Summary
"I expected people to love it--seeing five teenage girls playing rock 'n' roll," says Jett. "But nobody took us seriously. It was all sorta pat you on the head and say, `Isn't that cute?' When it became apparent that we were serious, people got very confrontational, calling us `slut,' `bitch' and `dyke.'"
"We're a small operation, and so I schedule bands, design and maintain websites, make sure bills get paid, answer questions and other administrative stuff. I also do engineering and keep careful session notes. I take care of the drums and make mike cables and anything else that allows Brian McTear to focus on producing. I've done backup vocals and played guitar and percussion. I wound up being studio manager because Brian is my boyfriend. I'm extremely happy about our relationship, and it's amazing to work with him, but it sounds so cliched and I sometimes fear that people don't take my dedication as seriously as they should. But I am dedicated to the studio, a giant fan of music, and I believe in Brian's talent and that of the musicians that come to record. With [McTear's solo project] Bitter, Bitter Weeks, I co-produced the new CD, Revenge. I've also been writing songs and putting together a band called the Novenas. In my spare time, I still make art. My paintings are on the covers of both Bitter, Bitter Weeks albums.""A manager of a radio station with an all-male air staff once said to me, `I'm not interested in hiring any chicks.' A male boss once instructed me to hire a `young, hot-looking' assistant with `no kids, because they're a distraction.' I've received lewd suggestions from male artists and executives. I've received lower salaries than less experienced male colleagues. When I was experiencing pain in my jaw once, a male DJ stated that it must be from too much `oral activity.' He lost his job."See the full content of this document
Extract
Women Who Rock
These days the ladies aren't just performing. They're also running the show.
It's been said that while most girls wanted to sleep with Brian Jones, punk poetess Patti Smith wanted to be Brian Jones. It's this sort of boundary-smashing switch from adoration to emulation that knocked the door off the boys' club of rock 'n' roll. Suddenly there were chicks in the tree house, and soon enough there was a riot goin' on.The spiritual den mother of women in rock in Philadelphia is Joan Jett, who was born right here in the City of, ahem, Brotherly Love."I just never questioned whether or not I could rock," Jett says now. "And the fact that I was a girl never led me to believe that I couldn't."Jett eventually moved to L.A., and in the mid-'70s formed the now legendary proto-punk all-girl Runaways."I expected people to love it--seeing five teenage girls playing rock 'n' roll," says Jett. "But nobody took us seriously. It was all sorta pat you on the head and say, `Isn't that cute?' When it became a...See the full content of this document
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