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| Jaxx |
thanx to my sis for the heads up on this great read.
> >>http://www.joanjett.com/
> >>
> >>I tried to find some cleverly worded way to express my
> >>disgust with your "Women in Rock" issue, but what i
> >>have to say is really quite simple: You guys are
> >>completely retarded.
> >>
> >>By RS standards, Rock is no longer a style of music
> >>but a trendy costume to be whipped up by expensive
> >>stylists and slapped onto the latest pop tart barbie
> >>doll. Give a girl some tight pants and a spiky
> >>bracelet and POOF! She ROCKS!
> >>
> >>Your poor choice of cover girls and featured artists
> >>brings to mind the Sports Illustrated swimsuit
> >>editions. There is nothing necessarily wrong with the
> >>breast-baring models inside..but we all understand
> >>that they have NOTHING TO DO WITH SPORTS--Which just
> >>might be offensive to women who are interested in
> >>sports or who might even be (gasp) real athletes.
> >>
> >>Yes, Britney has a talented stylist and yes, somebody
> >>gave Shakira a Guns & Roses t-shirt to wear..but they
> >>ARE NOT NOW NOR WILL THEY EVER BE ROCK.
> >>
> >>Maybe it's naive of me to expect any glimmer of
> >>rock'n'roll credibility OR respect for women from a
> >>magazine whose cover shot is regularly a naked
> >>underweight actress. The thing is , I AM a woman
> >>musician with a rock band, and as we all are I am
> >>STARVED for any little crumb of recognition that real
> >>women rockers might be thrown. So like a sucker I find
> >>myself short another five bucks ..and pissed enough to
> >>write my first letter to an editor. Avril Lavigne gets
> >>some studded accessories from Hot Topic so now she's
> >>"upholding the brazen tradition of teenage
> >>outrage"???!! Are you SERIOUS? And could someone
> >>please explain to me why people keep insisting on
> >>referring to PINK as rock? Wasn't she doing the white
> >>girl hip hop thing a minute ago? Yeah, she performed
> >>on the Aerosmith tribute show --big deal..she was on
> >>the Janet Jackson tribute show just before
> >>that--Whatever's trendy. WHO CARES. She's a Spice Girl
> >>reject...but I digress.
> >>
> >>Jewel and Mandy friggin' Moore have full page features
> >>as Rock Icons...Meanwhile Joan Jett gets one line. ONE
> >>LINE. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, who have never
> >>stopped touring, recently did 10 days in the Middle
> >>East playing for the troops stationed in Afghanistan.
> >>In AFGHANISTAN, Joan would come onstage wearing a
> >>birkha, which she ripped off and stomped on before
> >>blazing through the purest and nastiest rock show
> >>ANYWHERE. But even in the RS WOMEN IN ROCK issue, a
> >>story like that gets ONE SENTENCE on the bottom of the
> >>last page of Random Notes.
> >>
> >>Britney's Rock credentials? Well, she butchers the
> >>song "I Love Rock'n'Roll" on her latest record, and
> >>when asked about it the genius replies "Well, I've
> >>always loved Pat Benatar." And SHE is your Rock issue
> >>cover girl?? You should be REALLY embarrassed.
> >>
> >>Sleater Kinney was the only rock group listed on the
> >>cover..and they got only half a page. Ashanti, the r&b
> >>back up singer who can't seem to do anything without
> >>"featuring Jah Rule," has two pages.
> >>
> >>What about the Donnas? The Yeah Yeah Yeahs? The
> >>Distillers? A mag like RS has the power to shine
> >>important light on groups like these--instead they are
> >>afterthoughts, and that valuable spotlight is wasted
> >>on the same overexposed pop princesses WHO HAVE
> >>NOTHING TO DO WITH ROCK.
> >>
> >>In your own letter from the editor you have the
> >>hypocritical balls to say "rock radio won't touch
> >>female artists, while the pop factory keeps churning
> >>out soundalike clones, and ambitious musicians with
> >>something to say find themselves left out in the
> >>cold."
