Talk:The Runaways

Paved the way
Paved the way for X-Ray Spex? Funny ha-ha. I'm editing out this dubious statement. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.110.57.231 (talk) 4 January 2008

Joan Jett's label was not the first woman self start
I'm adding this as reference to why I edited the Post Runaway section about Joan Jett.

This was taken from Wikipedia's section on Scepter Records.

Scepter Records is a record company founded in 1959 by Florence Greenberg. She had just sold Tiara Records with The Shirelles for $4000 to Decca Records. When The Shirelles didn't produce any hits for Decca, they were given back to Greenberg, who promptly signed them. By 1961 Greenberg launched a subsidiary Wand Records. In 1976 Florence Greenberg decided to retire from the business and sold her record labels to Springboard International. When Springboard went bankrupt, Gusto Records acquired the catalog.

I'm not insinuating that Florence was the first either, but Joan Jett was certainly not the first woman to start a label. SickSickBoy (talk) 23:47, 14 February 2008 (UTC)


 * Blackheart isn't Joan's label, it's Kenny's. He is named the CEO. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bluettevert (talk • contribs) 30 August 2009

External link suggestion: New interview with Joan Jett
As an editor at Crawdaddy!, and to comply with COI guidelines, I am not posting the link to this new interview with Joan Jett. However, I would like to recommend it on its merits, and hope that an editor will find the time to examine the review and—if he or she sees fit—post it to the external links section on this page. In the interview, she discusses her time in the Runaways and her solo career, as well as the history of Blackheart Records. Her manager, Kenny Laguna, also makes mention of the upcoming Runaways biopic. I appreciate your time. Crawdaddy! Mike harkin (talk) 18:32, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Section: "The Beginning"
This section was definitely written by a hardcore fan - it's biased. Just needs to be watered down a bit. 129.107.81.12 (talk) 18:11, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Agreed. Chopped out a good portion of it. I think it's much less biased now. 97.124.199.239 (talk) 13:52, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

The 80s Runaways
Shouldn't there be a section on the Runaways line-up that recorded Young And Fast? I know they were a cash-in job, but they still existed! Metalion SOS (talk) 04:55, 4 March 2010 (UTC)


 * There was a second The New Runaways album called "I Was A Teenage Runaway", I think this one was only put out in Japan. 86.45.246.205 (talk) 06:18, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

"the members of Rush were the biggest jerks"
Cherie Currie formerly of The Runaways said this. It's in this Youtube video "Jackie Fox recalled: "So we're out playing on stage and the guys from Rush came to watch. As if the contempt on their faces and the boos from their fans﻿ weren't bad enough, Cherie slipped and fell at one point during the set, and when I looked over, the guys in Rush were laughing at her. Of all the people I met while I was in the band, the members of Rush were the biggest jerks and in that moment exhibited the least class I have ever seen from a fellow musician." and to Jian Ghomeshi on CBC's Q, right here yesterday (Which came as a surprise to Jian, who interviewed the band not too long ago).  She says that Tom Petty and Cheap Trick were nice though. 205.189.194.208 (talk) 22:08, 31 March 2010 (UTC)

