. | "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah) [note 1] " | 3:48 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
7. | "Shout" | 2:48 | |
8. | "Let Me Go" |
| 2:42 |
9. | "Doing Alright with the Boys" |
| 3:38 |
10. | "Jezebel" |
| 3:28 |
11. | "Don't Abuse Me" | Jett | 3:38 |
12. | "Wooly Bully [note 2] " | Domingo Samudio | 2:20 |
Total length: | 38:31 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
13. | "Call Me Lightning" | Pete Townshend | 2:25 |
14. | "Hanky Panky" | 3:32 | |
15. | "Summertime Blues" | 2:23 | |
16. | "What Can I Do for You?" | Laguna | 2:12 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
13. | "Call Me Lightning" | Townshend | 2:25 |
14. | "Hanky Panky" |
| 3:32 |
15. | "What Can I Do for You?" | Laguna | 2:12 |
16. | "You Don't Own Me" (previously unreleased version) |
| 2:41 |
17. | "Bad Reputation [note 3] " |
| 2:57 |
Joan Jett & The Roll-Ups
Additional personnel
Production
Chart (1982) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [8] | 45 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [9] | 76 |
US Billboard 200 [10] | 51 |
Tommy James and the Shondells is an American rock band formed in Niles, Michigan, in 1964. They had two No. 1 singles in the U.S. – "Hanky Panky" and "Crimson and Clover" – and also charted twelve other top 40 hits, including five in the Hot 100's top ten: "I Think We're Alone Now", "Mirage", "Mony Mony", "Sweet Cherry Wine" and "Crystal Blue Persuasion".
The Runaways were an all-female American rock band who recorded and performed from 1975 to 1979. Formed in 1975 in Los Angeles, California, the band released four studio albums and one live album during its run. Among their best-known songs are "Cherry Bomb", "Hollywood", "Queens of Noise" and a cover version of the Velvet Underground's "Rock & Roll". Never a major success in the United States, the Runaways became a sensation overseas, especially in Japan, thanks to the single "Cherry Bomb".
Joan Jett is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and performing with the Runaways, which recorded and released the hit song "Cherry Bomb". With the Blackhearts, Jett is known for her rendition of the song "I Love Rock 'n Roll" which was number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks in 1982. Jett's other notable songs include "Bad Reputation", "Light of Day", "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and her covers of "Crimson and Clover", "Do You Wanna Touch Me " and "Dirty Deeds".
Sinner is the eleventh studio album by the American hard rock band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, released June 13, 2006, by Blackheart Records Group. While most of the contents previously appeared on the Japan-only release Naked (2004), some in different mixes, it is her first record of new material released in the United States since Pure and Simple in 1994. Singles released include "A.C.D.C." and "Riddles", which is a new version of "Right in the Middle" from Naked with different lyrics.
Queens of Noise is the second studio album by the American rock band the Runaways. Released in January 1977 on Mercury Records, it is fundamentally a hard rock album, although it also exhibits influences from punk rock, heavy metal, glam rock, and blues rock. While the album features a range of different tempos, most of it consists of the "heavy" guitar-driven tracks that have come to be seen as the Runaways' signature sound, although it also features two noticeably softer songs that have sometimes been described as early power ballads. While stylistically similar to the band's self-titled debut album The Runaways, Queens of Noise features greater emphases on volume and musical sophistication. The album has received generally positive reviews and has remained the band's best-selling record in the United States.
"Do You Wanna Touch Me", also referred to as "Do You Wanna Touch Me? " is a song by English glam rock singer Gary Glitter, written by Glitter with Mike Leander and produced by Leander. It was released as the lead single from his second studio album, Touch Me (1973), peaking at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1973, his third successive UK hit. The single also reached No. 9 in Ireland and No. 11 in Australia.
I Love Rock 'n Roll is the second studio album by Joan Jett and the first with her backing band the Blackhearts. The album was recorded during the summer of 1981 and was released on November 18 of that year. Soon after the first recording sessions at Soundworks Studios, original Blackheart guitarist Eric Ambel was replaced by Ricky Byrd. It is Jett's most commercially successful album to date with over a million copies sold, largely due to the success of the title track, which was released as a single soon after the album was released.
Album is the third studio album by Joan Jett and the second to feature her backing band the Blackhearts. It was released in July 1983.
Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth is the fourth studio album by Joan Jett and the third to feature her backing band The Blackhearts. The album was released in 1984 and reissued in 1998 with seven bonus tracks. The title of the album was taken from a line of dialogue in an episode of The Honeymooners.
Good Music is the fifth studio album by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, released in 1986. The album's working title was Contact, after the final song off the album, but it was changed to Good Music in its final stages.
The Hit List is the seventh studio album, and the first cover album by Joan Jett. The album was released in 1990. All of the tracks are covers of famous songs.
Notorious is the eighth studio album by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. The album was released in 1991.
Flashback is a compilation album of outtakes and rare songs released by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. The album was initially released in late 1993 and was reissued in 1998 with a slightly different track listing. The 1998 version dropped five tracks from the 1993 release: "Summertime Blues", "Louie Louie", "Star Star", "Stand Up for Yourself" and "Call Me Lightning" and replaced them with "Real Wild Child ", a live version of "Bad Reputation" and "Right 'Til the End", which was only available on the cassette version of the 1993 release. "Call Me Lightning" and "Summertime Blues" were later added as bonus tracks on reissues of Bad Reputation and "Louie Louie" became a bonus track on the reissue of I Love Rock 'N Roll. "Star Star" was included as an unlisted "surprise" track on the 1983 cassette release of Album, but was later removed after the original cassette was pulled from some stores because of non-labelled "explicit" track lyrics. The song was restored on the CD release.
Naked is the tenth studio album released only in Japan by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. The album was released on April 27, 2004.
"Bad Reputation" is a rock song co-written and recorded by Joan Jett from her debut album of the same name. Though it was initially only released as a single in Germany, it remains one of her signature songs.
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from her album of the same name, became Jett's highest-charting hit, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the No. 3 song for 1982. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing two million units shipped to stores. Jett's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.
Kenneth Benjamin Laguna is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician, best known for his work with Joan Jett.
Ritchie Cordell was an American songwriter, singer and record producer. He wrote and produced several hits for Tommy James and The Shondells, including "I Think We're Alone Now" and "Mony Mony", and co-produced Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'n' Roll.
Unvarnished is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, released on September 30, 2013. It reached number 47 on the US Billboard 200, becoming Jett's first album to chart since The Hit List (1990).
Bad Reputation is a 2018 American documentary film about the career of rock musician Joan Jett, directed by Kevin Kerslake and written by Joel Marcus. The documentary traces Jett's musical career from the formation of the Runaways through her subsequent partnership with songwriter and producer Kenny Laguna. Continuing with the creation of the band Joan Jett & the Blackhearts as well as the establishment of the record label Blackheart Records with Laguna, the narrative concludes with the induction of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's Class of 2015.
That's where the title of the album came from – from the bad reputation I had at that point, for no reason other than my association with the Runaways.