The Runaways (album)

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The Runaways
The Runaways (album).png
Studio album by
The Runaways
ReleasedMarch 16, 1976 (1976-03-16)(US) [1]
May 17, 1976 (1976-05-17)(US, stereo) [2]
October 25, 1976 (1976-10-25)(Japan) [3]
RecordedFebruary 1976 [4]
Studio
Genre
Length34:02
Label Mercury
Producer Kim Fowley
The Runaways chronology
The Runaways
(1976)		 Queens of Noise
(1977)
Singles from The Runaways
  1. "Cherry Bomb"
    Released: March 16, 1976 (US)
    June 1976 (Canada) [8]
    September 1976 (France, Spain) [9]
    September 17, 1976 (UK, Austria) [9] [10]
    1976 (Japan) [11]
  2. "Blackmail"
    Released: 1976 (Germany) [12] [13]
  3. "Secrets"
    Released: November 25, 1976 (Japan) [14]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
Sounds no rating [15]
Record World no rating [16]
Cashbox no rating [17]
Stereo Review no rating [7]
Christgau's Record Guide C− [18]
Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal 4/10 [19]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [20]

The Runaways is the debut studio album by American rock band The Runaways, was released on March 16, 1976 through Mercury Records. [1]

Contents

AllMusic has praised the album (especially band members Cherie Currie, Joan Jett and Lita Ford), comparing the band's music to material by Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith. [6]

According to multiple sources, including Cherie Currie (in her memoir Neon Angel), the liner notes of the 2003 Cherry Red Records reissue of The Runaways, and Jackie Fox herself, bassist Nigel Harrison played bass on the album, due to manager Kim Fowley refusing to let Fox play on the record. [21]

The documentary film Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways states that the album's first track "Cherry Bomb" was written ad hoc during the audition of lead singer Cherie Currie and the title is a play on the pronunciation of Currie's first name. Currie was told to prepare a Suzi Quatro song for the audition; she picked "Fever", a song the band did not know how to play. Instead, Jett and Fowley came up with the song and had Currie sing it for her audition.

On January 5, 2009, "Cherry Bomb" was ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs list. [22] A cover of "Cherry Bomb" is featured in the music video game Rock Band as a downloadable single track. The song also featured in the films Dazed and Confused , RV , Cherrybomb , The Runaways , and Guardians of the Galaxy , and is played in the opening scene of Margaret Cho's stand-up comedy DVD "I'm the One That I Want".

"You Drive Me Wild" is featured in the 2010 film about the band. Actress Dakota Fanning covers "Cherry Bomb" as well as "Dead End Justice" with Kristen Stewart, as they portray Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, respectively. [23]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Runaways. [5]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Cherry Bomb"
 Cherie Currie 2:18
2."You Drive Me Wild"JettJett3:22
3."Is It Day or Night?"FowleyCurrie2:45
4."Thunder"
  • Mark Anthony
  • Kari Krome
Currie2:31
5."Rock and Roll" Lou Reed Jett3:17
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
6."Lovers"
  • Jett
  • Fowley
Jett2:09
7."American Nights"
  • Anthony
  • Fowley
Currie3:15
8."Blackmail"
  • Jett
  • Fowley
Jett2:41
9."Secrets"
Currie2:43
10."Dead End Justice"
  • Scott Anderson
  • Currie
  • Fowley
  • Jett
Jett and Currie7:01
Total length:34:02

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Runaways. [5]

Charts

Chart (1976/77)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [24] 31
US Billboard 200 [25] 194

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References

  1. 1 2 McDonnell, Evelyn (2013). Queens of Noise. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press. p. 137. ISBN   978-0-306-82039-7.
  2. ↑ "The Runaways – The Runaways (stereo)". Discogs.com. May 17, 1976. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  3. ↑ "The Runaways – Forbidden Rock And Roll Queen". Discogs.com. October 25, 1976. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  4. 1 2 Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. London: Rough Guides. pp.  893. ISBN   1-84353-105-4 . Retrieved March 25, 2024. THE RUNAWAYS was compressed heavy metal:…
  5. 1 2 3 4 The Runaways (1976). The Runaways (liner notes). Mercury Records. SRM-1-1090.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Henderson, Alex. "The Runaways – The Runaways review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  7. 1 2 Steve Simels (September 1976). "Popular Discs and Tapes: The Runaways: Punk Rock. The Runaways — The Runaways" (PDF). Stereo Review (magazine). Vol. 37, no. 3. New York: Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. p. 91. ISSN   0039-1220. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 11, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
  8. ↑ https://www.45cat.com/record/73819c . Retrieved March 26, 2024.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. 1 2 "The Runaways - Cherry Bomb". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  10. ↑ https://www.45cat.com/record/6167392 . Retrieved March 26, 2024.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ https://www.45cat.com/record/sfl2121 . Retrieved March 26, 2024.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ https://www.45cat.com/record/6253042 . Retrieved March 10, 2024.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ "The Runaways - Blackmail". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  14. ↑ "The Runaways – Secrets". Discogs.com. November 25, 1976. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  15. ↑ Edwards, Ben (May 1976). "The Runaways: The Runaways". Sounds . Retrieved March 10, 2024.
  16. ↑ Album Picks: The Runaways — The Runaways (PDF). Vol. 31. New York: Record World Publications Inc. May 29, 1976. p. 28. ISSN   0034-1622. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 21, 2023.
  17. ↑ Album Reviews: The Runaways — The Runaways (PDF). Vol. 38. New York: The Cash Box Publishing Co. Inc. June 5, 1976. p. 20. ISSN   0008-7289. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2023.
  18. ↑ Robert Christgau (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 12, 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
  19. ↑ Martin Popoff (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector’s Guide Publishing. p.  235. ISBN   978-1-8949-5902-5.
  20. ↑ Marc Coleman, Nathan Brackett; Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4 ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p.  706. ISBN   0-7432-0169-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ↑ Michael Heatley (2003). The Runaways (reissue liner notes). The Runaways. London: Cherry Red Records. CDMRED 237.
  22. ↑ Stosuy, Brandon (January 5, 2009). "VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs". Stereogum . Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  23. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (February 26, 2010). ""The Runaways" Soundtrack: Stewart and Fanning, Plus Stooges, Bowie and More". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on March 1, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
  24. ↑ David Kent (historian) (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 261. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  25. ↑ "The Runaways Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
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