Shameless Reprise
This section seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the article and has no sources. I'll give it a couple of days to see if anyone can add/clean it up, and then I'm going to remove it.Natt the Hatt (talk) 03:37, 9 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Unfortunately, back in 1987, an album was released as being by "The Runaways". The album was "Young and Fast", (http://www.amazon.com/Young-and-Fast/dp/B000E0I9TA).  When buying the album, there was nothing but the copyright date to show that it wasn't part of the Runaways oeuvre.  This was back before Code Red started re-releasing albums, so people like myself didn't know all the titles.  Listening to the album was a great disappointment, and the text inside the front insert was from someone, probably Kim Fowley, who said that he felt this new band was so gifted he gave it the name of the older band.  I threw the CD away the same day I first listened to it, so I can't quote more.  However, the section needs to be kept because others coming across the CD may be confused about the re-imagined Runaways.  Sites like AllMusic don't show the album as part of the list of discography, but they do list the album (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:h9fyxqy5ld6e), with a hyperlinked band name of "The Runaways", which leads you to the real Runaways.  Definitely some confusion possiblities.  Mburrell (talk) 09:06, 9 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I understand what you're saying. What do you think of renaming the section to "New Runaways" or something a little less POV? Natt the Hatt (talk) 02:45, 10 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Someone else cleaned it up a bit, got rid of the superlatives such as "shameless". However, I agree that it should be something like "New Runaways" to clearly delineate it from the real Runaways.  Mburrell (talk) 06:35, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Opening acts such as Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, The Ramones, The Tubes, Van Halen and Rush
The article claims that the Runaways had some bands that are now well known opening for them. However, I have found no articles supporting the claim. It sounds impressive, but where are the citations? Is this statement based on ticket stubs or personal recollection? Are there articles or newspaper listings that show that Cheap Trick was an opening act for The Runaways, or that Tom Petty, Van Halen, or The Ramones opened for them? Mburrell (talk) 00:36, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
 * That sentence is somewhat inaccurate and chronologically out of place. Cheap Trick and Tom Petty did open for them in the spring of 1977. The Runaways opened for the Tubes, Rush and the Ramones, they weren't the headliner. They certainly played some of the same Southern California clubs as Van Halen (pre-fame) but I can't verify them being on the same bill but it's plausible I suppose. Piriczki (talk) 13:15, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

A few questions and comments
- In the section headed 'Early Years', there is no mention of Kari Krome, who was introduced to, or approached, Kim Fowley with lyrics she'd written, and was part of the process that resulted in the creation of the band. Although she was not a performer with the Runaways, she has co-songwriting credits on three songs on the first two albums, and in the movie "Edgeplay", the comments of various band members suggest she constituted some part of the Runaways organisation, at least up to their tour of Japan.

- In the section headed 'Fame', in the discussion about the band members supposed idols as revealed in the movie "Edgeplay", Joan Jett is said to have been influenced by Keith Richards and Suzi Quatro. Comments early in the movie from Quatro herself and a Quatro associate confirm Jett's strong interest in Suzi Quatro, but I've just watched the movie and can't recall the reference to Keith Richards there. Does anybody else? Lita Ford's idols are listed as Ritchie Blackmore and Jeff Beck. Both Ford and bandmate Sandy West indicate Ford's interest in Deep Purple and Blackmore in "Edgeplay". She does mention Beck once, but both herself and another band member in the movie cite Jimi Hendrix as an influence. The phrasing that the various girls "patterned their look" after the stars/idols named is not ideal. Currie probably did pattern her look after David Bowie (this is acknowledged in the movie "The Runaways" based on Currie's book, and with which she had direct involvement), but Lita Ford certainly "looked" nothing like Ritchie Blackmore or Jeff Beck, and Jackie Fox bore no resemblance whatsoever to Gene Simmons.

- Also in the section headed 'Fame', as the reasons, and the major specific incident, which inspired Jackie Fox to leave the Runaways while on tour in Japan are openly acknowledged as a matter of record by Fox, and confirmed by other bandmates including Currie, Sandy West and Lita Ford, in the movie "Edgeplay", I'm not sure why that detail is omitted in this section.

- re the section headlined 'Dissolution', and particularly this comment: "In the Edgeplay documentary, members of the group (especially Fox and Currie) as well as the parents of Currie and West, have accused Fowley and others assigned to look after the band of using divide and conquer tactics to keep control of the band, as well as verbal and sexual abuse of the band members."

I'm not sure of the wisdom of this phrasing. In the movie "Edgeplay", Fowley, a former band manager who operated during Fowley's period of control over the band, and a road manager, are accused of verbal and EMOTIONAL abuse by various band members. There are other comments which provide what might well be inferred by the viewer as examples of both verbal and emotional abuse by band members in "Edgeplay". The two parents of band members featured in the documentary movie, particularly the mother of Sandy West, are clearly implying and in some cases outright saying, there was insufficient duty of care shown by those in charge of what were then young teenage girls. However the words "sexual abuse" are not used by any of the band members or parents in the movie, that I can remember.

