The Runaways - The Runaways (1976)

The debut release from legendary all-girl US rock group the Runaways, recorded when the members themselves were in their teens, is a very ‘raw’ affair – in terms of production, performance and song writing. Whereas it’s often stated that the Runaways ‘paved the way’ for later groups such as Phantom Blue and Vixen etc, the short-lived band had a very basic sound and approach which was very much a product of their time. This is no more evident than in this, their debut release from 1976.

Cherry Bomb opens the album and has a distinctly Stooges flavour to it – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but lyrically and vocally it is a relatively naive number (and apparently voted 52 in a VH1 poll of the greatest rock songs ever!) and for You Drive Me Wild we are in distinctly Suzi Quatro territory – a bouncy rock number, with some nice vocal harmonies, but hardly groundbreaking or memorable.

Is It Day Or Night shows more promise and is a really stomping mid-tempo track penned by manager/producer Kim Fowley which is followed-up by Thunder; mediocre but palatable mid-70s rock fare. A cover of Lou Reed’s Rock & Roll lifts proceedings slightly and the band turn-in a reasonable performance driven by the twin guitars of Joan Jett and Lita Ford with a pulsing cowbell from West throughout.

Lovers is firmly in bubblegum rock territory as is American Nights: not bad tracks as such but pale somewhat compared to Blackmail which, as with many of the tracks, is lyrically and vocally simplistic but this time it works better put to a ‘heavy’ rock and roll number with Lita Ford finally letting rip with a guitar solo.

The final two tracks – Secrets and Dead End Justice – are the only two tracks co-written by vocalist Cherrie Currie and I personally think are two of the strongest on the album with the latter featuring some good guitar work from Ford (and some mildly amusing lyrics about drug-addled teens) and musically I would put the track down as the strongest on the album. There’s even a section featuring a ‘conversation’ where the protagonist of the track is in discussion with a fellow inmate when imprisoned for drug-related activities – more teen angst and even prison break plotting!!

This album is not a failure as such but I for one, don’t quite get The Runaways – whilst I appreciate that they were very young at the time of its recording, mostly in their mid-teens, and that band members Joan Jett and Lita Ford would go on to enjoy successful solo careers in the 1980s that, unfortunately, doesn’t make the music here any the better. At best, the album drifts around a Quatro-Stooges-early Ramones vibe with bubblegum vocal hooks and lyrics and whilst I’d recommend a cursory listen, for me it will only at best be of more curiosity value – albeit and endearing one – as one of the pioneering all-girl rock albums and due to the various band members it contained. To really hear The Runways to good effect I’d recommend their follow-up Queens of Noise where they really began to blossom both musically and in terms of songwriting, a review of which can be found elsewhere on this website.

• Cherie Currie – Vocals
• Lita Ford – Guitar
• Joan Jett – Guitar
• Sandy West – Drums
• (Jackie Fox – Bass)*
• Nigel Harrison – Bass

*Blondie bass player Nigel Harrison played on the album