Joan Jett: Since We're All So G-damned Sweaty Already ...

I figured this couldn't be any worse.
[photo lifted from brooklynvegan]

I just talked to Joan Jett and -- holy -- mother -- fuck -- she is cooler than I ever thought she could be. It's sorta confounding when your heroes exceed your expectations; doesn't it usually go the other way? Yeah, I know, I know - Joan Jett - revered leader of the new girl empire, subject of highly coveted t-shirts, I know, I know. Of course she's as cool as she's ever been - she's tight with Kathleen Hanna, she formed Evil Stig with the rest of The Gits to help fund the search for Mia Zapata's killer. And shit, she looks like this. But there were many moments during our soundbite of a conversation - when she said that sweaty girls rocking out always seemed like the coolest thing to her, when she said that she'd have thought by now that girls onstage would be the norm, when she said that her mom drove her to band practice (and her daddy don't know) - that I just wanted to reach through the phone and take hold of both her hands and thank her for existing. Retroactively; retrospectively. For the eleven-year-old me; for my own eleven-year-old (who got to discover "I love rock n roll" all on her own). In ten high-stress minutes we managed to cover playing for the troops in Afghanistan, bisexuality as rebellion, Girls Gone Wild and her workout regime.

I have someone in particular to thank: a few days before the interview, I turned to my friend Tanya Hobbs (far more of a JJ devotee in every way) to help still my racing heart and hyperventilation and give me some perspective - what do you do when you have 10 minutes with the one rock star you've idolized since grade six? I found out that for Tanya, JJ was the reason she ever thought that she could pick up a guitar and become a toughass rock chick in the first place.

I'll air the interview this Thursday morning on CFRU (at 10:00am) - and will probably get around to including it in an upcoming podcast, though not for a week or so. In the meantime, listen to her amazing voice on NPR from a few days ago.

[MP3] for old times' sake: Joan Jett - Do Ya Wanna Touch Me
[MP3] new/old times' sake: Joan Jett - A.C.D.C

postscript: Here's something kind of interesting - in scouring the interweb for photos of our Joan, I came across this one - Joan Jett hanging in her apartment with Billy Idol, as photographed by Theresa K. I was immediately riveted by the images: b+w shots of Stiv Bators, The Cramps, Sex Pistols, early Go-Gos, Joey Ramone and my other teen idol Chrissie Hynde Turns out that Theresa Kereakes was all over the place during the punk heyday and caught many of these folks on film; and she has a blog. (It also got me thinking: how many of our endless digital trinkets will persist in 30 years?) I love her stuff from the 70s and her recent stuff too - how she captures the grittiness and shittiness of the rock club and the road, the smiles on the faces. Even though I don't know these people personally, and don't even recognize many of them, I know these people. Browse her iconic punk images on flickr, and then see what she has to say now.

curious iTunes choice while updating: "I'm Straight" (live version) by Jonathan Richman.