Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin..?

So it looks like Hollywood’s gone and made a biopic about The Runaways, starring a couple of young actresses who are apparently a big deal just at the moment. Here’s the trailer:



Pretty rad, huh? Fictional biopics about cult rock bands/stars are pretty much always a terrible idea, but hey, who knows? For a band who were pure Hollywood right from the outset, I guess it *might just work*.

Anyway, to get you in the mood / set the scene prior to release, here’s Lisa Fancher’s article on The Runaways from the Spring ’76 issue of "Who Put The Bomp!", as scanned from “Bomp! Saving the World One Record At A Time” by Suzy Shaw & Mick Farren (Amazon link).

As you’d expect, there’s a high quotient of Fowleyan shuck in the mix, together with an unsavoury touch of the icky obsession with underage teens that seems to have been pretty inescapable in the ‘70s LA rock scene, but at the same time it’s a real genuine article that I think captures some of excitement and enthusiasm that the idea of a bunch of gals busting out some Stoogified heavy rock was capable of generating back in the mid-70s.... much in the same way that The Runaways themselves were a really kick-ass band with a dedicated following that went way beyond their magazine ad origins and the image Fowley shouldered them with, I guess.

Anyway, you also get a Jackie De Shannon discography and a picture of DEL Shannon too, so whata you waiting for - left click to embiggen, right click to save;







From the ‘where are they now’ angle’, here’s a recent Quietus interview with lead guitar goddess Lita Ford. She quit the music biz to go and raise her family and build a hurricane-proof house on her own private island! Too cool.

And I can’t end this post without sharing with you possibly The Runaways finest recorded moment, the juvenile delinquency epic “Dead End Justice” that ends side 2 of their self-titled album. File under totally one of greatest things I’ve heard in my life: "You don't sing n' dance in Juvie honey!"

Labels: fanzines, JOAN JETT IS GOD, Kim Fowley, Lita Ford, movies, The Runaways, Who Put The Bomp