> >>
> >>The pages that follow those words are a blatant
> >>display that Rolling Stone magazine is happily working
> >>for the factory now too.
> >>
> >>If the issue had been called "Women in Music"..or
> >>maybe "Some Cute Girls with Top 10 Records out Right
> >>Now"..I would have no beef with it. Corny as it may
> >>sound, ROCK is something which is still meaningful and
> >>even sacred to some of us. Use the word "rock" in bold
> >>letters next to a picture of Britney Fucking Spears,
> >>and you're turning your whole publication into a
> >>joke...and an offensive joke at that.
> >>
> >>Joan Jett
i find it amusing that brittany spears can cover "i love rock and roll" and get the artist/writer completely wrong. what the hell gives here?
[Edited by Jaxx] |
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| full moon |
God damn right Joan!!! |
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| ~AzQb |
Hey Girl!
Thanks for this-- first true grit i've read in AWhIle concerning the music {or sin gular lack thereof!} being "played" today!
But Jaxx-- i'm a bit confused over one thing-- did JOAN herself write this??? I fucking love the girl, always have. But she's REALLY gotta grow that 'do back, i think ; )
thanks girl
~ |
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| Child of the Moon |
Wow, I just found my newest cover girl. Whatever that means. Rock the casbah, Joan. |
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| beer |
I wondered the same thing. Did Joan write that or did someone just post it on her website? I guess it's the way that the person who wrote it is referring to Joan. Ya know what I mean? Unless Joan talks about herself in third person.
Well, whoever wrote it, well done. |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
Did it get printed in RS?
I'm betting it never sees the light of day.
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| Martha |
Thanks so much for posting that commentary Jaxx..it helped to lift my spirits tonight.
ROCK and Roll! |
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| parmeda |
It most certainly sounded as if Joan penned that piece of literature...Good for her, for twisting the hot poker into someone's side.
Thanks Jaxx.
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| The Eggman |
Nice to hear Joan Jett say some true and respectful things like that.....
BUT!...I thought Joan Jett died in the 80's along with all that other 80's shit? |
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| egon |
quote:
The Eggman wrote:
BUT!...I thought Joan Jett died in the 80's along with all that other 80's shit?
one thing's for sure, rolling stone magazine died a long time ago. |
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| stonedinaustralia |
quote:
egon wrote:
one thing's for sure, rolling stone magazine died a long time ago.
maybe not that long ago...
for me around the early '90's is when it finally died...it did however take it's mortal blow around 79 - 81 or whenever it was that it moved to nyc (the kiss of death) or maybe it was more a case of death by a thousand cuts (including altamont!!)...it was just such a great lumbering behemoth that it thrashed around in its death throes for years refusing to give up the ghost but knowing all along it was doomed... |
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| Scot Rocks |
Nice read this morning thanks for posting, these untalented clones, get so much attention, they themselves may actually begin to think that they are good. I mean Britney Spears singing about I love R & R really is just insulting.
Mark |
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| Street Fighting Man |
I'm sure Joan's manifesto is well intended and has some salient points, but come on "It's Only Rock N'Roll!"
BTW, anyone have any recent PIC's of Joan Jett to share? |
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| ~AzQb |
Go to the Joan Jett site Jaxx gave. She's even doing an "Ask Joan" thing which is kinda cool, and there's a bunch of photographs of her bald and purple and blue haired and shit. She answers some dude's question about her hair in the "Ask Joan" thing.
She's cool, even though i ReAllY wish she wouldn't go all dykish on me with the military butch shit...maybe i should tell her that on "Ask Joan"?
~RoTbFl,SpJrLsS! |
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| KeepRigid |
Great reading- especially nice to hear her comment on Britney's hilarious Pat Benatar nod.
