In honor of Joan Jett’s birthday today, the song of the day is “Bad Reputation”. Joan Jett wrote this song with Kenny Laguna, who produced the album and helped her establish a solo career after her group, The Runaways, broke up. In a Songfacts interview with Laguna, he said: “It’s about Joan having been kind of a wild woman in The Runaways, and us trying to make a record deal, going around having people say, ‘No, she’s too crazy, like the punks and nazis.’ Joan had this bad reputation, no label would sign her – that’s why we own the records. It was so frustrating, we thought we should write a song about it. One day Joan said something and I said, ‘You shouldn’t do this.’ I was trying to give her the advice of an old man, but she was a teenager at the time, and she says, ‘Look, I don’t care about my bad reputation.’ I said, ‘Whoa, there’s the song.'”
Speaking with Rolling Stone in 2022, Jett talked about her bad reputation. “I always wore it as a badge of honor,” she said. “Because what people were saying to me was I had a bad reputation because I played an electric guitar and I had black hair and a leather jacket, and maybe I swore… So I turned around the meaning of it, and I’m proud of my bad reputation.”
This song made a very bold statement, establishing Jett as an independent-minded rocker with no concern for traditional gender roles in rock. Her co-writer Kenny Laguna told us: “‘I don’t give a damn about my reputation, it’s a new generation,’ that was the whole thing, a girl could do what she wants to do. When she was singing those lyrics, it was radical because there were no girls doing anything other than what they were supposed to do, they were all supposed to be like the girl groups. They were supposed to be dainty, wear dresses. They weren’t supposed to play instruments. The song was definitely autobiographical.”
This anthem for any punk, freak, or misfit, only charted moderately upon release (however, it peaked at number eight on the Billboard Japan Hot 100). This is unsurprising as Joan Jett was ahead if her time. However, this is one of Jett’s signature songs, and had a bit of a resurgence as it was the theme song of the incredible television show Freaks and Geeks, which ran for only one season, from 1999-2000.
Joan Jett is a pioneer and icon who is still rocking today!
40 years ago, on this day, September 21, 1982, Janet Jackson released her self-titled debut album. “Young Love” was the debut single released off of that album. The song was released on July 7, 1982, prior to the album’s release. In addition to being a member of the legendary Jackson family, Janet had previously been known for playing Penny on the television show, Good Times and as Charlene Duprey, Willis’ girlfriend on Diff’rent Strokes.
“Feel It Again” is somehow the only Top 40 hit in the U.S. from this very underrated Canadian band. This was released off of their second album, The Big Prize. It was the band’s first top 20 hit in Canada, reaching #16, and it landed at #34 in the U.S.
On this day (September 19) in 1987, “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You by Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett Became the #1 Song in America. This was the first single released from Michael’s seventh album, Bad. This song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, R&B Singles and Adult Contemporary charts, making it the first in a string of 5 number-one singles from Bad. It was Jackson’s second number-one song on the Adult Contemporary chart after “The Girl Is Mine” with Paul McCartney.
In honor of his birthday today, the Song of the Day is “Hold On to the Nights” by Richard Marx. This song was the fourth and final single released from his self-titled debut album, and his first to reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. His next two singles, “
There is no particular reason why today’s Song of the Day is “You Are” by Lionel Richie other than the fact that I love it, it’s in my head, and it is a feel-good song. This song was written by Richie and his then-wife, Brenda Harvey Richie. It appears on his self-titled debut solo album, which came out in 1982. “You Are” was the follow-up single to his number-one hit song “
In honor of Peter Cetera’s birthday today, the Song of the Day is his smash hit, “Glory of Love”. Cetera didn’t miss a beat after leaving the legendary band, Chicago.
“Pump Up the Volume” is the only single by British recording act M|A|R|R|S. Recorded and released in 1987, it was a number-one hit in many countries and is regarded as a significant milestone in the development of British acid house music and music sampling. It is made up of about 250 samples. The line, “Pump Up The Volume” came from “
On this day (September 9) in 1989, New Kids on the Block hit #1 in the U.S. It would also go on to be a #1 hit in the U.K., and Ireland. It is their only No. 1 single in Ireland and reached the top 10 in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. This was the fourth single released off of their Hangin’ Tough album.
In honor of Aimee Mann’s birthday today, the song of the day is “Voices Carry” by ‘Til Tuesday. This is the title-track of ‘Til Tuesday’s debut album. The single was released on March 28, 1985. It was the band’s highest-charting single and their only top ten hit in the U.S., peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally it reached the top twenty in Canada and Australia.
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