The Questlove Show - Questlove Supreme: Joan Jett

Episode Date: May 18, 2022

Joan Jett speaks to Questlove Supreme about her time with The Runaways, making hits with The Blackhearts, and her decision to create a new acoustic collection.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-heart podcast. Guaranteed human. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, the Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you

won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves.

We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Questlove Supreme is a production of Iheart Radio. Ladies and gentlemen, what's up? This is Quest Love Supreme. Wait, I believe, is this our first Quest Love Supreme back together?

Since what? Like last April, since the Oscars? I feel like I've not spoken to you guys. Yeah, I think this is the first one show. Maybe we did like one episode or something like that. But yeah, I was about to say, like, it's been a long time. We've been doing a bunch of 101s. But I'll start off our episode of people by saying that because of the ungodly amount of hours that I've spit at the Winwood train station or taking the 105 and the 103 bus to my insurance job,

to pay for a demo. I feel just a little bit more connected to our guest today than any other guest that's been Philadelphia adjacent. I'll put it that way. No, I got excited. I get excited when any Philly adjacent guest comes on to Questler Supreme. And no matter how much New York tries to claim you, I know for the fact that you did hard time at Montgomery County.

Oh, yeah. You know, once in Philadelphia and always Philadelphia. Anywho. Philly and I lived in Pittsburgh and I lived in Erie. Oh, Yins. Lots of different. Yeah, Yens. The first person that's used Yens.

My mother is from Pittsburgh. So, yeah, I have definitely a share of fair share family members that, you know, have educated, edumicated me on just life in Pittsburgh in general. I'll say that our guest today, of course, is a legendary singer, legendary songwriter, producer. Let's not forget, a kick-ass guitarist, a member of two legendary units. The first, of course, coming to us as a member of the Runaways,

a band who pretty much defied all logic and stuck to their guns and pretty much had inspired a generation of musicians. and creators around the world. And of course, the second band needs no introduction. Of course, I'm speaking of her namesake, Jonjet and the Black Hearts class of 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. What could I say without her?

You know, I don't even want to limit it to just, there's no riot girl movement. There's just, there's a whole portion of hard rock and punk and a lot of post late 80s, early 90s, bands that formed in LA that really weren't existed without our guest today. So without further ado, welcome Joan Jett to Questlove Supreme. So were you talking to us right now?

Were you speaking to us from? I'm home in New York out on Long Island at the beach. You're still Long Island, then. Yeah, well, yeah, I live at the beach. Yeah, I'm like right on the water, though. All right, you know what I just, I discovered, I discovered in the pandemic, and I keep telling everyone, especially New Yorkers this, and they don't believe me, New York doesn't realize they have their own Mahalind Drive, and they have their own Venice Beach.

Now, you know, I've not, there was a point where I think the main train was going to shut down that leads to Williamsburg causing, you know, it's going to shut down for like two years, whatever, while they did reconstruction, causing a whole borough. to literally relocate elsewhere. Like restaurants started shutting down and, and all of them basically relocated to Long Beach. So when a friend of mine made me visit out there, I didn't know what to expect.

Like, I was personally expecting, you know, kind of, you said Hawkins like, post-Benson Hersey's, you know, whatever. And no, I went out there and it's like, Yo, it is the shit. It was pretty beat up. Like when I moved here in 1979. Oh, so you're like a loyalist. You've been there through everything.

So what do you- Right after the runaways broke? Pretty much right after the runaways broke up, which is 79. Then I met my partner, Kenny Laguna. What do you make of it now? Because like literally it's like if I didn't have to be in Manhattan at like the drop of a dime, I would actually move out to Long Beach. Like it's, it's, it's, they totally, I don't want to say just re-gentified it, but they literally just.

They did. They did. Yeah, okay. You know, they're making it, I don't know what you want to call it. Nice, end quote. Yeah. Nicer. Yeah, I wasn't, I wasn't ready for that.

So. But when I moved here, it was, uh, they just opened all the mental institutions or something. So when I got here, there were crazy people walking all over the place. and you could have bought my apartment for like 20 grand or something. But, you know, those days are long gone. The prices is definitely going up. Yeah. And now people want places like this.

So even more so. Yeah. Anyone's like trying to sell their house right now in Long Beach can easily kick in high six figures to almost a million. Definitely. That's where it is now. People are like headed out there. So I start off from each episode with. the question. What do you remember what your first musical memory was?

I can't be positive, but it would be either much. Well, just one that you remember, not the technical one. All right, all right. Singing Mary had a little lamb at eight months, what I mean. But I think of my father playing classical music or my parents listening to Johnny Mathis or something like that, Frank Sinatra. Okay. How long did you live in? Well, technically, you're born in.

Well, Windward, right? Yeah, I was born in Lankanil Hospital. Lankano, yes. So wherever that is. Yeah, it was quasi. But I moved very early. I moved that like six months old

and moved to Pittsburgh. So I can't really say I grew up in Philly. I was just born there. So when you have memories of your childhood, what's the city you think of? Maryland. Oh, okay.

