The original Runaways band - Mercury Records photo

The film cast of the Runaways band - Jon Lebkowsky photo

Joan Jett in recent concert with her band - Business Wire photo   Lita Ford promoting her more recent album - Business Wire photo

Video Beat MAX - THE RUNAWAYS FILM - THE FIRST ALL GIRL ROCK BAND on HBO

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

The focus of the film is on the bands founder, manager and producer Kim Fowley, Cherie Currie the bands vivacious teen lead singer and Joan Jett the groups bisexual guitarist. From our real life experience the film focuses more on the most controversial aspects of the band. - Locked Up Abroad's new season ROCKS!!! - Recommended TV Listings

Sunday, October 23, 2011

GIRL BAND CHEWED UP AND SPIT OUT IN THE MUSIC BUSINESS

For those interested in the history of music the record business tonight is the night to view the Runaways film on HBO in East Asia at 9:00 PM Bangkok, Jakarta and 10:00 PM Singapore and Hong Kong time zones. The film depicts the formation of the band in 1975 and their growth to success and the conflicts that followed until they disbanded.

This is a film that is close to the bone as being spot on but a story that I lived in my past as a musician which brought me in repeated contact with the bands founder, manager and producer Kim Fowley. That is a story that we will reveal in a future Entertainment Beat column. This column is about the The Runaways film.

The focus of the film is on Fowley, Cherie Currie the bands vivacious teen lead singer and Joan Jett the group's bisexual guitarist. From our real life experience the film focuses more on the most controversial aspects of the band and is not about who the best musicians were in the group. In reality the bands best musicians were lead guitarist Lita Ford and drummer Sandy West.

Jett is played by Kristen Stewart and is the focus the back story of the film by having a relationship with Currie portrayed by Dakota Fanning. Fowley and Jett formed the band but it was Fowley that made the greatest impact on who should be in the group. His first major step was to find a sexy lead singer in the mold of the sexy actress Brigitte Bardot, with the choice being the then 16-year-old Currie.

Fowley played by Michael Shannon wrote the song Cherry Bomb with Jett and West. That became a hit after the group was signed by Mercury Records. It was from that point that jealousy and drugs turned the group's fortunes around.

Due to the album's success, they traveled to Japan to play a concert. After their performance, lead guitarist Lita Ford threw magazines at Cherie that have pictures of her. Cherie was shocked because she thought the articles were to be about the entire band. As Lita, Cherie, and Joan argued about the magazine story crazy fans broke through a window and chased the girls out of the building.

Currie's drug problems became worse. She overdosed in the hotel where they were staying and collapsed in an elevator that resulted in her being sent to the hospital. She returned to the USA. Upon arriving back in the United States, she began to abuse her alcoholic father's painkillers.

At the studio recording their next album, Currie had a breakdown and refused to play. Ford insulted her and Jett defended her. At that point Currie quit the group. Jett was outraged, and that was the beginning of the end of the bands demise.

Currie returned to the USA. Jett put together her own band, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Currie collapsed again in a phone booth in a supermarket parking lot. At the hospital, her sister, Marie, visited her recommended that she turn her life around.

The film also portrayed the conflict that Currie had with her sexuality and self esteem. The most poignant aspect of the film is the emotional traumas the young teenage girls experiencing the rough and tough music business which at that time was drug infested.

Between the maturation of young girls dealing with success and the hardships that the music business inflicts on musicians the film is credible although being a film it cannot tell the story that evolved over the years of time in a few minutes.

Stewart does a good job portraying the eccentric Fowley but for those of us who know Fowley can understand that it is virtually impossible to duplicate his eccentricity. Kim Fowley is one of a kind. What Stewart did well was capture many of Fowely's facial expressions.

The film quality has a lot to be desired but the story makes its point of female teenage musicians being chewed up and spit out by the music business. The good news is the music is good as the band is the best all female band that I have ever seen.

Fowley invited me to their debut and showcase for record companies at the Whiskey Ah Go Go In Hollywood, California. I didn't expect much but when the band turned it on I was shocked to hear how good they were musically as well as being attractive in a tough sort of way. The weird part is that the talent in the film isn't as attractive as the real members of the band. THIS FILM IS A WORTH SEE.

LOCKED UP ABROAD IS REALLY A NEW SERIES

Season after season the National Geographic Network announces a NEW SEASON of the series Locked Up Abroad. Season after Season they keep repeating previous season and there's nothing new about it. Well it's time to wake up and smell the coffee as this appear to really be a new season as the two episodes are two that we've never seen before in out 4 years of coverage of the series.

This past week there was an eye opening episode about a British citizen that met a Filipina domestic over the Internet. She was physically abused by her husband and kicked out of their home. To support their two children she obtained a job as a domestic in Dubai.

The two eventually met when she returned to Manila and fell in love. They had a baby together which her husband found photos of on Facebook. Her jealous husband then had her arrested fro adultery which is a 14-year jail term in the Philippines. They were put in jail and the police extorted of 1000 pesos roughly $200 by the jailer when they were going to place her in a cell with MEN. The Brit paid the price and they were placed in a cell together which could be viewed by prisoners in cells above them.

A high up police official then brought the Brit to an area outside of the cell and pointed out a bullet riddled car with blood and flesh attached to it. The police official explained that they shot a prisoner in the head for not cooperating. He then told the Brit that he could make his problems go away for $4000. The Brit refused.

Luckily the Brits lawyer found that on the arrest warrant they got his name wrong and they were released from jail. They Brit wanted to leave the county with his girlfriend to get away from her deranged revengeful husband. They were told that she was still married and couldn't do that.

Eventually the Brit paid $10,000 for forged documents to get out of the Philippines and return to England. In doing so his girlfriend had to leave two of her children from he husband behind.

New episodes of Locked Up Abroad air Monday night with repeats throughout the week.

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