I Love Rock N Roll

Joan Jett’s second solo album, I Love Rock ‘N Roll, provided her musical identity. The song “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” had been recorded in 1976 by an English group called the Arrows as a b-side to one of their singles. Joan saw them play the song on a TV show while on tour with the Runaways, and wanted them to record it. Joan recorded an earlier version on the b-side of one of her solo singles, then re-recorded it in its best-known version, which hit number one on the charts. The black-and-white video was played endlessly on MTV, and the poster for the album was hung on the wall behind the MTV veejays. The album is a classic slice of hard rock bubblegum; Ritchie Cordell and Kenny Laguna mixed Gibson guitars with compressed Gary Glitter-style drums to produce Joan’s catchy, hard-edged sound. The late addition of guitarist Ricky Byrd to the sessions gives most of the songs a playful urgency. Crunchy originals (”Love is Pain,” “Victim of Circumstance”) are blended with rowdy covers (”Nag”- The Halos, “Crimson and Clover”- Tommy James and the Shondells, “Bits and Pieces”- Dave Clark Five, “You’re Too Possessive”- Runaways) in a nonstop romp of 80s hard rock that melts in your ears like sugar, sugar.