I moved to Maryland from Erie, Pennsylvania, when I was eight, when I was eight. So I lived in Maryland, Rockville, Maryland, from eight to 13. So really formative years, you know, when you come into your own, I guess, you know, going from being a kid to puberty and, you know, all those big changes that happened from, I'd say, eight to your teen years. What effect does that have on someone that, you know, where you don't have actual roots, like you kind of move every,

of the year every two or three years. Like, what effect does that have on you as far as like? That's a good question. I wonder how much of it I'm doing psychology on myself. I was thinking about this the other day. How much of it was my lifestyle from a very early age, from being on the road, you know, just constantly moving. And also, but growing up that way too,

never really being in one place very long. Longest was Maryland when I lived there five years. So maybe you don't really feel secure in making friendships or any kind of relationships. So, you know, I don't know, maybe I tend to keep people at arm's length. Okay. You know, it's not that I'm unfriendly. It's just I'm not good with intimacy, I suppose. Hmm.

That's real. Do you have siblings or like, what's the, no, it's, it's not as a real answer. Well, I'm not good at faking it. Hey, man. I'll fear you. I have a brother and I have a sister. They both still live in California. My brother's in San Diego.

My sister's in North Hollywood. Are you the baby in the middle or the oldest? No, I'm oldest. Okay. I'm the oldest. I'm out of here. Oh, instantly when you knew. You know, when I was 16, pretty much.

You know, and I left and formed the band. And it's not really at home much more after that. I think I see the repercussions of that now later. But I don't know if that's my lifestyle or if it's from not really having that connective family thing. As the result of moving, was that because you were an army brat or just? My father was, you know, my father was an insurance man. So traveling insurance, traveling insurance man in the olden days.

Is that a real thing? was at a hustle. Hey, I went out to... Either way. I went out to... One would to sell insurance. So I don't know. Maybe I was like working with you for your father.

Yeah, yeah, but I guess, you know, they'd have areas and they'd go and... I don't know if it was a door-to-door. I really don't know. I didn't discuss it with them that much. But that's what my mother told me anyway, traveling, traveling salesman. Okay.

So we moved around. Yeah. Do you remember the first... album that you purchased with your own money? I should know this, right? Or single, or single. It probably's an Osmond Brothers record. Thank you.

You know, oftentimes, I will... Maybe I shouldn't be that honest. No, no, no. This is the show for it. Yeah, you're getting too honest now. I was going to say most people get stumped with this because I think for a lot of us, the answer is always going to be an uncool answer. You know, I think for the...

Shut up, Steve. No, I'm thinking of my own as the least coolest, but yeah. Well, no, I, you know, I would naturally tell people like, oh, yeah, Jackson 5 or whatever, but the real answer was Neil Sedaka. But how's that going to look in print, you know what I mean? Not great. Right. Well, I could have been the Jackson 5, too. I mean, you know what?

I just got done watching the movie that you won awards for. I've been, it is so great. And it reminds me of growing up because I feel like the music I grew up listening to was a lot more diversified and a lot, a lot blacker than people would even know, I suppose. It just seemed to be a lot, a lot of, all those songs, all those bands that were in that, very familiar with it all.

But it feels like stuff I watched as a kid. Right. You know, I don't know. I loved it. Thank you. Yeah. You know, I think for a lot of people, you know, especially with this movie, the kind of the underlying or the, the undertone of it all is basically like this was, you know, it was easily lost in history. It's set in someone's basement for 50 years.

So, you know, for it to get out, one was the miracle. but, you know, to also just let the world know about, you know, contributions to culture. But thank you, thank you for example. I appreciate that. Absolutely. But even more than just the music, I see, you know, what they were saying about the change, you know, that they were right upon this change that was happening in society and just the way people looked at themselves and stuff. And it was, you know, really quite poignant, my thought.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Did you come from a musical family, like a cousin or any of those things? I really think everybody, I think if you gave them, no, to answer your question, no. Nobody, not that they actualized, but I believe because my family all tended to be creative, but never actualized it. You know, they were too fearful or didn't think it was their place or, you know, look, I know my dad loved art and he loved the jaw or paint. And you should have done that, you know. And, you know, my mom, all those things.

My brother, I know that he would have liked to play an instrument, but didn't pursue it. And I'm sure my sister, you know, she's an artist too. She makes things with their hands. So, yeah, they all have that thing, but didn't really get the chance that I kind of just grabbed and took. All right. So what was the entry of, or at least the moment that you felt like, Okay. This is what I want to do, like the curiosity factor. What was that moment for you? Hearing songs like Bang a Gong by T-Rex. Just hearing certain songs on the radio all right now by the free.

Because there was something that was a little out of tune with one of the guitars on the rhythm guitar. And something about that made me want to go, I want to make those sounds. It was something that connected with my bones, you know. with my crotch. And even as a little kid, I knew it. I didn't know what the word was, but I knew that it resonated deep inside me, you know? And I wanted to make those sounds.

So I think, though, I'm just lucky that the way my life moved, because it could have been anything, I could have moved on to another thing that I love. I mean, I loved horses. I rode horses for a while. I mean, the guitar, my family, I got this guitar. I tried to learn how to play it, but I didn't really have anyone to play with,

so I kind of just learned the basic chords and put it down. Then my family moved to- Like the Sears catalog guitar? Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Everyone starts off with- Yeah, okay. Yep.

And then my family moved to Los Angeles. So now I'm like, okay, now I'm going to a place where there's got to be other girls who want to do what I'm doing. There's got to be in Los Angeles. He's got to be other girls. girls that want to play

mock and roll. And, you know, I was right. And I'm sure if I'd really looked around Maryland or, you know, any of the big cities that are going to D.C., I would have found it too. But I just wasn't thinking that way because all my magazines that I was reading geared me towards Hollywood.