Still, I do have to agree with a few of you guys by asking- what did she expect? It's not like it's the first year Rolling Stone has had some poor choices for their Women in Rock issue. It's like emailing MTV to let them know they've turned to shit.
But, in her defense, maybe she just hasn't actually picked up a copy since the 70's. |
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| Factory Girl |
Joan Jett was/is great. Pity she's been playing on Rosie O'Donnell's team...not that there's anything wrong with that...LOL. |
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| ~AzQb |
FFGK!!!!!!
There IS something VeRy wrong with that LOL
~you got mail! |
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| jb |
Great letter..however, like everything else in our society, RS is looking for the 16-24 year old demographic category...
[Edited by jb] |
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| chris girard |
Wonderful letter and its all true, RS covers all the bimbo girl singers, boy bands and hip hop guys but not much serious music any more. They are in it for the money like everyone else. I have one comment to add, I did hear Britney Spears version of Satisfaction, it was kinda cute, but its such a good song it would difficult to screw it up, I want to know when she is going to F*%k Mick's brains out, if he would have her in his bed......think he can handle a 21 year old. |
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| jb |
I want to know when she is going to fuck anyone...she is still technically a virgin.... |
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| Boomhauer |
When I got that issue of Rolling Stone in my mailbox, I just fuckin' laughed. "Women in Rock" with Britney "I'm not a virgin and I love anal" Spears and Avril "I think I'm Joan Jett, but I'm just from Malibu" Lavingerareraserarea and some ohter hip-hopping frogs that are somehow associated with rock n' roll.
It's weird now because I think a lot of these entertainment shows and magazines (MTV, VH1, Rolling Stone, Spin) used to not only cater to teenagers but also people in the 20-40 year old range. I remember that in the 80's my dad was in his 30's and he was subscribing to Rolling Stone magazine and he had all of those covers with Keith and Mick and other shit like that. Now it's all about talking about what Kelly Osbourne did after she took a piss and Buckethead. |
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| jb |
Boomhauer, for a 20 year old, you are quite the man...I enjoy your posts almost as much as mine...
[Edited by jb] |
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| chris girard |
I think Mick should take her virginity, then she can really sing about "satisfaction"....LOL...I forgot she is still technically a virgin..... |
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| Jaxx |
sorry for the confusion. a joan jett fan wrote that letter. i'm not very good with the mouse and didn't have time to check my cut and paste job... great header pic, btw. thanks for the grins gerardo. |
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| Honky Tonker |
Joan also does a great live version of "Starfucker" sometimes (or she used to anyway)! Saw her play it opening for the Who in 1982! |
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| gypsy |
Yay for the fan who wrote that letter. Sums up the way I feel about all the whole "Women in Rock" thing.
Let's not forget how Britney also slaughtered "Satisfaction" on the MTV Awards show a couple of years ago. But, some of you GUYS might not have been listening, cuz she was doing her striptease during that number... |
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| Jaxx |
quote:
gypsy wrote:
Britney also slaughtered "Satisfaction" on the MTV Awards show a couple of years ago.
i wonder if she thinks aerosmith wrote satisfaction.....altho she did share an interview with jagger last fall. i wonder if she knew it was jagger and not tyler?
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| gypsy |
I seriously doubt she even realized it was MICK next to her...or that he and Keith penned "Satisfaction." |
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| VoodooChileInWOnderl |
As a bonus pic of this all week with Woody headers and to honor this thread, I put this header 
With Joan Jett, NYC 1986
By Nick Elgar |
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| CS |
Posted on Thu, Dec. 12, 2002
Bringing up baby in a pop world rife with questions
Joan Jett and Britney Spears
``I hope it's a hermaphrodite.''
That's the flip answer I've prepared for the next person who asks, ''Do you want a boy or a girl?'' I'm a conspicuous seven months pregnant, so it's a question I get asked irritatingly often. Usually, it comes right after I've already disconcerted the questioner by not knowing ''what'' it is and therefore obviously not having already decorated the expected baby's room with pink ruffles or blue trucks. Clearly, in the questioner's mind, I am doomed to failure as a mother.
