Up Your Alley (album)

Up Your Alley is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. It was originally released in May 1988, on the labels Blackheart and CBS-Sony in the U.S., and Polydor in (Europe and Japan), a year and a half after their previous album Good Music. This album contains the single "I Hate Myself for Loving You", which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100,[4] and had been used as the theme song for Sunday Night Football NFL games in America (with altered lyrics, by two singers) during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The follow-up single "Little Liar" continued Jett's chart success, peaking at No. 19 on the Hot 100 in late 1988/early 1989.[4]

Up Your Alley
Studio album by
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
ReleasedMay 23, 1988 (1988-05-23)
Studio
Genre
Length41:20
LabelBlackheart/CBS-Sony (US)
Polydor (Europe and Japan)
Producer
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts chronology
Good Music
(1986)		 Up Your Alley
(1988)		 The Hit List
(1990)
Singles from Up Your Alley
  1. "I Hate Myself for Loving You"
    Released: 1988
  2. "Little Liar"
    Released: 1988
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Rolling Stone[2]
The Village VoiceB+[3]

Up Your Alley peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 albums chart[5] and has since been certified Platinum.[6]

Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor played the guitar solo on "I Hate Myself for Loving You".[7]

"I Hate Myself for Loving You" was released as the first single, backed with a live version of the Jett composition "Love Is Pain" (the original version of which appears on 1981's I Love Rock 'n Roll). "Little Liar" was the second single, backed with an obscure Jett/Laguna composition "What Can I Do for You", which had been recorded for a movie Jett was set to make in 1979 that was never completed. The song eventually turned up again on the Jett fan-club only CD 1979. For Record Store Day in 2015, the track was included on the limited edition (4000 split color vinyl) LP "The First Sessions" documenting the first several songs Joan wrote with Kenny Laguna, her newly acquired producer. This was to be the first of many Jett/Laguna collaborations, as they were inseparable from that moment in 1979 to the present day.

Two videos were shot for "Little Liar", the first, a concept video, feature a slightly confusing storyline with two Joans (one in white, one in black) interacting. After seeing the result of the first Little Liar video, Jett was unhappy with the silliness and visual translation so immediately shot a new live video (synced with the studio version of the song) for this track. The new video captured a more authentic feel with raw live shots combined with cutaways and studio shot closeups of Joan. It was a more stylized live video with Ziggy Stardust-like artistic flourishes.

Awards & acclamation

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998 for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "I Hate Myself For Loving You".[8]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I Hate Myself for Loving You"
4:07
2."Ridin' with James Dean"
3:17
3."Little Liar"
  • Jett
  • Child
4:01
4."Tulane" (Chuck Berry cover)Chuck Berry2:54
5."I Wanna Be Your Dog" (The Stooges cover)
5:12
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."I Still Dream About You"
  • Jett
  • Byrd
  • Gary Rottger
3:23
7."You Want In, I Want Out"
  • Jett
  • Child
4:15
8."Just Like in the Movies"
3:05
9."Desire"
3:53
10."Back It Up"
  • Jett
  • Byrd
  • Browde
3:31
11."Play That Song Again"
3:42
Total length:41:20

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[9]

Charts
Chart (1988) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] 48
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[11] 33
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12] 31
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[13] 16
US Billboard 200[14] 19

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[15] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[16] Platinum 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References
  1. Huey, Steve. Up Your Alley at AllMusic. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  2. Tennenbaum, Rob (August 11, 1988). "Joan Jett / Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - Up Yor Alley". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
  3. Christgau, Robert (May 24, 1988). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  4. "Up Your Alley Billboard Singles". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  5. "Up Your Alley Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  6. "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Jett". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  7. Wissmuller, Christian (Oct/Nov 2007) "Mick Taylor: Soul Survivor". Jazzed Magazine.
  8. "Joan Jett And The Blackhearts | Artist". Grammy Awards. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  9. Up Your Alley liner notes. Blackheart/CBS-Sony/Polydor. 1988.
  10. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 8728". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  11. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  12. "Charts.nz – Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – Up Your Alley". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  13. "Swedishcharts.com – Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – Up Your Alley". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  14. "Joan Jett the Blackhearts Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  15. "Canadian album certifications – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts – Up Your Alley". Music Canada. October 31, 1988. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  16. "American album certifications – Joan Jett & the Blackhearts – Up Your Alley". Recording Industry Association of America. February 17, 1989. Retrieved April 15, 2020. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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