The Runaways (album) explained

The Runaways
Type:	studio
Artist:	the Runaways
Cover:	The Runaways (album).png
Released:	^[1]
Recorded:	February 1976^[2]
Studio:	Fidelity Recorders (Studio City)^[3] ^[4] Criterion (Hollywood)
Label:	Mercury
Producer:	Kim Fowley
Next Title:	Queens of Noise
Next Year:	1977

The Runaways is the debut studio album by American rock band the Runaways, was released on March 16, 1976, through Mercury Records.

AllMusic has praised the album (especially band members Cherie Currie, Joan Jett and Lita Ford), comparing the band's music to material by Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith.

According to multiple sources, including Cherie Currie (in her memoir Neon Angel), the liner notes of the 2003 Cherry Red Records reissue of The Runaways, and Jackie Fox herself, bassist Nigel Harrison played bass on the album, due to manager Kim Fowley refusing to let Fox play on the record.^[5]

The documentary film states that the album's first track "Cherry Bomb" was written ad hoc during the audition of lead singer Cherie Currie and the title is a play on the pronunciation of Currie's first name. Currie was told to prepare a Suzi Quatro song for the audition; she picked "Fever", a song the band did not know how to play. Instead, Jett and Fowley came up with the song and had Currie sing it for her audition.

On January 5, 2009, "Cherry Bomb" was ranked 52nd on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs list.^[6] A cover of "Cherry Bomb" is featured in the music video game Rock Band as a downloadable single track. The song also featured in the films Dazed and Confused, RV, Cherrybomb, The Runaways, and Guardians of the Galaxy, and is played in the opening scene of Margaret Cho's stand-up comedy DVD "I'm the One That I Want".

"You Drive Me Wild" is featured in the 2010 film about the band. Actress Dakota Fanning covers "Cherry Bomb" as well as "Dead End Justice" with Kristen Stewart, as they portray Cherie Currie and Joan Jett, respectively.^[7]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Runaways.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Runaways.

The Runaways

• Cherie Currie – vocals, piano
• Lita Ford – lead guitar
• Joan Jett – rhythm guitar and vocals
• Jackie Fox – bass and vocals
• Sandy West – drums and vocals

Additional musicians

• The Runaways – arrangements
• Scott Anderson – arrangements
• Kim Fowley – arrangements
• Rodney Bingenheimer – orchestration
• Nigel Harrison – bass

Technical

• Kim Fowley – production, direction
• Andy Morris – sound
• Scott Anderson – production coordination
• Gilbert Kong – mastering
• Bill Jimmerson – recording
• Lawrence W. Wendelken – recording
• Tom Gold – photography
• Desmond Strobel – design

Notes and References

1. Book: McDonnell, Evelyn . Evelyn McDonnell

   . Evelyn McDonnell . Queens of Noise . Boston, MA . . 2013 . 137 . 978-0-306-82039-7.

2. Book: Buckley, Peter . The Rough Guide to Rock . Rough Guides . 2003 . London . 893 . 1-84353-105-4 . THE RUNAWAYS was compressed heavy metal:… . 2024-03-25.
3. The Runaways . liner notes . . . 1976 . SRM-1-1090.
4. Web site: Henderson . Alex . The Runaways – The Runaways review . AllMusic . 2018-12-11.
5. Michael Heatley . 2003 . The Runaways . . reissue liner notes . London . . CDMRED 237.
6. Web site: Stosuy . Brandon . VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs . . 2009-01-05 . 2018-12-11.
7. Kreps . Daniel . "The Runaways" Soundtrack: Stewart and Fanning, Plus Stooges, Bowie and More . . 2010-02-26 . 2011-11-11 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100301155230/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2010/02/26/the-runaways-soundtrack-boasts-stewart-and-fanning-plus-stooges-bowie-and-more/ . 2010-03-01.
8. Book: David Kent (historian) . Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . illustrated . Australian Chart Book . St Ives, N.S.W. . 1993 . 0-646-11917-6 . 261.