In 1979 , Having already recorded solo tracks backed and produced by ex- Sex Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook, she placed an ad in the L.A. Weekly "looking for three good men." John Doe of X sat in on bass for auditions held at S.I.R. studios in Los Angeles. He mentioned a local bass player, Gary Ryan, that had recently been crashing on his couch. Ryan was part of the L.A. punk scene and had played bass with local artists Top Jimmy and Rik L. Rik. He had been a huge fan of the Runaways and Jett for years. Jett recognized him at the audition and he was in. Gary recommended guitarist Eric Ambel, who was also at the time part of Rik L. Rik. The final addition to the original Blackhearts was drummer Danny Furious aka Danny O'Brien, formerly of the infamous San Francisco band The Avengers. This line-up played several gigs at the Golden Bear and Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood before embarking on their first European tour which consisted of an extensive tour of the Netherlands, and a few key shows in England including the Marquee in London.
Upon returning to the States, Jett, Ryan, and Ambel moved to Long Beach, N.Y. O'Brien stayed behind in England to pursue other interests. Auditions were set up and Lee Crystal, formerly of The Boyfriends and Sylvain Sylvain, became the new drummer. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts then toured throughout the States and built quite a following in New York. Jett and Laguna soon used their personal savings to press up copies of the Joan Jett album in 1980 and set up their own system of independent distribution, sometimes selling the albums out of the trunk of Laguna's Cadillac at the end of each concert. Laguna was unable to keep up with demand for her album. Eventually, old friend and founder of [abel]Casablanca Records, Neil Bogart, made a joint venture with Laguna and signed Jett to his new label, Boardwalk Records and re-released the "Joan Jett" album as Bad Reputation in 1981. After a year of touring and recording, The Blackhearts recorded a new album entitled I Love Rock N' Roll for the label. During the recording process, Ambel was replaced by local guitarist Ricky Byrd. Eric went on to a successful career as a founding member of the Del-Lords, and later worked as a producer of a wide variety of bands. He currently plays with his band, The Yayhoos, and was a member of The Dukes, Steve Earle's band from 2000 to 2005.
With Byrd on guitar, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts recorded their hit album. The new single was a re-recording of the title track, "I Love Rock N' Roll", which in the first half of 1982 was number one on the Billboard charts for seven weeks in a row. It is now Billboard’s #28 song of all time.
A string of Top 40 hits followed, as well as sellout tours with The Police, Queen, and Aerosmith, among others. Jett was the second American act of any kind to perform behind the Iron Curtain, after Blood, Sweat & Tears appeared in Romania in 1969. She was among the first English-speaking rock acts to appear in Panama and the Dominican Republic.
After receiving her own MTV New Year's Eve special, Jett beat out a number of contenders to appear in the movie Light of Day with Michael J. Fox. Bruce Springsteen wrote "the title song" especially for her, and her performance was critically acclaimed. It was about this time that Ryan and Crystal left the Blackhearts. They were soon replaced by the powerful rhythm section of Thommy Price and Kasim Sulton from Utopia. Later that year, Jett released Good Music, which featured appearances by The Beach Boys, The Sugarhill Gang and singer Darlene Love.
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts became the first rock band to perform a series of shows at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway, breaking the record at the time for the fastest ticket sell-out ever. Her next release, Up Your Alley, went multi-platinum and was followed by The Hit List, which was an album consisting of cover songs. During this time, Jett also co-wrote the song "House of Fire", which appeared on Alice Cooper's hit 1989 album Trash.
Her 1991 release, Notorious (which featured The Replacements' Paul Westerberg) was the last with Sony/CBS as Jett switched to Warner Brothers. A CD single of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It" featuring Jett and Westerberg was also released during this time and appeared in the song credits for the movie Tank Girl. In 1993, Jett and Laguna released Flashback, a compilation of various songs on their own Blackheart Records.
Jett produced several bands prior to releasing her debut and her label Blackheart Records released recordings from varied artists such as thrash rock band Metal Church and rapper Big Daddy Kane.
The press has touted Jett as the "Godmother of Punk" and the "Original Riot Grrrl". In 1994, the Blackhearts released the well received Pure and Simple, which featured tracks written with Kat Bjelland (Babes in Toyland), Donita Sparks (L7) and Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill).
In 1999 she put out the sexually charged Fetish and followed that up with politically outspoken Sinner in 2006.
She continues to tour each year, performing USO shows in places as far off as Afghanistan, and has a regular sattellite radio show. The current touring band includes longstanding drummer Thommy Price and manager Kenny Laguna on keys along with Dougie Needles on lead guitar and Enzo Penizzotto on bass. .
Fake Friends
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The song "Fake Friends" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts is a powerful anthem that denounces the concept of fake friendship. The lyrics directly address the pain and disillusionment that comes with realizing that those who you thought were your friends are not genuine.
In the first verse, Jett voices the feelings of abandonment and betrayal that can come when someone is in a challenging situation and their supposed friends are nowhere to be found. The second verse emphasizes the fact that people around you may flatter you and pretend to be supportive, but sometimes they are just waiting for you to fail so they can turn their backs on you. The chorus declares that losing fake friends is not a loss at all because you have nothing to lose.
