The Runaways featured both Joan Jett (Joan Marie Larkin) and Lita Ford. Despite being big in Japan and recording a Rock version of Martha and the Vandella’s “Nowhere To Run,” the Runaways didn’t live up to expectations. Jett fared far better fronting The Blackhearts. And while Jett was a songwriter, she also had great success with covers. Of course, the original’s groove got jacked up. Here are Jett’s Top 10: #10. Long Live The Night “Long Live the Night” was written by Joan Jett, Kenny Laguna, and Ricky Byrd. They collaborated to create a song that captured the essence of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Long Live The Night #9. Dead End Justice “Dead End Justice” is the only song on The Runaway’s debut album to feature both Jett and Currie on lead vocals. Dead End Justice #8. I Love Playing With Fire It’s a re-recording of a Runaways’ song. “I know what’s going to happen,” Jett once commented. “When we included lots of covers, people would call us on it. If we don’t they’d say, ‘Where’s the covers?'” I Love Playing With Fire #7. Fake Friends As the first single released from Jett’s third solo album (titled “Album”), the song received heavy MTV airplay but was a relative disappointment on the Billboard Hot 100 – peaking at #35,   Producer Kenny Laguna objected to “Fake Friends” being the first single because he didn’t feel it fit on Rock radio. He was overruled by the Jett’s record label. The video has ‘fans’ and hangers-on who quickly turn into cardboard cut-outs and fall over” like “fake friends.” Fake Friends #6. Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah) A cover of Gary Glitter’s U.K. monster hit, Jett’s version landed on her ’80 debut album, “Bad Reputation.”  Both the Glam Rock original and Jett’s cover peaked at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100. Do You Wanna Touch Me? (Oh Yeah) #5. I Hate Myself For Loving You  Written by Jett and ace songwriter Desmond Child, the track is from Jett’s sixth album “Up Your Alley” (1988). The song was reworked into “Waiting All Day For Sunday Night” to open the NFL’s Sunday night games. It was the original theme song choice in 2006 before NBC tried out a few other tunes, finally returning to the Jett remake in 2019. I Hate Myself For Loving You #4. You Don’t Know What You’ve Got The song was written by Jett and Laguna and was featured on her album “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” (1988) – Jett’s most commercially successful album to date. The rehearsal version of “You Don’t Know What You’ve Got” was the original B-side to “I Love Rock N’ Roll” in North America.   You Don’t Know What You’ve Got #3. Cherry Bomb  Jett composed the song with Kim Fowley, the band’s then-manager. It appeared on The Runaway’s self-titled debut album. Jett re-recorded the song with The Blackhearts for the ’84 album “Glorius Results Of A Misspent Youth.” Cherry Bomb #2. I Love Rock N’ Roll Jett saw The Arrows perform the song on their weekly TV series while she was touring England with The Runaways. Her version, backed by the Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones and Paul Cook, went nowhere. But three years later Jett took another stab at the song with The Blackhearts.  “I Love Rock N’ Roll” went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 becoming the band’s only #1. I Love Rock N’ Roll #1. Bad Reputation The title track from Jett’s solo debut album references her “bad reputation” as a former member of The Runaways. Back in ’09, the song was named the 29th best Hard Rock song of all time by VH-1. It was the highest-ranked song by a woman on the list and remains one of Jett’s signature songs. Bad Reputation ### The post The Top 10: Joan Jett appeared first on RockinTown.