Joan Jett - "Crimson and Clover" (the song remains the same)

In honor of Pride Month, I'm featuring Joan Jett's 1981 cover of "Crimson and Clover" (from her second LP).  Joan hasn't actually come out, but she's an LGBTQ icon regardless.  Even though I didn't know about that in 1981 (who did?), I remember liking this song immediately.  I'm pretty sure I heard her version before the original, 1968 version from Tommy James and Shondells but I'm not certain.  And, sure I like the "underwater" / psychedelic original too, but Joan's version rawks, with those delicious power chords.

Why this song for Pride Month instead of others from her?  First, unlike in her cover of "I Love Rock and Roll"*, she does not change the gender of the love interest ("Ah, now I don't hardly know her / But I think I can love her).  Why did she keep the gender in one cover song but not the other? In retrospect, perhaps this was a clue.

Second, it's not like she was a purist; she did change the lyrics in C&C, and in the process made it 100X better.  Tommy James and The Shondells:

Yeah, my mind's such a sweet thing
I wanna do everything

What a beautiful feeling
Crimson and clover, over and over

Joan Jett and The Blackhearts:

Yeah, I'm not such a sweet thing
I wanna do everything
What a beautiful feeling
Crimson and clover, over and over

Perhaps TJ&TS couldn't get away with that line in 1968, but can we all agree that Joan's change of that one improves the rest of the stanza?

Tommy James and The Shondells - studio LP version, studio single version, live 1995,

Joan Jett and The Blackhearts - studio version, 1983 (live?, probably lip-synched), 2007(?) live version




* As per my previous post, "I Love Rock & Roll" is still a stupid song that even Joan can't redeem.


Bonus images: quick, name a rock artist other than Joan Jett who looks better, and not just by a little bit, some 25+ years after they first made it big.  Swapping the big hair for a buzz cut and ditching the one-piece coverall is a big part of it, but still...

Joan ca. 1983, as New York Dolls refugee:

Joan ca. 2007, as punk matriarch:

Any questions?

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...

Lesley Gore - "You Don't Own Me" (the song remains the same)

I should acknowledge the recent passing of Lesley Gore.  Best known for popular but fluffy songs like "It's My Party", "Judy's Turn to Cry", and "She's A Fool", Lesley made her lasting mark on music with the feminist anthem "You Don't Own Me", the 2nd single from her 1964 LP "Lesley Gore Sings of Mixed-Up Hearts".  Even though all of these songs came out in 1963 and 1964, they still sound like the 1950s -- before the Beatles ushered in the "modern" sound of music.

Tame by today's standards, I can only assume it packed quite a punch in 1964.  And while "You Don't Own Me" was covered by many different artists, its feminist message seems to serve as a safer, surrogate message for artists that would later come out. 

Lesley Gore: Live TV (I'm pretty sure this is not lip synced), studio
Dusty Springfield: studio
Joan Jett: studio