The bridge highlights the emotional impact of losing people whom you thought were close, and the final verse encourages the listener to stand up and tell the fake friends that they were once the king or queen of the hill, even if they are currently down. Ultimately, the message of the song is that true friends will be there through the good and the bad, and to lose fake friends is no loss at all.
Line by Line Meaning
When you were down they were never there
Your so-called friends only stick around when you are doing well and abandon you during tough times.
All the sycophants they love to make romance
These fake friends love to flatter and cozy up to you to gain your favor and benefit from your success.
When you're all alone you really get to learn
Being alone allows you to see who truly cares about you and who is just pretending to be your friend for their own gain.
If you get back up they gonna come around
These fake friends will come back around if they see that you are successful again, hoping to once again benefit from your success.
To the ugly sound of 'em tellin' you what you 'cause they all agree you're supposed to have a better life
These fake friends will tell you what they think you want to hear, all while reinforcing unrealistic expectations for your life.
Wanna hear an' you pretend
You want to believe their lies and pretend everything is okay, even though deep down you know it's not.
But you're feelin' worse
Their lies and flattery only make you feel worse about yourself in the long run.
An' they build you up till you fool yourself that you're Something else an' it's like a curse cause
These fake friends will flatter you to the point where you start to believe in your own hype, but this false sense of self will only lead to disappointment and failure.
An' they tell you that you're losin' friends
These fake friends will try to make you feel guilty for not living up to their expectations and will threaten to abandon you if you don't do what they want.
You can't live up to what they made of you
These fake friends have unrealistic expectations for you that you cannot possibly live up to.
Losin' friends, losin' friends
You are losing these fake friends, but in reality, you have nothing to lose.
Ya don't lose when you lose fake friends
Losing these fake friends is actually a good thing, as they were only holding you back from true success and happiness.
Ya got nothin to lose
You have nothing to lose by cutting these fake friends out of your life and focusing on true relationships.
Ya go an tell 'em you were king of the hill
You can confidently tell these fake friends that you are successful and happy without them, proving that you don't need their false support and flattery.
Ya see 'em laugh while you're on your knees
These fake friends will laugh at your failures and weaknesses, reveling in your downfall and proving their true colors.
An' ya can't believe that ya hit the gound
It can be hard to believe that these supposed friends would turn on you so easily and quickly, but it's time to face the truth.
An' When ya need a hand - that was yesterday
These fake friends will not be there for you when you truly need them, as they only care about themselves and their own success.
An' it breaks your heart 'cause ya gave so much
It can be heartbreaking to realize that you invested so much time and energy into these fake friendships, only to be let down in the end.
Ya notice ya been losin' friends
You may feel like you are losing friends, but in reality, you are just weeding out the fake ones and making room for true, genuine relationships.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: JOAN JETT, KENNETH BENJAMIN LAGUNA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
johnny zell
When you were down they were never there
When you're all alone you really get to learn
If you get back up they gonna come around
All the sycophants they love to make romance
To the ugly sound of em tellin you what you
Wanna hear an you pretend
Cuz they all agree you're supposed to have a better life
But you're feelin worse
An they build you up till you fool yourself that you're
Something else an its like a curse cause
You cant live up to what they made of you
An they tell you that you're losin friends
Losin friends, losin friends
Ya got nothin to lose
Ya don't lose when you lose fake friends
Ya go an tell em you were king of the hill
When ya need a hand - that was yesterday
Ya see em laugh while you're on your knees
An it breaks your heart cuz ya gave so much
An ya cant believe that ya hit the gound an
Ya notice ya been losin friends
Losin friends, losin friends
Ya got nothin to lose
Ya don't lose when you lose fake friends
[repeat chorus]
Fluffets
You know how some songs are more Music and some are more Lyrics... This song has it ALL. A killer arrangement and PUNCH, plus a very astute lyric! Work for those amazing Real Friends, but you'll still have to sift through some fake ones now and then. That's Life. That's Rock-n-Roll!
Russell Lahr
Well said
The Mad Mick
True story.💪👍🥃
ashley1994
music not Music. lyrics not Lyrics.
ashley1994
music not Music lyrics not Lyrics real friends not Real Friends rock n roll not Rock n Roll. Too many unnecessary capital letters.
The Mad Mick
@ashley1994
I’ve got nothing to lose when I lose fake friends.
Or stupid comments.👍🥃
Elizabeth Anders
I had been going through some situations recently in which those I TRUSTED and considered "friends". I had been treated like their personal doormat and my friendship was taken for granted for quite a while 😔. I remembered this song by Joan Jett, and began to listen to it again👍😉. Now, I have to do what I should have done A LONG TIME AGO. I have decided to END these "friendships" with these FLAKEY people 🤨.
Mike4metal
I can count my true friends with one hand,and that”s good enough for me🤘🏻
Purple kisses
I love this. I saw her on the 11th in concert! She's still got it! so amazing
Ronnie Ortega
Purple kisses prince the best tho💜