Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are an American rock band led by artist Joan … Read Full Bio ↴Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are an American rock band led by artist Joan Jett. After The Runaways split in 1979, Jett pursued a solo career to explore the same aggressive punk style and met Kenny Laguna. Jett soon released her self-titled debut.

Shortly after that, with Kenny's assistance, Joan formed the backing group "The Blackhearts" with three obscure New York area musicians: Gary Ryan on bass, Eric Ambel (replaced shortly thereafter by Rick Byrd) on guitar and Lee Crystal on drums. After almost a year of touring, Joan's first album with The Blackhearts, entitled I Love Rock'N'Roll came out in December of 1981. The album included a version of "Little Drummer Boy" on the pre-Christmas editions. The album's impact on the music scene was immediate with the LP reaching the Top Five, while the single "I Love Rock'n'Roll" hit the very top of the Billboard's Charts on March 20, 1982 and stayed #1 for 7 weeks. Joan Jett had come back from nowhere.

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, the first one being Blood, Sweat & Tears in Romania in 1969. She was among the first English-speaking rock acts to appear in Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Forced label changes in the 80's led to a decline in popularity. Despite the follow-up albums "Album" and "Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth" being praised by her devout fans, neither got the attention or radio play the first two albums received.

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. 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. Later that year, Jett released "Good Music", which featured appearances by The Beach Boys, The Sugarhill Gang and singer Darlene Love. The album only spawned two minor singles which received little airplay. This label decided the band had to either take in outside help or they would lose their contract.

And so they did. Her next release, Up Your Alley, went multi-platinum and was followed by "The Hit List", which was an international hit. Popular songwriter/producer Desmond Child was brought in, resulting in the release of album "Up Your Alley". This album brought the band a resurgence in popularity, with top 10 singles "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and "Little Liar".

This return to the spotlight would be short-lived, however. Follow-up album "The Hit List", an all-cover songs release, spawned only a minor hit with Jett's version of AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds".

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.

1991 and 1994 had two more releases, "Notorious" and "Pure & Simple". But radio had started looking to grunge by this time, and neither album got the attention they deserved.

In the 1990s, Jett and Laguna released "Flashback", a compilation of her career so far on their own Blackheart Records. Her next release, "Notorious" (which featured The Replacements' Paul Westerberg) was the last with Sony/CBS as Jett switched to Warner Brothers.

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).

While a slew of hits packages, some with an occasional new or previously unreleased track were released following this, it would be 10 years before a new studio album would appear.

This would be 2004's "Naked", and thus far has been a Japan-only release. The album sees Jett returning to a more raw and experimental sound, closer to that of her first 4 releases than the polished material that began with "Good Music".

Failing to get "Naked" released in other markets, Jett released on a more international level "Sinner" in June 2006, on Blackheart Records, her own label.. This album featured many remixed tracks from "Naked", and a complete rewrite of "Stuck in the Middle" to new version "Riddles". Lead-off single and video was a cover of "A.C.D.C." by Sweet.

To support the album, the band appeared on the 2006 Warped Tour, and embarked on a Fall 2006 tour with Eagles of Death Metal.

After a long break from recording, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts released a 6-song EP of new material, "Mindsets," in June 2023.

Wynnewood

Too Bad on Your Birthday
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I heard your best friend say
You shouldn't have treated her that way
You could've been a little bit kinder
He didn't send you no note
Didn't give you no gift
He didn't even try to find ya
Well, that's too bad, too bad
Too bad on your birthday

I said it's too bad, too bad
Too bad on your birthday
You were my love once
It lasted several months
And I was in love even blinder
When you left me I cried
All my tears haven't dried
So I'm leavin' this little reminder
Oh, it's too bad, too bad
Too bad on your birthday
Oh, too bad, too bad
Too bad on your birthday
And now you're the girl
With cake on her face
Yeah, you're the one who's cryin'
Blow out the candles and make a wish
If you need a drink, babe
I'm buyin', yeah
Too bad, too bad
Too bad on your birthday
I said it's too bad, too bad
Too bad on your birthday
Woe, too bad, too bad
Too bad on your birthday
I said that's too bad, that's too bad

Too bad on your birthday
That's too bad

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts's song "Too Bad on Your Birthday" convey a message of sweet revenge. The singer reflects on a past relationship and how the person treated her badly, and despite her pain, decides to return the favor. She does so by wishing that person a happy birthday, but do so in a slightly passive-aggressive manner. She mentions that their mutual friends think poorly of him, and then wishes him "too bad" on his special day. What makes the song unique is its playful tone, which makes the vengeful lyrics almost feel like a joke.

One interpretation of the song is that it is about the joy that comes from getting revenge. The lyrics convey a sense of satisfaction that the singer feels from seeing her ex-partner hurt. The line "Blow out the candles and make a wish, if you need a drink babe I'm buying" is especially telling because it shows the singer extending an olive branch to her former partner while also realizing that their negativity has no effect on her anymore. The song demonstrates that despite the hurt she may have gone through, the singer has moved on and is comfortable in her position of power.

Line by Line Meaning

I heard your best friend say
I overheard your friend telling you that you were unkind to her

You shouldn't have treated her that way
You acted inappropriately towards her

You could've been a little bit kinder
You should have shown more compassion

He didn't send you no note
He didn't mail you a letter

Didn't give you no gift
He didn't provide you with any present

He didn't even try to find ya
He didn't attempt to locate you

Well, that's too bad, too bad
That's unfortunate

Too bad on your birthday
It is unfortunate that this happened on your birthday

I said it's too bad, too bad
I repeat, it is unfortunate

You were my love once
You used to be my romantic partner

It lasted several months
Our relationship continued for a number of months