The Runaways
The Runaways defined the art of women’s Rock and Roll. They were young and talented, they had a strong passion for rocking that defied every aspect of the male-dominated music industry in the mid 70’s. With the rocketing voice of Cherie Currie, future rock legends Joan Jett and Lita Ford on guitar, the dominating talent of Jackie Fox on bass and the ever-so amazing Sandy West on drums, The Runaways were essentially a super-group. Their identity as such was masked only by the cloak of their gender. The members were marketed and largely perceived as teenage sex symbols singing about sex, drugs and the R&R lifestyle. A good measure of the responsibilty for that unfortunate marketing strategy falls squarely on the shoulders of manager Kim Fowley.
Despite their amazing talent and passion for their music, these girls were not taken seriously. Their debut self-titled album - released in 1976 - had minimal commercial success, mostly due to lack of effective promotion by their manager and knee-jerk resistance from the male-dominated rock scene of that time period. However, the band persevered. The Runaways began touring the world and in 1977 released their second album “Queens of Noise”, quickly followed by “Live in Japan”. The Japanese tour that led to Live In Japan featured sell-out crowds, and a chart topping hit (Cherry Bomb, ..#1 in Japan) gave the band their first true taste of success. Nevertheless, Fowley's inadequacy as a manager would make this success bittersweet. The Runaways returned from Japan in 1977 frayed, exhausted and broke, despite their increasing visibility and the successful tour.
Even with their rising popularity the band faced many changes, including the replacement of Jackie Fox with Vickie Blue (who would later be replaced by Laurie McAllister) and Joan Jett moving to lead vocals after the departure of Cherie Currie. Another excellent album - Waitin' For The Night - was released with Joan singing lead, but commercial traction was still a scarce commodity. Radio programmers didn't know what to do with The Runaways - the same could essentially be said for the American music industry as a whole.
The Runaways’ final release “And Now…The Runaways” was an interesting mix of different tastes and styles of music. Jett leaned towards punk while Ford and West’s’ taste leaned towards heavy metal. Recorded in 1978 and then released in 1979, it would be the last album recorded by the band. It was a combination of personal and musical differences that would end the now legendary Runaways. Today, nearly 30 years later, The Runaways continue to boast a strong and supportive fan base and may finally be getting some of the recognition they've always deserved.
**Sadly Drummer Sandy West lost her long battle with Lung cancer October 21, 2006.**
Written by C. Methe © The Cover Zone March 2006