It is clearly stated by band members in the movie that the band's manager (during the period of Fowley's overall control of the Runaways) had sexual relations with at least one band member. (Another anecdote told in the movie by a band member suggests that the manager had sexual relations with more than one band member.) Other anecdotal material in the movie, spoken by band members, implies that Kim Fowley also had sex with band members.

(Note that none of the comments above or below refer to the Runaways' later manager Toby Mamis, about whom no such allegations were made in "Edgeplay".)

Without some clarification as to band members' ages at the time, the laws of the jurisdiction in which the acts took place (and in some cases, the jurisdiction itself is unclear) relating to age of consent and statutory laws in that jurisdiction relating to sex with a minor (if such acts took place), or whether the sexual acts concerned were consensual or abusive in their nature (not specified in any case in the movie), the use of the term 'sexual abuse' in the article is questionable.

Regardless, the term "sexual abuse" is not, to the best of my knowledge, used in the movie "Edgeplay" by the former Runaways band members, or the two parents of bandmembers who are interviewed. Whether the article was saying this was implicit in what WAS said, i.e. due to matters of age of consent and/or statutory laws concerning sex with a minor, would depend on the ages of the band members at the time of such acts being made clear (which is not always the case in the documentary), and the laws of the relevant jurisdiction being made available (information which is not included in the film, and the jurisdiction is not invariably clear either.)

Leapso (talk) 02:13, 20 August 2010 (UTC)


 * I've taken that term out of the text, as uncited. Moreover there are BLP worries. So far as I can recall, the documentary Edgeply doesn't support using it and I'm not aware of any other even nominally reliable source which would. Edgeplay does support some mention of claims by bandmembers and parents of lapses by the band's management, but even calling these "verbal and emotional abuse" may be beyond what the sources support. Gwen Gale (talk) 08:01, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Ronnie Lee
I was about to come back and do this myself. Although she is credited as a cowriter of "I Wanna Be Where the Boys Are" with Fowley, I couldn't verify she was ever in the Runaways. Also, the IP seemed to have mis-spelled her first name. Gwen Gale (talk) 12:15, 30 August 2010 (UTC)


 * A visit to Ronnie Lee's MySpace page has this line "...join Kim Fowleys creation - Venus and the Razorblades. Kim also had the Runaways at that time."  She does not list membership in The Runaways, but was working with Kim Fowley, so this is the connection that allowed her to write a Runaways song.Mburrell (talk) 17:04, 30 August 2010 (UTC)


 * Yeah I verified she co-wrote IWBWtBA with Fowley but, there's not even a hint she was in the band. Gwen Gale (talk) 18:03, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

the Fowley quote
I flagged the "citation needed" for this quote. It sounds perfectly genuine in every way, and don't dispute it; I would just like to see the source of the quote, please. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Satori80 (talk • contribs) 06:33, 3 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Done. It's from his interview in Edgeplay: A film about The Runaways, I've put in the cite. Gwen Gale (talk) 08:17, 3 January 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Satori80 (talk • contribs) 05:13, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Laurie McAllister
A number of anon editors have added or edited a statement that Laurie McAllister recently died, but with no source. I have not been able to find a source myself. If someone actually has a verifiable source that this is the case, please feel free to re-add it with proper citation. In the meantime, as it is preferable to have less information than wrong information, we should continue to delete such unsourced statements. TJRC (talk) 00:18, 31 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Seems like the news is likely true. Enough checkable sources will likely show up in the next day or three, since this is a BLP worry, one blog source, though reliable looking, isn't quite enough. Gwen Gale (talk) 02:10, 31 August 2011 (UTC)


 * therunaways.com is carrying it, which I believe can be taken as a reliable source on this topic. Gwen Gale (talk) 02:24, 31 August 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks, Gwen. TJRC (talk) 02:33, 31 August 2011 (UTC)


 * There are hints it, sadly, had something to do with asthma. However, the few sources I've seen look like good faith hearsay to me, not quite strong enough yet, I think, for citations in the article. Gwen Gale (talk) 18:55, 31 August 2011 (UTC)

Birthdates
A recent series of edits added the band members' dates of birth, and was reverted with the suggestion to discuss on the talk page if one felt the dates improved the article.

