Uh oh... Joan Jett sues Jackie Fox

[uwe]

The Runaways didn't get along with each other back then, why should they get along now?

And my esteemed colleague Frau J. Fuchs was a true All-American girl, she played a Bicentennial, not a sixties Bird. Before she broke it.

ooops,   I herewith retract that statement  , she's playing a sixties model here:


Could have sworn I've seen her with a natural Bicentennial (natural sixties TBs didn't even exist stock, right?) too ...

[lowend1]

Could have sworn I've seen her with a natural Bicentennial (natural sixties TBs didn't even exist stock, right?) too ...

The white 60s model was her baby - she's stated that many times herself. You are correct Uwe, she is pictured on the gatefold of "Live in Japan" with a natural Bicentennial - I think I may have seen it in a video as well. My assumption is that it was probably a backup bass. She also played (prior to the birdies) a natural 70s Jazz, a P-Bass and if memory serves, an EB-something.

[uwe]

Thank you for reinstating my sanity!

[Lightyear]

That just ain't necessarily so.


I hadn't read that she sued first.

I would say Jackie has the advantage, Joan's $$$$ aren't unlimited while Jackie is a practicing attorney in this very same area, as well as a Harvard Law School grad.

Plus she's a bassist.

Plus she's still hot, while Joan Jett since her facelift(s) looks like Nancy Pelosi's younger sister.

So there. 

I don't remember what legal laction she took but I don't think she sued - injunction, cease and desist - can't remember - it just sounded like she was doing her damdest to put stick in the spokes of Ms. Jett

[Lightyear]

Just found this from 2008 - seems like Jackie was lobbing a few at ol' Joan even back then.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackie-fuchs/why-barack-obama-reminds_b_121621.html

[Dave W]

Just found this from 2008 - seems like Jackie was lobbing a few at ol' Joan even back then.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jackie-fuchs/why-barack-obama-reminds_b_121621.html

A good example of damning with faint praise. 

[uwe]

I dunno, but if you're an adolescent girl and find out how your peer group develops an overt interest for the other sex while you remain kind of distanced about the whole thing, then JJ's metamorphosis is perhaps not so surprising and planned after all. Reads more like your typical coming out (and of age) story. I haven't been in the situation, but being gradually confronted with the insight that you're gay and most other people aren't must have a devastating effect on your adolescent self confidence - we're talking about a mid-seventies middle-class US background here.

Jackie, otoh, was always the prom queen among The Runaways (and positioned by Kim Fowley as such, I even remember an article in some teen mag where her excellent grades at highschool and how she wanted to study were touted), she gets to go out with the handsome hunk from the school football team. Cherie had the trailer-park-trash-meets-Ziggy-Stardust appeal, Lita was the curvacious sex bomb, but All-American just the same, Joan the sulky Suzi Quatro lookalike that crossed over to the punks, Sandy was just a regular "guy" who you could always present to your mom without worrying and Miss Fox was the slightly aloof "I really don't belong in this here and have other plans".      

[lowend1]

Jackie, otoh, was always the prom queen among The Runaways (and positioned by Kim Fowley as such, I even remember an article in some teen mag where her excellent grades at highschool and how she wanted to study were touted), she get's to go out with the handsome hunk from the school football team.

There was a great article in Crawdaddy magazine back in the 70s which described Jackie in part - "her 160 IQ lurking in a perfect surfer girl bod". I think there was a picture of the girls that had Jackie reading a book while Cherie dozed and Lita strategically positioned a banana between her legs. Marketing genius, that Kim Fowley character.

[uwe]

Uhum, I think that with the banana was just to make it ripe quicker, perhaps?

I take Ms. Fuch's recollections with a grain of salt. Or two. When the Runaways came out, I saw Cherie in her jailbait lingerie as the front woman no doubt, but her obviously very limited vocal prowess made it clear that she couldn't be the musical leader. Joan had the better voice anyway (and she's not a great singer by a stretch either). When Queens of Noise came out, it was clear that Lita's lead guitar playing had progressed in leaps and bounds (albeit always remaining unoriginal) and that Joan was becoming the musical leader. Jackie was always just decorative to me, she was definitely no Lita on bass and didn't hone an image like Joan ("I'm the chick Keith Richards here") did. Just wasn't into it enough as her later professional career shows.

[OldManC]

I think the point is whether Joan Jett was the sole driver of their success and should have ownership and control of The Runaways' legacy. It's possible she gained that ownership somewhere along the way but she didn't have it then. Kim Fowley may not have created the band ala Lou Pearlman, but he certainly ran the show during their heyday if the anecdotes above indicate anything. Maybe Jackie got out when she'd had enough. That shouldn't preclude her from contributing to a story she was definitely a part of.

[lowend1]

Uhum, I think that with the banana was just to make it ripe quicker, perhaps?
...it was clear that Lita's lead guitar playing had progressed in leaps and bounds (albeit always remaining unoriginal)

Also from the Crawdaddy article:
"Lita Ford, the Earth Mother, manipulates the guitar into her groin with sinister abandon". Sinister abandon, indeed.

I don't know if that article is reproduced online anywhere, but it's a great read.

[Dave W]

Even being the sole driver of their success -- which she wasn't -- wouldn't give Joan ownership rights. All depends on how the band's ownership was set up, and if it wasn't set up formally, well, that's how lawyers earn their money. Her later success has nothing to do with it.

There's also Joan's claim that there isn't even a Jackie character in her story line. That may be part of what's behind this. In fact, Jackie was part of the lineup when their first album came out, and she was part of the lineup when they became famous. In addition to the ownership and financial angle, Jackie could be trying to force her own inclusion in the story.

[Lightyear]

Doesn't it all boil down to ego and money?

[Dave W]

Doesn't it all boil down to ego and money?

I think it's more about pride than money for both of them.

[uwe]

That they can't bury hatchets 30 years after the fact can only be explained with one thing: women!!!