Okay. For you, though, you know, how usual or unusual, especially in your formative years, like was guitar encouraged or, you know, you know, oftentimes. Or was there someone like, you might want to do piano or the clarinet or like something that a girl would want to do?

I did get a car in school, you know, but I wasn't very good at it. And I wasn't that interested. And now I wish I'd, now I wish I had paid attention, you know, and that I'd learned to play just so I could read music. But, you know, just to be able to play other instruments. It was made to feel quite inadequate.

I just worked with the trombone Shorty. And he made me feel wrong. Really? You see that guy on, he's a little kid with a big trombone, you know? Right. But now he's an older guy, but he's just, you know, he's one of those prodigy people. So did you just learn to play just mainly about ear or you still don't re-music now? Just ear.

That's what's up. Yeah, just, yeah, ear with my records and stuff. Were you encouraged because I think that. Yes. Especially with anyone with a woman grabbing an instrument in the 60s, in the 70s, hell, even 80s almost. I'm certain that there has to be some sort of figure there that says women can't do that. And women, you know. Everybody said that.

Nobody encouraged me. Nobody. Only my parents, you told me when I was a little kid that I could be anything I wanted to be. So now they couldn't turn around and say, well, you can be a. anything except a guitar player. So, you know, they just thought I'd grow out of it, that I'd phase out of it and go into something else, which I think might have happened had I not moved to California

and been able to find other girls, then maybe I would have gone on to something else. But that didn't happen. And I went to L.A., and nobody thought it was a good idea. My guitar teacher said, girls don't play rock and roll, which I knew right away what he meant. But they want you to play acoustic instead? Yeah.

Like follow Joni Mitchell or? Yeah, yeah, pretty much. Pretty much. But I knew exactly what that meant. Girls don't play rock and roll. So what are you saying to me? You're saying, you're not saying girls can't master the guitar because I'm in school, I'm playing clarinet.

There's girls next to me playing violin and cello, playing Beethoven and Bach. So you're not saying that we can't master the instrument. What you're saying is rock and roll is sexual by its nature. So if women are playing rock and roll and singing rock and rock, roll, they're seeing about sexuality and they're owning it. And we're not comfortable with that. And I knew that as a kid, even then I knew that, that just you weren't allowed to it,

but it had something to do with sex. And I was just like, no, you know, because this is so not about sex for me. I want to be able to do this because I want to do it. You know, Mick Jagger rides out on a big inflatable penis. I want to do what the Rolling Stones do. You know what? It had nothing to do with that. It was about fairness.

I know it doesn't make sense, but it was about quality and the right thing, what's right. I mean, I'm not hurting people, you know? Right. I'm playing rock and roll for Christ's sake. Give me a break. So that's the kind of fire that would fuel me on through all this stuff. A win is a win.

A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the Fourth. You might have seen the same. skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place

for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something

bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft, and we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East-West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode.

Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. For more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends.

I'm Anna Sinfield. And in this new season of The Girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands.

I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

See, I'd never. I never had the pleasure of having a conversation with anyone who, you know, is pretty much either first out the gate or at least in the pioneering stages of starting a movement to even ask them what their mind state is, you know, because oftentimes, you know, our greats leave and, you know, before we get to ask them about their process. And so, you know, I always wanted to know if, because, even when I was in the high school, like someone, I think I was honest with one teacher, like what I was going to do.

Like I'm a startup band with da-da-da-da-da. And, you know, I went to high school with boys to men. And they were just, yeah, they were like on fire. And, you know, sort of like, well, you know, are you guys going to be boys to men popular? You're just going to be one of these local acts. And, you know, I wasn't thinking of that deep about my process or anything. Right, right. I think he tried to talk me out of like

pursue my career Yeah see I don't understand that about people This is what I want to know about people and dreams You know, you're sitting there shooting the shit with your friends And you say what you said You want to play and someone tries to talk you out of it Right Why is everyone dear to try to talk you out of it

As opposed to saying, yeah man That sounds interesting, go for it And at least if you don't make it You gave it a shot, you give you a dream a shot. What is that about people? I think some people get offended or they get intimidated when they see that your dreams don't include them. And so they just try to shoot the shit down, you know what I mean? It's like if I run a hamburger stand, the last thing I want you to do is become a vegan, you know what I mean? Like, don't do that, you know what I mean? But I also think

that oftentimes we're just, I think in America, we often training ourselves to do the safe Like I think hopefully my generation is the last generation, which you'll hear like fall back on something safe. Like I definitely heard that from every uncle. Yeah, COVID in the show, that ain't shit safe because do what you want to do. Yeah, right, right. Right. Exactly. So what, okay, so you're a musician in Los Angeles and you're young at the time.

Had this been, you know, 20, 2007 or whatever, you would have the aid of the internet to help you. But what is the process of finding what you're specifically looking for, which I assume are women that play instruments and are passionate about it just as you are? So what's the process of searching for them? And at any point where you just like, at least in the runaway stages, where you like, okay, anyone male, female can join or for you, is it like, I have to find all women? No, and for the runaways, it was definitely an all-women thing because, you know, we hadn't really been done. Or, you know, if it hadn't been done, I've been done years earlier with full-grown women, but not teenage girls.

