Cherry Bomb (1976) 5/8/20

For many years, Billboard Magazine has provided a weekly addendum to its Hot 100 chart, mostly to give industry professionals and radio programmers a look at what songs are either about to break into hits...or not. It's called the “Bubbling Under” chart, and on rare occasions, something will “bubble under” for a while, and then disappear...only to become a seminal record in the history of rock and roll.

Today's “Great Song of the '70s” never made higher than #6 on the Bubbling Under chart..which, of course, translates into #106 on the Hot 100.But nonetheless, “Cherry Bomb” is noteworthy for 2 reasons:

#1: It's regarded as the first successful punk rock song by an all female band: “The Runaways.”

#2: All of the members of The Runaways at that point were teenagers: Jackie Fox, Sandy West, Lita Ford, Cherie Currie, and a hard-nosed little dynamo named Joan Jett.

Oddly enough, while the group opened for the likes of Led Zepplin, Cheap Trick, Van, Halen and Tom Petty...and gained a legion of fans...they could never break through as headliners in the US.

On the other hand, they were HUGE in Japan. In fact, their success was so amazing, it was compared to Beatlemania!

Joan wrote “Cherry Bomb,” played rhythm guitar and sang background vocals. 16-year-old Cherie Curry sang lead.

After a few years of bad management, personnel changes, in-fighting about musical direction, extreme sexual harassment, and just plain growing up, the group disbanded. Cherie Currie had some success touring with her twin sister, Marie...and Lita Ford had a fairly successful career...but, by far, Joan Jett became the biggest star, with a string of hits from “I Love Rock & Roll” to “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” and others.

But The Runaways? It was the beginning of a whole new ballgame for female artists. It all started in 1976 at #106 on the “Bubbling Under” Chart, and ended up as one of VH-1's “Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All Time!” (#52). It's a Great Song of the '70s!”

If you're interested, the 2010 movie“The Runaways,”starring Dakota Fanning and Kristin Stewart, might be worth renting or streaming. At the very least, it's interesting!