The Arrows original version
The song was originally recorded and released by The Arrows in 1975 on Rak Records, with lead vocals, guitar, music & lyrics written by Alan Merrill and produced by Mickie Most. In an interview with Songfacts, Merrill said he wrote it as "a knee-jerk response to the Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)'." This version was first released as a B-side, but was soon re-recorded and flipped to A-side status on a subsequent pressing of the record. The Arrows performed the song in 1975 on the Muriel Young-produced show 45, after which Young offered the Arrows a weekly UK television series, Arrows, which was broadcast on ITV starting in March 1976.
Joan Jett cover version
| "I Love Rock 'n Roll" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts | ||||
| from the album I Love Rock 'n Roll | ||||
| B-side | "You Don't Know What You've Got" "Love Is Pain" "You're Too Possessive" | |||
| Released | January 19, 1982 | |||
| Format | 7" single, 12" single | |||
| Recorded | 1981 | |||
| Genre | Hard rock[6][7] | |||
| Length | 2:55 | |||
| Label | Boardwalk | |||
| Writer(s) | Alan Merrill, Jake Hooker | |||
| Producer(s) | Ritchie Cordell, Kenny Laguna | |||
| Joan Jett and the Blackhearts singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Joan Jett saw the Arrows perform "I Love Rock 'n Roll" on their weekly UK television series Arrows when she was touring England with the Runaways in 1976. She first recorded the song in 1979 with two of the Sex Pistols: Steve Jones and Paul Cook. This first version was released on vinyl in 1979 on Vertigo records as a B-side to "You Don't Own Me". In 1981, Jett re-recorded the song, this time with her band, the Blackhearts. This recording became a U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single for seven weeks. Billboard ranked it at the No. 3 song for 1982. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, representing two million units shipped to stores with Jett's I Love Rock 'n Roll album reaching number two on the Billboard 200. Joan Jett's version was ranked No. 89 in the list 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of Rolling Stone and has also been inducted into the Grammys Hall of Fame in 2016.
Music video
"I Love Rock 'n Roll"'s black-and-white music video received heavy play from the just-launched MTV network. In it, Jett and the Blackhearts travel to a small, dingy bar and proceed to excite the drunken crowd by performing the song and yelling out its chorus. A snippet of Jett's 1981 "Bad Reputation" is featured at the beginning of the video. The video was originally in color, but it was converted to black and white because Jett was ultimately displeased with the look of her red leather jumpsuit in color.
In 1993 Joan Jett & the Blackhearts made another music video for the song as part of the Wayne's World 2 soundtrack. In the video appear several scenes from the movie with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey mixed with footage of Jett and her band in concert. It was again released as a single by Warner/Reprise with "Activity Grrrl" as the B-side.
Critical reception
Jett's version has received many accolades, including:
- Ranking No. 85 on Q magazine March 2005 list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks
- Ranking No. 491 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"
- Ranking No. 56 in Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.[11]
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