And so I just had this thing and I wanted to do it. And I didn't see a good reason to change that plan, you know, and give up so easy, you know, saying, oh, this might be hard. But, you know, it's hard to think back and realize how different it was then than it is now and how easily you can reach out to people on the phone, on the Internet. Right. I mean, you're talking, we had rotary phones, you know. We're talking about phone booths. We're talking about you didn't get a hold of people.

You know, if you got a hold of somebody, you met them at a certain time on a certain corner. Right. But a certain place, you know, there was none of this. So, Fonte right here. Fonte is probably, to his fan base, probably most known for being one of the first musicians to really take advantage of the, I'll say the positive aspect of internet colonization.

One of the bands that he started was a group called Foreign Exchange in which, where is a... Nick, now he's in Wilmington. Right, but where was he was... At the time he was in the Netherlands. And we just recorded that. We met on OK player on a media site.

And we just started trading files online back and forth. And we completed an album. We didn't meet each other until it was a local. And that was in 2000. So they didn't even meet yet before they made a classic album. You know what I mean? And so yeah. So, you know, what is the process of how do you find these,

these birds of a feather, if you will? Yes, in that time. I believe what we did is we put An ad in, what was it, the LA Weekly. Okay. Maybe. And we went out to a lot of the clubs that I would hang out at. And I would just survey the crowd and look for girls.

Wow. This is around 74, 75? This would have been 75. Okay. So you're like 16. 15, 16. Like after August, after August 5th. So, all right.

This is what I. I have to know. You're in, you're in California. Were you a driver? Did you have a car? Oh, I didn't drive. No. Buses. I took a lot of buses. And also my mother was, you know, sort of complicit in all this. So she would drive me to rehearsal. She would take me to the club sometimes and pick me up late at night. Yeah. Yeah, she. So clubs weren't sweating like, I mean, of course, now, We live in a place where you got to show, you know, damn near 12 forms of ID to get in anywhere or else your license gets something.

But the club I went to was for teenagers. There was no booze. So my mom didn't worry about that. So there was no booze there. And I don't think she was really thinking about drugs or anything like that. Who were your, were you any of your contemporaries also sort of in that movement that later became names themselves?

Like, no, not really. Once like Sherry and Lita, your band member is sort of like coming to play, how did you know that, okay, this is it. They're the ones. Well, we didn't have that many choices, number one. You know what I mean? Okay. So it was more like, do we want to try?

Well, first it was the drummer and myself, Sandy West and I. We met. Oh, Sandy, right. Okay. Yeah. And so we were solid as hell, Sandy and I. I took four buses to her house in Huntington, Bee. each.

Four. Yeah, four bosses. And I set up in her rec room. And we played, you know, some just basic Chuck Berry, rock and roll progression and said, you know, it was really good. Sandy played with a lot of guy, you know, high school band kind of things. And so she was used to playing with bands, but usually guys. So we really locked in and we called Kim Fowley, who was our producer.

Right. who became our producer and said, hey, check it out. Put the phone down, played for him. He said, it sounds great. Let's go find other girls. So it was really, you know, from there, we started looking.

We started looking in clubs and I think put an ad in a paper and stuff like that. Who came up with the name of Runaways? I did. Okay. So already you had your marketing plan. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I've been thinking about this for a little while now. You know, a couple months at least. Did you guys have a daily regiment or was just like when ever time was free, then we'll rehearse or whatever. Yeah, I really tell the truth. I can't remember. Like how can you be a kid and also start this very adult thing? Like were all parents involved, like encouraging of this or?

No. Our parents were involved, but a couple of the girls were a year younger than me. So they were like in 11th grade. So they still had school to deal with. And yeah, not all the parents were thrilled about it. But in the end, I don't know. I guess they didn't want to fight their daughters or something. But for school, I got pretty good grades.

And I took my GED. I was already in 12th grade, but I wanted to get out a little bit early. So we could go on the road. Okay. I always wanted to know, I guess to me, the initial incarnation of the runaways, like, why weren't you the lead singer or why didn't you want to be the focal? Yeah, I was way too shy at the time. And, you know, I was way too shy.

I had no confidence. You know, I just, I had no confidence and it was just really shy. It was amazing that I could do what I wanted, what I was doing at, you know, just getting on stage with the guitar. But did you have your voice then? Or you just kept it as a secret or? I sang background vocals. Yeah, I could sing.

Yeah, I could sing. I did wind up singing half of the leads on the first Runaways album. Because Shiree didn't want to sing the rock and roll or the rock and roll harder songs. She felt that she didn't have the voice for it or didn't feel comfortable singing some of them. So the one she didn't feel comfortable singing, I sang the leads.

And I sang backup on a bit thing else. So I did have a voice, but I just wasn't comfortable being the focal point. Gotcha. So at this point, at this point in developing the band, who are you looking up to? Because, again, you guys have ushered in, you guys ushered in an era. And, you know, pretty much your band's existence just basically. starts a domino effect on, again, people that come tend to 15 years later. But, you know, in 75, 76, when you guys are doing this band, like, who's cool to you?

Like, are the Stones and Zeppelin sort of like, ah, that's old, whatever music? Like, who's grabbing your attention? Like, that's who's asked I want to kick. Yeah, I mean, I know I was disappointed with the Stones and they started doing, um, like, Like you weren't at Exile Main Street first? Yeah, I, no, I wanted them to. You didn't like some girls. They rock and roll.

