2006/08/31
Reflections on Joan Jett at the state fair
Also at BlogJosh.
I first spoke with Joan Jett in July of 2003. It was a quickie – even as quickies go: she was hiding in an airport, not wanting to draw attention, and willing to fulfill the interview her label's management had promised me. They gave me 10 minutes; I got her on her way in seven.
Looking back on the interview (done for a now-defunct publication I was editing for Reminder Publications), so much of what she said really hasn't changed. The record industry was hurting, illegal downloading was (in her words) "really screwed up," and she wasn't hearing much new music she liked – except a band called The Vacancies.
Angela and I got a little face time with Jett last night at the state fair, before being joined by Kristen and Rebecca, watching the show from backstage. I'll get back to Jett in a moment, but I spoke to Julie Rader, a member of Blackheart Records' management team, and she talked about the impending death of major labels, piracy, and noted that Jett (with her band, the Blackearts) will be playing with The Vacancies in the fall.
There were some things I would have loved to have gotten to in that 2003 interview, but didn't get a chance to. Now, three years later, I had a couple of minutes. But instead, really got into things that I wouldn't even have thought about. And it didn't feel like an interview, it wasn't set up as such, but I definitely am not in the category of the fan who shakes the rock star's hand and says, "ooh! I love your work."
I do love her work, but I don't feel the need to burden her with that – I'm sure she's got plenty of fans who let her know. So I made small talk. And I unexpectedly hit on something I wouldn't have thought to ask about: Fame.
"Have you had a chance to check out the fair at all?"
Well, no, she hadn't. She grew up with fairs, she loves fairs, but she just wouldn't be able to handle it out there.
The band had just finished the Warped Tour. And while everyone probably knew who she was – she definitely reaches people of all ages – she was able to ride her bike from tent to tent and to the stage and around and no one bother her.
At the fair, she said, she'd be surrounded, mobbed, and wouldn't be able to move. There's no fun in it.
Which is a shame, really, but she's clearly not having a problem with her fame.
I used to pity people who were known best for a few songs they did 25 years ago. How many times do you think Van Morrison has sung "Brown-Eyed Girl" in his lifetime? Moxy Früvous got so sick of doing "King of Spain" they turned it into a power ballad – and they didn't even last that long.
But looking out on the Cheverolet Court at a couple of thousand people waving their fists in the air and screaming, "Oh yeah!" during "Do You Wanna Touch Me" as the band just clapped out a rhythm, I realized that reaction could never get old. [Aside: Ain't it a great thing that she managed to be the one known for that song, now that Gary Glitter's rotting in jail for molesting 12 year olds?]
Kurt Cobain was a fool.
Jett – and guitarist Dougie Needles, as well – might be fooling nature with their bodies. Jett will be 48 in a few weeks; Needles has to be close. But they're both still bounding around the stage like they're 23.
But as Jett's aged, she's matured. She still has every little bit of energy she ever had – or at least her stage persona does – but her songs have evolved from rebellion to revolution. She'll always be shouting, "Don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation" from on stage, but she's not really doing teen angst anymore.
No almost-48-year-old should be.
The new album, Sinner, launches with a piece of brilliance called "Riddles," a hard-hitting anti-war tune, complete with audio of Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush blathering on. It did well at the early show, but at the later show last night, it got a little bit of a cooler reception (this is a very red area, despite the blue showing the city of Syracuse generally has).
It's smart, it's effective, and it's not the only one on Sinner that's like that.
It's not entirely a political CD, but there are definitely undertones throughout. In the 2003 interview, we didn't get to talk politics – we started, but she said she'd spend all day, and there was, of course, a plane to catch.
Now that I've heard the disc, I'd love to get more into how Warped went – so many young minds to teach.
And fortunately, Jett shows no signs of slowing down. Her tour schedule (check the web site) has her doing 21 shows in 37 days between Oct. 12 and Nov. 19 – going from Philadelphia to San Francisco and all the way back to Atlanta in just over a month. And I wouldn't be surprise if other shows are added in the meantime.
I've babbled long enough. Get out there, support independent music. Buy the records. Listen to the words. You'll learn something along the way.
Next up: Ember Swift and Lyndell Montgomery at Jazz Central Saturday night. Musically, does one have a better week than this?