I'm not the editor who added them, but I think they enhance the article. One of the most notable characteristics of this band was the youth of its members, and I think having the birth dates allows readers to put a lot of the information (signing and touring the U.S. and Japan in their teens) in context. I would put them back. I realize the interested reader could go to the individual articles

On a purely aesthetic note, rather than having them inline, for example,


 * The Runaways were formed in late 1975 by drummer Sandy West (Sandy was born in July 10, 1959) and rhythm guitarist Joan Jett (Joan was born in September 22, 1958)...

I would prefer they just be placed on the members' names on the infobox, maybe some variation of:


 * Joan Jett (b. September 22, 1958)
 * Sandy West (b. July 10, 1959, d. October 21, 2006)

TJRC (talk) 20:54, 12 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I agree that having their birth dates would add to the article, but I couldn't see a good area in the article for them to be added. I felt putting the information in-line detracted from the article, and I am not sure if this data goes well in the info box.  There is a section towards the bottom of the article that lists each artist, but it is labelled post-break-up.  If the section could be re-labelled as something else, maybe Band Members, then the dates could be added there for each member.  I am just not a good enough wordsmith to fit this data into the article, but I claim enough skill to recognize a bad fit.  However, if others support a what I call a bad fit over no fit, I am willing to be out-voted.  My vote is definitely not in-line as it was initially done.  Mburrell (talk) 03:57, 13 June 2013 (UTC)


 * I think we do it either in the infobox, or inline at first mention (but simply, i.e. "Joan Jett (b. September 22, 1958)" not "Joan Jett (Joan was born in September 22, 1958)". Coincidentally, I came across Pink Lady (band) last night (don't judge me), and it leads with:
 * Pink Lady ... is a Japanese female pop music duo of the late 1970s and early 1980s, featuring Mitsuyo Nemoto ("Mie" born March 9, 1958) and Keiko Masuda ("Kei" born September 2, 1957).
 * TJRC (talk) 20:37, 13 June 2013 (UTC)


 * As I have said, I abhor the inclusion of the data in-line. Also, the more I think about it, I don't find the birth dates beneficial.  As TJRC mentioned at the start of the discussion, one of the remarkable thing about the band members was how young they were.  Providing a listing that says when they were born and how they currently are (requiring article maintenance on each birthday) does not emphasis their age except for those who play with math and number crunching as a matter of course.  If we merely said "16-year old drummer Sandy West and 17-year old rhythm guitarist Joan Jett..." that would emphasize their age better than listing birth date and current age.  However, I don't know what late 1975 translates as, whether it was before or after Joan Jett's birthday (was she 16 or 17 at the time of the meeting?)  Mburrell (talk) 23:22, 13 June 2013 (UTC)


 * Okay, I so did not pick up your abhorrence from from "I agree that having their birth dates would add to the article..."! Your suggestion to include the actual ages could work, but as you note, there's the danger of being inaccurate; the use of birth dates would avoid that. In any event, while I would prefer the birth dates, the strength of my preference does not rise to the level of abhorring their absence, so I'm open to leaving them out in the face of your strong feelings on it, unless anyone else thinks they should be included. TJRC (talk) 00:16, 15 June 2013 (UTC)


 * TJRC, I don't object to them in the article, just in the early years description, or in the article summary. If the birth dates can be worked in so that they don't hit you over the head with a hammer while you are reading the article, if they don't interrupt the flow of the article, then by all means, include them.  Add them to the infobox, created a section just for band member personal data.  Just don't put them in the flow of the article.  It is like reading "Sandy West, who likes ponies and has blond hair, joined Joan Jett, who was into fight clubs and had black hair, to form the genesis of the band."  (I made up that info, not known to be fact).  It just clubs you with data to put the birth dates in-line.
 * I do feel that solving which month the two met and determining their actual age would improve the article more than listing their birth date and current age, but if that is all we can provide, let's find a quiet corner of the article and tuck it in.
 * Mburrell (talk) 02:20, 15 June 2013 (UTC)