You know, I didn't like them. Doing some girls. Yeah. Well, it was, it was fine, but, you know, I don't know. I guess I wanted them to be playing something that I could really rock out to, you know, whatever. No one stays rebellious forever. I know. I know that.

There's a good seven-year. I get it now. Before you start doing your classical record or whatever. No, I get it now. Believe me. But I think a lot, I think I really started looking to the punk rock stuff right away because the Ramones came out, I believe, in 1975, late 75, right? Very first Ramon's album.

And all the punk rock stuff I was reading a lot about. And I really gravitated very quickly to a lot of those bands because I felt kinship with a lot of them. I mean, there's always like groups or artists. or albums that are always on someone's canon, like their top five records of all the time. You always see the names, whatever. And I've never, sometimes you don't do the investigation of it.

And, you know, of course, I've always seen the Ramon's name everywhere. And finally, I'd listen down from top to bottom like two years ago and realized like how genius and hard it is to really convey emotion and lyricism in less than two minutes. Hey, ho, let's go. Yo. That shit a jam, though. That shit jamming. Exactly.

So for you, where you seen that there was a science here, like, you know, the type of rock that you were fed as a child is way different than the ideas that you're about to dispew onto the world. Like, for you is like, look, we got to, don't Boris get to the course, two minutes flat. Right. Well, no, you got to see, the thing one. didn't really transfer that much into our music. It might have translated a little bit to my songwriting, but, you know, as a group, as a band, most of the girls weren't really into punk rock the way I was.

You know, they were much more, they liked heavier bands, you know, more like, you know. The more mainstream popular ones? Yeah, yeah. You know, that's heavier stuff. Rainbow, you know, pretty black, more that kind of stuff. So, you know, we didn't really see eye to eye on our hangout music.

So we didn't, you know, we had to come from a place where we met in the middle. So, you know, I just always considered what we did to be basic rock and roll. What was the division of labor as far as the songwriting is concerned and what you're going to cover or who's going to write what? Like, who's the primary songwriter of the group? Was that your job? I think it was me for the most part. It was me.

I wrote either songs with Kim Fowley as a lyricist, or I wrote songs by myself. I think I wrote a couple with some of the other girls, but not too many. And, yeah, so I guess I was the primary one. Back then, like, it was sort of hard for you guys to break out in the States, but yet, you know, you're...

The magic's working instantaneously when you go overseas. Like, how much of a mind fuck was that to kind of, because that's very similar to hip hop. Like, you know, my band had to move to Europe for five years. Right. Just so that, you know, and quote unquote, Paula Hendricks, and then come back to the United States, like that sort of thing. Right.

In your mind, was it a dream deferred or like, wait, what's going on here? Or, like, what were your feelings on? I thought, well, you know, a lot of different, a lot of different feelings. Yeah. one part of me had wished that we had the same sort of response in the States, but it was so different around the world. And Japan was like all girls. Right.

And like the Beatles, like mania, people fainting, girls fainting. And I think it kind of scared a couple of the other girls. I was exhilarated, but, you know, there were people who were rocking the car, and we'd never really had that kind of experience at all. I mean, anybody in their right mind would probably should probably, probably be scared, but I didn't get too scared. And then in Scandinavia, another place, all girls, all wearing real pacifiers and suck in on these pacifiers.

Yeah. Tell me about it. Yeah, I didn't get it. And I never found out what it was. I guess it was just some kind of fad or fashion that they were doing. But pretty wild. There was none of that. Sheary had on a particular photo shoot or something?

No, no, no. No, they were giving us the ideas, you know. Okay. But then in England, you know, England gets, you know, they, I think they got the runaways of a lot more than Americans did, but they still, you know, the English love to take the piss out of you. So we took a lot of shit, but there were a lot of people, I think, there that liked us too. We did well in Germany and I think Europe did pretty well, but we didn't tour there a lot, so I don't know face to face. and record stales I can never go by really because

you know, who knows? So in retrospect, what would you categorize the genre? You know, are you guys at the forefront of the L.A. punk movement were you just hard rock? Were you kind of the torch bearer

for what will eventually become like the glam metal scene that would happen 15 years later with those groups in L.A.? I mean, I always just called it rock and roll. I think what we did was punk rock to its core, you know, just doing, dictating what you're going to do and doing it and not listening to what anybody says. And, I mean, I thought, and doing that in the context of how society treated you at the time,

I think it was the ultimate punk rock stuff. You know, even for the girls that didn't want to claim punk rock, they were being punk rock just by what they were doing. They didn't have to play it. So you guys pretty dissolved almost as quick as you came aboard. Do you remember how eventful or uneventful the last night of the group was before you realize that it's not happening anymore? I don't remember if it was, I know it wasn't a happy time and we knew. It was in the year's 78 into 79 was our last gig.

And we knew it was our last gig because we had decided to. disband after that because I didn't want you know I felt like I said that musical separation was there between girls who want to play heavier music and me and so I thought man I don't want to get fired

from the band I started or something weird so let me just quit and we'll just you guys can do your thing and I can assume that Lita was one that wanted to do the heavier stuff right it was not animosity it was not you know it was not an anger or anything we weren't going

Fuck you, fuck you. Right. You know, it was just like, since we had been friendly, we didn't want it to be weird. And it's just like, just let me, I'll just go. You guys do your thing.

