The Runaways (album)

The Runaways is the debut studio album by American rock band the Runaways. It was released on June 1, 1976, by Mercury Records.

The Runaways
Studio album by
The Runaways
ReleasedJune 1, 1976 (1976-06-01)
Recorded1976
Studio
  • Fidelity Recorders (Studio City, California)
  • Criterion Studios (Hollywood, California)
Genre
Length34:02
LabelMercury
ProducerKim Fowley
The Runaways chronology
The Runaways
(1976)		 Queens of Noise
(1977)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideC–[3]

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.[2]

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.[4]

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.

In January 2009, "Cherry Bomb" was ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs list.[5] 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.[6]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Cherry Bomb"
Cherie Currie2:18
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 ReedJett3:17
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

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Runaways.[7]

Charts
Chart (1976/77) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 31
US Billboard 200[9] 194

References
  1. Huey, Steve. "The Runaways". AllMusic. Retrieved August 16, 2011.
  2. Henderson, Alex. "The Runaways – The Runaways review". AllMusic. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  3. Christgau, Robert (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.
  4. Heatley, Michael (2003). The Runaways (reissue liner notes). The Runaways. London: Cherry Red Records. CDMRED 237.
  5. Stosuy, Brandon (January 5, 2009). "VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  6. 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.
  7. The Runaways (liner notes). The Runaways. Mercury Records. 1976. SRM-1-1090.CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 261. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. "The Runaways Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
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