Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation" (forgotten song)

In my previous post I mentioned Pat Benatar being the most prominent female AOR rock stars of the late 70s / early 80s, and while that's probably true, I would be remiss to not mention Joan Jett as well.  Her big breakthrough came in 1982 with the single "I love Rock-n-Roll", from the LP of the same name.  Despite a lengthy and successful career, that song is still probably her most popular.   And while I can't say I dislike it, I never really liked it that much either.  I get the whole feminist reclamation of a cock rock song (the original version was released in 1976 by Arrows, and it's kinda stupid*, even for a boom-boom-chop song), but I can't get past "meh". 

The song that should be her most popular is her auto-biographical, pop-punk anthem "Bad Reputation".  The story behind this song and video is a little bit complicated: she released a self-funded, self-titled LP in 1980.  In 1981, the same LP was reissued by Boardwalk Records, but this time the title was changed to "Bad Reputation", with the same cover art and only mild reshuffling of tracks.  The song "Bad Reputation" was first the b-side to the "Jezebel" single from the LP "Joan Jett", and then it was later released as an a-side single from "Bad Reputation".

After the success of "I Love Rock-n-Roll", she made a video for "Bad Reputation" in 1982 and the subject of the video is her ultimate triumph over the record labels that had nothing to do with her first LP, due in part because of her "bad reputation" as a former member of the Runaways.  I remember Bill Glidden had both "Bad Reputation" and "I Love Rock-n-Roll", and presumably I still have a copy of both on a cassette somewhere.

Anyway, much respect for Joan Jett and her setting the template for riot grrrls to follow.  She did not  soften her sound like Pat Benatar, nor did she tart it up like fellow former-Runaway Lita Ford, instead opting for a timeless "Joan Ramone" look.  For someone that made her career on smart choices for cover songs, this original should be the canonical Joan Jett song -- it's still awesome some 37+ years later...

Joan Jett - "Bad Reputation"




* Perhaps I can't get over its self-referential nature; I harbor a special distaste for rock-n-roll songs that are "about" rock-n-roll, but that's a topic for another time...