You know, it's weird. Before, I got to admit that in watching the documentary, I didn't realize that, quote, that leader Ford was the leader forward in the runaways. Because I guess my, my dealings with leader, anytime there was always a person that wanted to give, I'm not even making any,

new comparisons, but if there was anyone that ever wanted to give, like, hip hop the middle finger with a quote, it was always Leader Ford. Really? I knew her more for her disdain of hip hop than I did for, like, what she actually did. Yeah, no, for real. Like, I guess I should say I'm not surprised, but. Yeah, like, I know her for her quotes of like why she hated hip-hop. So I always knew that whenever I hear the name, Lita Ford, I'm like, uh-uh, what happened now?

But then when I started the thing, I was like, oh, she was a runaway. I get it now. I don't want no guilt by association, though, because. Hey, man, we all are in beginnings. You made light a day. I used to watch that movie every day after school when I was in like third grade. So we did. A win is a win.

A win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the fourth. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health,

purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space. for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest, the director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko joins the SportsSliced podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar.

This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slical Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes.

And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends... Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by it. a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get

what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. As a 21 year old, are you feeling like, okay, well, I did that, what do I do now for you? It's just like on to the next. Like, did you? Oh, I was feeling like it was time to die, is what I was feeling like. I was feeling like the whole city of L.A. was laughing, going, we told you it wouldn't work. We told you girls can't play rock and roll, you know. And I just was, I was not taking care of myself.

I was drinking too much. My dreams were crushed, you know, and I had no friends. You know, it was like everybody was gone. You know what I mean? They disappear in that level. And you're just alone with your thoughts. thoughts in your beer or whatever it was I was drinking. So how long did the sort of the feeling of funk last before you started your,

I assume that, you know, starting the Black Hearts was your eventual? Yeah. Well, actually, I met my partner, Kenny Laguna. My songwriting partner and my producer and manager because nobody else wanted to deal with me. We met to write songs for a movie that I had contracted to do before the runaway's I had to write six songs for a film. And so my manager at the time, a guy named Toby Mammis, knew Kenny and knew that he had worked with a lot of bubblegums bands in the 60s

and knew that he could write songs quickly and should be easy to work with. So he called them and said, would you come out and meet Joan to do this project with her? And so Kenny did. And we met and hit it off and really became good friends the first day. I don't know what it was that he saw in me, but he thought I was the real deal, I guess. And we wrote some songs. And then I said, would you produce these songs that we wrote together? And he did.

And then, you know, as we continue, I didn't have anybody. to manage me. And so he had to took that on too, thinking it would be easy that he could get me deals and this and that. But no, he started getting to know, he knows a lot of people in the business and people just told him no. And then I think it got to him where, oh my God, this is real. And then he got pissed because then he saw this sort of, you know, just prejudice and misogyny, you know, straight out bullshit. So I think. you know, that fight lit that fire in him to help fight for me. So it took about two years.

First of all, whose idea was it to recover or to redo I Love Rock and Roll? I don't think many people know that that's a cover song. Yes, yes. I saw that song when I was in England with The Runaways, and I saw this band on top of the pops called The Aeros, and they were playing the B-side to their hit. And the B-side to their hit was I Love Rock. I don't know what their hit was.

The B-side was all of rock and roll. And I'm like, Well, that sounds like a hit to me. And I went out to the record shop and bought the 45 thinking, you know, the runaways, maybe we could do this and it'll be a hit. But then I was reminded that by the other girls that we had done, we had covered Lou Reed's rock and roll on the first album, on our first runways album. And, you know, I guess didn't want rock and roll in every time.

every title and every album kind of. So sort of blew it off for a while. And I just held on to the song. And then after the runaways thought, here we go. See life lesson. You gotta go what you got. Yep. That's the second time you learned that lesson.

So how different does life turn for you once that song makes you pretty much a household name? Well, just I think the, the face. Same level rose and we had more people at our gigs and stuff and made a little bit more money. Finally, it could make a little bit more money. So those things change a little bit. But, you know, for the most part. But is that also a scary feeling?

Because I think oftentimes when someone gets to success, the first thing in their head is, oh, God, how am I going to sustain this? How am I going to make it last? What's the next single? Da-da-da-da-da. Yeah, there was part of that. But I wasn't like so far up. up there that it was, you know, when you're number one and you're, I don't know, I guess, you know, on one level, you can't stay there forever.

And I guess, you know, you know, you have to have your next one. I guess initially we knew what that next one was going to be, which was crimson and clover. Right. And what was it about that song that made you want to choose that? Damn it. I mean, my only question of the day. Okay. It's a great.

Go ahead. Steve. You want to say it? Go ahead. Go ahead. Ask me. What made you want to cover Christian Clover with the Hall of James and the Shandales? No, answer the question.

I had to turn the light on. Go ahead. And when I, you know, when I met Kenny and I knew that he played those songs and I'm like, so you played the monie, mooney, don't, da, da, da, he said, yeah. And I'm like, okay. So I want to cover Crimson Clover. I just thought, you know, it'd be weird because I didn't want to change the lyrics. And that was just the way I was.

