Cherry Bomb (The Runaways song)

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"Cherry Bomb"
Cherry Bomb (cover).jpg
Single by The Runaways
from the album The Runaways
B-side "Blackmail"
Released
June 1976 (1976-06) [1]
  • September 1976 (1976-09)(France, Spain) [2]
    17 September 1976 (1976-09-17)(UK, Australia) [2] [3]
    1976 (1976)(Japan) [4]
RecordedMarch—April 1976
Studio
California
Genre Hard rock
Length2:20
Label Mercury
Songwriters Joan Jett, Kim Fowley
Producer Kim Fowley
The Runaways singles chronology
"Cherry Bomb"
(1976)		"Heartbeat"
(1977)
Music video
Video on YouTube
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Billboard no rating [5]
Cashbox no rating [6]
Record World no rating [7]
Record Mirror no rating [8]

"Cherry Bomb" is the debut single by the rock band The Runaways from their self-titled debut album, released in June 1976, through Mercury. [1] Cherry Bomb was ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs [9] and peaked at number 106 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.

Contents

About the song

Joan Jett composed the song with Kim Fowley, the band's then-manager. In the documentary Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways (2005), Fowley and former Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie claimed that "Cherry Bomb" was quickly written just for Currie to audition for the band because the band members could not perform the song she originally chose to sing.

The song was included in the soundtrack for the made for the TV movie: "Dawn Portrait of a Teenage Runaway" starring Eve Plumb, in 1976. The song was also included in the film Dazed and Confused (1993), the 16th episode of season 4 of Warehouse 13 with guest appearance by Currie (2013), the film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), in the second episode of the Amazon Prime series The Boys (2019), in the seventh episode of the FX/Hulu miniseries Mrs. America (2020), and in the Netflix film Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021).

Jett re-recorded the song with her band the Blackhearts for the album Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth (1984); this version charted on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, peaking at #55. [10] Cherie Currie also re-recorded "Cherry Bomb" with Marie Currie, her twin sister, on their 1997 re-released version of the album Messin' with the Boys (1980).

Personnel

The Runaways
Session musician

Charts

Chart (1976)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [11] 57
US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 [12] 106

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [13] Silver200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. 1 2 "The Runaways — Cherry Bomb". 45cat. June 1976. Retrieved November 26, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "The Runaways - Cherry Bomb". DutchCharts.nl. September 1976. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  3. ↑ "The Runaways - Cherry Bomb". September 17, 1976. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  4. ↑ "The Runaways - Cherry Bomb". 1976. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  5. ↑ "Top Single Picks: The Runaways — «Cherry Bomb»" (PDF). Billboard . Vol. 88, no. 28. N. Y.: Billboard Publications Inc. July 10, 1976. p. 64. ISSN   0006-2510. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2024.
  6. ↑ "Singles Reviews: The Runaways — «Cherry Bomb»" (PDF). Cashbox . Vol. 38, no. 8. N. Y.: The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc. July 10, 1976. p. 16. ISSN   0008-7289. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 11, 2024.
  7. ↑ "Single Picks. The Runaways — «Cherry Bomb»" (PDF). Record World . Vol. 32, no. 1516. N. Y.: Record World Publications Inc. July 10, 1976. p. 20. ISSN   0034-1622. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 15, 2024.
  8. ↑ David Hancock (October 1, 1976). "Singles: Runaways at the Full Throttle. The Runaways — «Cherry Bomb»" (PDF). Record Mirror . London: Spotlight Publications Ltd. p. 6. ISSN   0144-5804. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 20, 2024.
  9. ↑ 52nd Greatest Hard Rock Song Archived 2009-02-12 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "Joan Jett & the Blackhearts | Biography, Music & News". Billboard. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
  11. ↑ Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. 1993. p. 261. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  12. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1998). Bubbling Under Singles & Albums. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. p. 311. ISBN   0-89820-128-4.
  13. ↑ "British single certifications – Runaways – Cherry Bomb". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved February 3, 2023.
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