Bad Reputation (Joan Jett album)

Bad Reputation
Studio album by Joan Jett
Released	May 17, 1980 (1980-05-17) (Joan Jett) January 23, 1981 (1981-01-23) (Bad Reputation)
Recorded	March 1979 – March 1980
Studio	Chappell Recording Studios and Ramport Studios, London, UK, Fidelity Studios, North Hollywood, California
Genre	Punk rock hard rock new wave[1]
Length	38:31
Label	Ariola, Blackheart (Joan Jett) Boardwalk (Bad Reputation)
Producer	Kenny Laguna Ritchie Cordell Mark Dodson Steve Jones Paul Cook
Joan Jett chronology
Bad Reputation (1980) I Love Rock 'n Roll (1981)
Singles from Bad Reputation
"You Don't Own Me" / "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" Released: 1979 "Make Believe" / "Call Me Lightning" Released: 1980 "You Don't Know What You've Got" / "Don't Abuse Me" Released: 1980 "Bad Reputation" / "Jezebel" Released: 1981 "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" / "Victim of Circumstance" Released: 1982

Bad Reputation is the debut solo studio album by the American recording artist Joan Jett, originally self-released in 1980 as Joan Jett after her previous band The Runaways disbanded, then re-issued on Boardwalk Records in 1981 as Bad Reputation.

Background

Record producer Kenny Laguna financed the album's recording sessions using borrowed studio credits.^[2] Recorded before Joan Jett formed The Blackhearts, the majority of the album featured Jett backed by members of the Roll-Ups, with Lea Hart on guitar, Jeff Peters on bass and Paul Simmons on drums. Other tracks include well known musicians, such as the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook, and Blondie's Clem Burke and Frank Infante.

After independently recording the album with Laguna, Jett took the record to a number of major record labels, none of which were interested in releasing the project. Rather than continue to hunt for a willing label, Laguna and Jett decided to fund the pressing of the album themselves. The original, self-released, version of the album was simply titled Joan Jett and was sold directly to concert-goers and record stores out of Laguna's trunk.^[3]

The album sold relatively well, prompting its re-release a year later as Bad Reputation on Boardwalk Records, with identical track listing. Jett said that the new title referred to the bad reputation that she had as a former member of The Runaways.^[4]

When the album's European rights were secured through Ariola Records, "Hanky Panky" replaced "Wooly Bully" as the final song on Side 2. When the album was issued through Boardwalk Records in the U.S. under the title Bad Reputation, the label stuck with "Wooly Bully" as the final track, making the "Hanky Panky" import version a collector's item. However, the song was later included as a bonus track on CD re-releases.

The original Australian release featured a completely different cover, and "Hanky Panky" replaced "Shout" as track 9. "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" was also a huge hit in Australia when it was released hot on the heels of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "Crimson and Clover" from Jett's 1982 album, I Love Rock 'n Roll.

In 1999, the album was again re-issued, this time on CD with several bonus tracks and a remastered version of the original album.

Singles

• "You Don't Own Me" was released as a single prior to the album in 1979. The B-side was an early version of "I Love Rock 'n Roll" performed with Cook and Jones. This b-side version was later released on the rarities album Flashback.
• "Make Believe" was released as a 7-inch single on the Ariola label. The record was accompanied by a fold-out mini-poster sleeve featuring the album cover photo. The B-side was a cover version of "Call Me Lightning" which also turned up on Flashback as well as CD versions of Bad Reputation
• "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" was released as a Boardwalk single following the success of Jett's versions of "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and "Crimson and Clover". The B-side was "Victim of Circumstance" which was culled from the later album.
• Boardwalk also released "Jezebel" as a single (which had been successful overseas), but the song was ignored by US rock radio.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[5]
The Village Voice	A–[6]

• "Joan Jett's debut album is an infectious romp through her influences, ranging from classic '50s and '60s rock & roll through glam rock, three-chord loud'n'fast Ramones punk, and poppier new wave guitar rock." (Steve Huey, AllMusic)^[1]
• "Unfortunately, Bad Reputation is flawed by its literal-mindedness – the arrangements pump along gamely yet rarely swing or soar – and by some unresourceful material. But in its mood and feel, Joan Jett's first solo album is a determined retelling of what sometimes seems like the truest rock story there is." (Tom Carson, Rolling Stone)^[5]
• "Producers Kenny Laguna and Ritchie Cordell make the old glitter formula of readymade riffs 'n' blare sound suitable for albums, and they get plenty of help from reformed Runaway Jett, who has writing credit on four of these twelve tunes and comes on tuffer than any gurl in history." (Robert Christgau, The Village Voice)^[6]

Rolling Stone magazine named the album No. 36 on their '50 Coolest Albums of all Time' List in 2005.^[7]

Track listing

Personnel

Production team

• Kenny Laguna – producer
• Ritchie Cordell – producer
• Mark Dodson – engineer; associate producer
• Steve Jones – producer of tracks 4 and 11
• Paul Cook – producer of tracks 4 and 11
• Joe Latimer – engineer
• Stuart Panes – engineer
• Butch Yates – assistant engineer
• Malcolm Davis – mastering

Charts

Album

Singles

References

External links

• Bad Reputation at AllMusic
• Bad Reputation at Discogs (list of releases)
• Joan Jett (album) at JoanJett.com (archive link)
• Bad Reputation at JoanJett.com (archive link)