I wanted to, you know, push the envelope a little bit because I just wanted to. The original recording so, so I guess, psychedelic. And so what was you guys? My reason for doing it. I mean, because Tommy's, like when he's, I guess Kenny told me, when he asked what, what is it about, you know, it was about LSD, you know, Crimson's Grover. So it wasn't about really a her. So specifically. So when people ask me what I'm singing about, it's like, well, I mean, I guess I'm singing it more literally, but not

specifically at anybody. You know, it's just being put out into the world is that, is those sentiments, but it's not directed specifically at a person. So at that particular point, coming into the early part of the 80s and whatnot. Do you have a peer group? Are there, is there a trusted circle that you can pal around with? Normally, you know, birds of a feather flocked together as far as like people liking each other's music or whatnot.

Like, was there a tight-knit community in the sort of the L.A. rock community by this point for you at least? Or were you still like- No, I was gone. I was out of there. I was out of there, but in 79, I, Came back to New York. Okay.

Went to New York. So even in New York, like for that, is there? It was, I mean. No, I didn't hang out. I didn't really, you know. I was also going to say, like, everyone was sort of going new wave in New York, and you're going straight rock and roll. Like, were you a fish out of water and like, were you sort of upholding a tradition that you felt would soon sort of take a back? seat? You know, I don't know that I thought ahead that much, that I planned it out or thought about,

you know, what's the future of rock and roll or a lot synthier, you know, that there was a lot of synth music going on. Were you going to the lower east side in the early 80s to see groups like bad brains or any, like, were you at all interested in the movement that was happening in the lower east side? Right, right. I was, yes, I was interested, but I was, working too much to be I was on the road the whole time I don't even know if I was around most of the time

I mean literally on the road all the time pretty much from 1980 365 through pretty much I mean at least through November and then you know depending on what the tour was we were always working

and then be off through January and then start working again in February it was pretty pretty brutal and I didn't realized that until the pandemic hit. Okay. And then nothing was happening. And then I realized how much of my life I had been on the road constantly and all these other things we talked about, about, you know, feeling separate, you know, and being isolated.

And, but I did, you know, I definitely have friends that I knew once, you know, once I was settled in New York and I had a routine and I still have that sort of core few. I can count on my one hand level of friends. Yeah, that's real life. Yeah. Real people have two to three people. Wait, I always wanted to know this.

Okay. So from my point of view, as a record collector, all right, I'll explain to you. a font date, well, you probably know already. But like for me, boardwalk records is almost akin to like Malico Records. Oh, wow. So,

I know exactly what you mean. That said, I always wanted to know what was it about boardwalk records that made you choose that as your label because I knew that sort of as kind of as as a second tier label for acts that were popping in the 70s for soul music.

I know that Ohio players wound up on boardwalk records for like their 80s catalog. I remember the five stair steps morphed into the invisible man's band for the 80s or whatnot. Kenny would know so much about this because he, you know, I think he knew Neil Bogart before we got involved in. Oh, wow. You know, so Kenny knew him pre-board walk. I didn't know that Neil Bogart started Warwick Records. Yes. Yeah.

That explains the Ohio players. Besides Casablanca, yeah. Right. And yeah, and he just liked me and really liked me a lot and wanted me to be able to put out my record. So he said, you know, we'll put it out. And he did. And he died like the week before it went number one and never got to see the number one, which really bums me out because he was such.

He died in. Yeah. Oh, man. Man, I did not know that. But, yeah, he was a real believer. And, you know, one of those guys that, you know, always looked great. It was all sharply dressed and just, you know, believed in me. And believed in Kenny, I think, more than anything.

Yeah, everyone that describes Neil Berggard describes it as, like, the last true, like, one of the last creatives. And that was a suit, at least. Right, right. I mean, I know it's a suit to suit, but whatever. Yeah, but I don't know. For me, though, I would say that, like, you were so ahead of your time. Was it weird to sort of have, not a comeback of source, but just to see a lot of these. Well, no, no, no.

I'm just saying that a lot of these bands that started popping in the mid-90s, late-90s, started name-checking, like, Joan Jen and Blackhards, like, or even with your work with the runaways. Like, for you, did you not ever think that the day would come on which you would see kind of be the after effect of your, of people that, like, grew up on your music or especially like when the riot girl, uh, with, with Kathleen and, and, yeah. Well, that was like the key to kill. Yeah, because they totally did tip their hat to me. and I knew it so because, you know, they told me so.

And it was, it was great. It was great to see that. I mean, I always knew that whether or not people admitted it, that we'd have some influence, you know, in life and to music and that. And it's really nice to see it confirmed and see people say it, you know, and not just girl bands, but some guys too. And that's really nice. Yeah, I was going to say plenty of times where, like,

Kirk has name dropped you or, you know, or I know that Grohl was definitely a big fan. I was there at night. And I'm at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when he joined. Oh, man. What a night. Yeah. That was crazy. So how did, how did, you know, was that, was that surprising to you when you got the news or, you know, I know.

I know that gets inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has the same sort of like, nihilistic, if it happens, it happens, whatever, you know, that sort of thing. But for you, was it, when you got the news of you getting in, like, what was the feeling behind it? No, I thought I was very happy, you know, of course I thought, but see, I'm kind of used to not being up for awards my whole life. It's not really been what my career has been about, like nominated for a lot of different things, you know? Right. It's not what's happened. So just the fact I got nominated, I thought it was really nice, but I thought, you know, I don't know, man.