I first spoke with Joan Jett in July of 2003. It was a quickie – even as quickies go: she was hiding in an airport, not wanting to draw attention, and willing to fulfill the interview her label's management had promised me. They gave me 10 minutes; I got her on her way in seven.
Looking back on the interview (done for a now-defunct publication I was editing for Reminder Publications), so much of what she said really hasn't changed. The record industry was hurting, illegal downloading was (in her words) "really screwed up," and she wasn't hearing much new music she liked – except a band called The Vacancies.
Angela and I got a little face time with Jett last night at the state fair, before being joined by Kristen and Rebecca, watching the show from backstage. I'll get back to Jett in a moment, but I spoke to Julie Rader, a member of Blackheart Records' management team, and she talked about the impending death of major labels, piracy, and noted that Jett (with her band, the Blackearts) will be playing with The Vacancies in the fall.
There were some things I would have loved to have gotten to in that 2003 interview, but didn't get a chance to. Now, three years later, I had a couple of minutes. But instead, really got into things that I wouldn't even have thought about. And it didn't feel like an interview, it wasn't set up as such, but I definitely am not in the category of the fan who shakes the rock star's hand and says, "ooh! I love your work."
I do love her work, but I don't feel the need to burden her with that – I'm sure she's got plenty of fans who let her know. So I made small talk. And I unexpectedly hit on something I wouldn't have thought to ask about: Fame.
"Have you had a chance to check out the fair at all?"
Well, no, she hadn't. She grew up with fairs, she loves fairs, but she just wouldn't be able to handle it out there.
The band had just finished the Warped Tour. And while everyone probably knew who she was – she definitely reaches people of all ages – she was able to ride her bike from tent to tent and to the stage and around and no one bother her.
At the fair, she said, she'd be surrounded, mobbed, and wouldn't be able to move. There's no fun in it.
Which is a shame, really, but she's clearly not having a problem with her fame.
I used to pity people who were known best for a few songs they did 25 years ago. How many times do you think Van Morrison has sung "Brown-Eyed Girl" in his lifetime? Moxy Früvous got so sick of doing "King of Spain" they turned it into a power ballad – and they didn't even last that long.
But looking out on the Cheverolet Court at a couple of thousand people waving their fists in the air and screaming, "Oh yeah!" during "Do You Wanna Touch Me" as the band just clapped out a rhythm, I realized that reaction could never get old. [Aside: Ain't it a great thing that she managed to be the one known for that song, now that Gary Glitter's rotting in jail for molesting 12 year olds?]
Kurt Cobain was a fool.
Jett – and guitarist Dougie Needles, as well – might be fooling nature with their bodies. Jett will be 48 in a few weeks; Needles has to be close. But they're both still bounding around the stage like they're 23.
But as Jett's aged, she's matured. She still has every little bit of energy she ever had – or at least her stage persona does – but her songs have evolved from rebellion to revolution. She'll always be shouting, "Don't give a damn 'bout my bad reputation" from on stage, but she's not really doing teen angst anymore.
No almost-48-year-old should be.
The new album, Sinner, launches with a piece of brilliance called "Riddles," a hard-hitting anti-war tune, complete with audio of Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush blathering on. It did well at the early show, but at the later show last night, it got a little bit of a cooler reception (this is a very red area, despite the blue showing the city of Syracuse generally has).
It's smart, it's effective, and it's not the only one on Sinner that's like that.
It's not entirely a political CD, but there are definitely undertones throughout. In the 2003 interview, we didn't get to talk politics – we started, but she said she'd spend all day, and there was, of course, a plane to catch.
Now that I've heard the disc, I'd love to get more into how Warped went – so many young minds to teach.
And fortunately, Jett shows no signs of slowing down. Her tour schedule (check the web site) has her doing 21 shows in 37 days between Oct. 12 and Nov. 19 – going from Philadelphia to San Francisco and all the way back to Atlanta in just over a month. And I wouldn't be surprise if other shows are added in the meantime.
I've babbled long enough. Get out there, support independent music. Buy the records. Listen to the words. You'll learn something along the way.
Next up: Ember Swift and Lyndell Montgomery at Jazz Central Saturday night. Musically, does one have a better week than this?