Release date of And Now... The Runaways
Although it was recorded in 1978, I can't find any definitive evidence that the And Now... The Runaways LP was actually released in 1978, as had been stated in this article and on the album's page. Images of the album's labels show 1979 copyright dates, even on the original Cherry Red issues:

Allmusic says 1978, but I don't think it's correct in this case. The booklet for the Japanese Singles Collection (2008 compilation CD on Cherry Red) says the album came out in 1979. So I am changing the date to 1979, based on the copyright dates and this info. —mjb (talk) 05:24, 29 January 2014 (UTC)


 * For what it's worth, Sandy Robertson had a review of it in Sounds magazine,        16 December 1978.  But for all I know, it was a pre-release review.  A Google books search has a lot of hits that say 1979. I found no copyright registration at the U.S. Copyright Office, which is unsurprising, since it was released in the UK, not the US.  Too bad, though; that would provide a first-publication date. TJRC (talk) 09:08, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Chart positions
There's no way 'Cherry Bomb' got to number 2 (or anywhere in the charts) in the UK (I wish!)....Faren — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.26.35.199 (talk) 23:18, 10 April 2015 (UTC)


 * You are correct. I went to Official Charts Company and went into archive and searched.  I did a test search for Joan Jett first, and Eric Clapton, so I know their archive covers the period of The Runaways.  When I searched for The Runaways, and for Runaways (http://www.officialcharts.com/search/artists/Runaways/), their is no listings for the band charting in the UK.  I will delete from the web page. Mburrell (talk) 02:44, 11 April 2015 (UTC)

Suzie Quatro vs The Runaways
Both came from The United States and played some kind of hard rock, the front girls used guitarr or base. And I think there is some kind of link here - to why they became rather popular outside their home nation. I guess their style on stage and the pictures of the album covers, wasn't for women in the American seventies. Boeing720 (talk) 02:07, 16 May 2015 (UTC)

Whither Michael "Schrodinger's Runaways Member" Steele?
There seem to be two parallel universes: One in which Michael Steele was an important early member and another in which she was not. Neither the biopic nor the Joan Jett documentary I just watched on Amazon mention her name even once. Does anyone have good info on just how long she was a member All of 1975? Just long enough to record Born to be Bad? - Immigrant laborer (talk) 14:32, 10 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Steele's Wiki page has numerous citations for this part of her career. Ckruschke (talk) 15:23, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

Unmentioned demo and live album on member timeline - Thinking about removing them
The member timeline chart lists two albums that are otherwise not mentioned anywhere in the article, a demo album and a live album.

Per the timeline chart, Born to Be Bad was recorded in 1975 and released in 1993 (so yes, it was released, but not as a 1975 demo album), but the timeline chart is listing the demo album as October 14, 1975. If it was never released as a 1975 demo album, should it be shown on the member timeline chart at all? What is October 14, 1975, is it when the recording was done, or when they presented the album to publishers? I cannot see any reason that the demo album should be given a listing on the demo chart and am considering deleting it in a week or two unless there is a discussion with support for keeping the listing.

The second mysterious album listing on the member timeline chart is an album labeled Live in Cleveland, released in July 19, 1976. This album is not mentioned anywhere in the article. A web search for the album finds that Discogs lists it as an unofficial release released in CD in 2013 and in vinyl in 2015 (Discogs). Amazon lists the album first available on February 18, 2015 (Amazon/vinyl) for vinyl, and for CD on February 6, 2015 (Amazon/CD). Tidal lists the album and mentions 1976 (Tidal), but does not specify a more detailed date, so I doubt it can be used as evidence of a 1976 release date, especially as digital albums were not being released in the 70's. So although there was a recorded concert on July 19, 1976, that is not when an album was released, and I am going to remove the album from the timeline listing unless there is a discussion with support for keeping the listing. Mburrell (talk) 22:46, 7 February 2022 (UTC)


 * Reviewed when albums were added, and they were just added hours ago from what appears to be a new user. I am going to reverse my statement.  I will immediately remove the albums, and consider adding them back in a couple of weeks if there is discussion with support for re-listing the albums. Mburrell (talk) 22:55, 7 February 2022 (UTC)