I don't know if I'm going to win this. But I still believe this to my core that because Chris set it on stage that night that they had, they felt they had no choice but to put me in, then they forced their hand. So whether I would have really gotten in or whether it was that, I don't know. I'll say this much because, you know, I'm part of that. I've been part of that, well, you know, I call the recreation of the 12 Angry Men scene, but there's like 35 of us arguing back and forth. You know, your name has definitely been, at least from my first year there, which I think was like 2011, has constantly been, like, champion and argued and debated.

Well, you know, we were joking about it's only a matter of time before you do your classical record or your soft album. But, you know, the latest album you released is your acoustic work. And, you know, how did that feel for you? Like, for you, is it a thing where you need a new challenge? And no, it was really, it was a way to just, we wanted to give the fans something different. we I'd never look because I had such a weird relationship with guys telling me my guitar teacher saying girls can't play rock and roll I always kept acoustic guitar it's really at arm's length I never owned one I never wanted to own one until about you know

maybe 10 years ago maybe a little bit less than that but um you mean 10 years ago you like finally like gave in it was like all right let me try acoustic guitar I let me just have it because I can't always hear my electric guitar. You know, if you're trying to write a riff and you really need to hear something. Right. You know, so I just had it, but not a good one. You know, just a little shitty one to be.

Then a couple years ago, we did a documentary called Bad Reputation. Yes. It came out. It was all about my career and my life and stuff. And when we did the premiere, they wanted us in L.A., they wanted to see if we could perform

a couple of the songs in the theater. And I knew we couldn't set up Electric and we suggested that maybe we try some acoustic stuff. So we did it, but with the whole band. So it was myself, my guitar player, acoustic bass, and our drummer. And we, you know, played bad rotation and a couple other songs, and it felt really good, actually. It felt a lot better than I thought it was going to feel. And like, you could transfer the energy.

It was just going to be different than electric, but it still worked. So then last year, 2021 and 2022, it's the 40th anniversary of both Bad Reputation album and I Love Rock and Roll album. Because one came out, they both came out in 81, I guess. Something like that. So we wanted to do some extra things for the fans and maybe record some acoustic stuff.

So we thought, oh, we did that stuff for the premiere, let's go in the studio, record a few songs. Once we got in there and started, playing songs, we really just did everything we could do live. Once we started recording, we just kept going. And we didn't really plan on having an album's worth or two of material, but just wound up there and thought, what the hell? Put it out.

How do you feel about it? Like you're... I feel good about it. I feel it's fun and it's different. We play some on stage, like we'll do our... electric show and then come and then do instead of an encore do like three or four acoustic songs and it's been going over we just started like a month ago a half ago doing it doing it and see how it would go over live is you know I don't know unless in front of people so so they seem to

like it so we'll see what happens and we'll see what happens with the stadium tour you know we're going to see if we can work some into that and if it works great if it doesn't What are those guys like, now, like Motley Crew and Poison? I don't know. I've met Jeff Leppard. We played with Def Leppard before. Okay. But I've never played with Motley Crew.

So I don't know. I have no idea what to expect, but it should be interesting. You know, it's weird to me. I learned this with Blue Oyster Culp. The Def Leopard's album covers were more scarier than Def Leppard was. Yeah. The thing is, like, if Mutt Lang, you know, like, mutt is too, He's too polished.

Yeah, he's too polished and clean to really like, I'm telling you, it's more the album covered. Exactly. Like, if you listen to the love bites, whatever, like, just fucking harmonies. Like, it's, it's just more enhanced California harmonies to me. You know what I mean? Right.

And so, I don't know. It's weird. I never truly saw. I mean, of course, you know, they create one anthem that will probably play in every gentleman's, Club. Now to the end of time. Look how you know that, yeah.

Now, I just meant, you know, sugar has a kick-ass riff to it. But I've never considered deaf, I mean, I don't consider deaf levered metal the same way they don't consider the police heart rock. You know what I mean? Yeah, well, people are loose with their

terminology now, you know, don't you find? Well, yeah, sometimes you were just classifying things. Yeah, exactly. Right now, like, Like, where, with this storied career, and is there, is there anything that you have yet to achieve or yet to accomplish that you wish to? Oh, I'm, you know, I wouldn't know who to say specifically, but I'm always interested in doing, doing different things. I just actually did something, did I mention that with Trombone Shorty?

Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, it's, it's new for me. I'm not always great with that because I'm good with knowing, you know, being comfortable and doing what I know and that kind of stuff. So I have to try to get better with, you know, just jumping into the unknown and not being so. Getting out of comfort zone.

Yeah, yeah, but being okay with that and being, you know, you're going to live, you're going to be okay. Don't worry. I don't know. I think I'm ready for my R&B album now. Let's go. Hey, just get it. There it is. Let's go.

But Joe, thank you very much, yeah, for joining us and doing this with us. And, you know, we appreciate your work. I've been a long-time fan of yours. Oh, thank you all. It's been a real pleasure, definitely. For sure. Thank you. I've been a big fan too.

Yeah, be safe out there, John. Yeah, you guys take care, okay? Absolutely. Let's all. Joan Jett on Questleaf Supreme We will see you guys on the next go round All right, thank you. West Love Supreme is a production of IHeart Radio.

For more podcasts from IHartRadio, visit the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits,

my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest, the director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Galko joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar.

This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed, I will be his last target.

He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.