The Runaways
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- For other uses, see Runaways (disambiguation)
The Runaways were a seminal all-women band who performed proto-punk heavy metal music in the 1970s.
Widely believed at the time to have been a novelty act formed by producer Kim Fowley, who thought the notion of five teenage girls dressed in leather and lingerie performing heavy metal music was highly marketable, the band released its eponymous first album in 1976. The band's lineup was:
- Cherie Currie, lead vocals and keyboards
- Joan Jett, rhythm guitar and vocals
- Lita Ford, lead guitar
- Jackie Fox, bass guitar and vocals
- Sandy West, drums and vocals
Despite the apparent "jailbait on the run" gimmick, the girls in the band were proficient at playing their instruments and wrote or co-wrote most of the band's material and, as later became obvious, were serious about their music. Their best known song is "Cherry Bomb", which has been covered by many other bands, including the Riot grrrl band Bratmobile.
The Runaways made five albums and went through several personnel changes, including Jett taking over from Currie as lead singer, before breaking up in 1979.
Jett and Ford both went on to achieve substantial success as solo artists in the 1980s. Currie went on to a briefly successful career as an actress, appearing in Foxes with Jodie Foster, before falling into heavy drug use. She later recovered and wrote an autobiography, Neon Angel. West continued with music, sometimes playing with her former bandmates. Fox went to UCLA and Harvard Law School and became an entertainment attorney.
Michael Steele, who was briefly part of the band before their first album, later joined The Bangles.
There was some talk of a Runaways reunion towards the end of the 1990s, but nothing happened. Currie did join Jett onstage in 2001 to sing "Cherry Bomb", the first time they had performed together in close to 25 years.
The Runaways paved the way for female oriented punk bands like X-Ray Spex, Bikini Kill and most recently, The Donnas.
Discography
- The Runaways, 1976
- Queens of Noise, 1977
- Live in Japan,1977
- Waiting For The Night, 1977
- And Now. . . The Runaways, 1978
External references
- Official website (http://www.therunaways.com)
- Full band history (http://www.therunaways.com/newsite/bio.shtml)sv:Runaways