Joan Jett stands at a microphone in a Manhattan recording studio, almost ready to sing. Dressed for rock & roll work in a tight gray jersey, weathered jeans and sneakers, she shakes her arms and bounces on her feet like an impatient boxer. Her jet-black hair is a riot of feathery spikes. And she has a fat, torpedolike joint hanging from her mouth. The smoking, Jett says later, loosens up the edges and range of her distinctively craggy voice.
Jett is making new music today with her longtime band the Blackhearts: the title song to a forthcoming film, Miss You Already, byTwilight director Catherine Hardwicke. Written by Jett, Laguna and guitarist Dougie Needles, the track is a razor-toothed surge of guitars with a hot chorus from the same pop-smart punk-rock pocket as the records that got Jett, 56, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 18th: the 1981 New Wave anthem "I Love Rock 'N Roll"; her hit covers of Gary Glitter's "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" and Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover"; Jett's first solo LP,Bad Reputation; and The Runaways, her 1976 debut, at 17, with that pioneering all-teen, all-female Los Angeles band.She also has "the best shit," according to Kenny Laguna, Jett's manager, co-producer and co-songwriter for the past 35 years. "Keith Richards had some of that," he announces with a hearty laugh, as Jett rolls her number on the mixing board before the take. "Said it gave him flashbacks to 1968."
She still sings like a woman with unfinished business. When she steps to the mic and sings "Miss You Already," a song about loss and precious memories, her performance is feral, frayed and direct. "Great ending, great last verse!" Laguna shouts as Jett returns to the control room. She's not so sure. The two are soon bantering over pitch and timing – Laguna with the high-volume brio of a New York beat cop, Jett in a deep rasp – with the flammable affection of an old married couple, which in a way they are. Laguna has been married to his wife, Meryl, for 44 years. But he and Jett, who is single, have been creative partners since 1979. She was reeling from the collapse of the Runaways and the sexist stigma attached to the group: that girls can't rock. Laguna had a long history in Sixties pop and bubblegum as a writer, producer and keyboard player.
Jett will continue to create music and bring together people together with her angst, passion and hook lines. Keep doing your thing, Joan!
Source: Joan Jett Rolling Stone Magazine.
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