The other flip response I've prepared: ``I want it to be a disappointment the minute it's born because it doesn't come with the desired genitals.''
Our society has become sick with gender. We are obsessed with codifying what a girl wants, or what makes a man a real man. The notion that these identities could be fluid -- a notion that, as someone teethed on the sexual revolution, still gives me hope -- seems to fill many people with anxiety. In my job as a culture observer, it's an illness of which I've become increasingly suspicious; as an about-to-be first-time parent, I'm alarmed about the world to which I'm adding a being.
Growing up, my pop heroes offered what singer and poet Patti Smith called a ''sea of possibilities'' of how girls, and boys, could act. Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, Donna Summer, Chrissie Hynde, Grace Jones, etc., presented a panorama of types that seemed to be the nails in the coffin of the '50s feminine mystique. So did David Bowie, Lou Reed, Al Green, and Mick Jagger. I identified with them all, mixing skinny ties with mini skirts.
STEPFORD MERMAIDS
That sea has shriveled into a pond, populated by a limited number of species, mostly robotic Stepford mermaids with long blond tresses, aerobicized midriffs, pneumatic busts and pipsqueak voices, swimming alongside muscle men in baggy pants and tattoos. We seem to have moved well beyond the backlash of the '80s into full-scale dual-gender reversion. Do I want my baby to aspire to be Christina Aguilera? Only if he could turn it into a really funny drag act (not a difficult stretch of the imagination, after all).
I will give today's girls credit for great biceps. Shakira, Britney Spears, Eve and Madonna are athletic in a way that is not their grandmother's femininity. Title IX has apparently given us more than Mia Hamm and the WNBA; it's given us idols who can writhe and climb ropes.
Strangely, these pop stars crave the raw power of their rocker foremothers. Spears covers Jett's hit I Love Rock and Roll. Shakira covers Aerosmith. Madonna plays guitar.
But thrown in with the rest of their poses (in concert, Spears also plays a music-box ballerina), their rock-star moves ring hollow. That's why Rolling Stone's recent Women in Rock issue raised such ire among readers: Cover girls Spears and Shakira are certainly pop stars, but if ''rocking'' still means something -- and Rolling Stone was created under the proposition that it does -- then Spears and Shakira surely don't.
IRRITATED READER
''Your poor choice of cover girls and featured artists brings to mind the Sports Illustrated swimsuit editions,'' wrote New York musician Maya Price in an open letter to Rolling Stone. ``There is nothing necessarily wrong with the breast-baring models inside. . .but we all understand that they have NOTHING TO DO WITH SPORTS -- Which just might be offensive to women who are interested in sports or who might even be (gasp) real athletes.
``Yes, Britney has a talented stylist and yes, somebody gave Shakira a Guns & Roses T-shirt to wear. . .but they ARE NOT NOW NOR WILL THEY EVER BE ROCK.''
Price's letter was posted on Jett's website (www.joanjett.com) and erroneously circulated online recently as a letter from Jett. It's funny and often wrong (Pink does rule!), but it certainly touched a nerve, as its e-mail life proved. Is a woman in rock defined by her bellybutton, as Rolling Stone seems to believe?
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer the image in Price's letter, of Jett entertaining troops in Afghanistan by ripping off a burka then playing her guitar.
My baby will soon have to find its way through pop's diminishing expectations. I'm shocked and disheartened that people would want me, the parent, to start the narrowing process even before it's born. Anyone who knows me should realize I like it when girls wear pants and boys wear dresses. I would hope my son would not be afraid to cry and my daughter would not be afraid of a football. Having idolized the androgynous Smith and the cross-dressing Bowie, I'm not going to raise a Ken or Barbie.
What do I want it to be? Not really the smart aleck I'd like to be, I reply, ''Healthy.'' And that may be the most difficult thing of all.
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