Column 1, Row 6: Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Up Your Alley
In 1988, hair metal was on the rise and straight forward rock and roll was losing radio airplay. If the music wasn't a little slick and the mix didn't sound like the record was recorded in a sports arena, there was little chance of getting heard. There were exceptions, of course (Tracy Chapman comes to mind), but for the most part, loud and echoey was the sound of the day. At that time, Joan Jett and her latest version of the Blackhearts had been together for a few years and were clicking. The band members were Ricky Byrd on lead guitar and vocals, Kasim Sulton on bass and vocals, and Thommy Price on drums. Jett was coming off of co-starring with Michael J. Fox in Paul Schrader's film, Light of Day. Although the film wasn't a hit, it was high profile enough to bring the rock legend back into the public eye after years working the road and trying to rebuild the success of her early 80s albums, including the smash, I Love Rock 'n Roll. Additionally, Jett and the Blackhearts played the shit out of the Springsteen-penned title track to the Schrader movie. It was a top 40 hit and received considerable airplay on AOR stations. She was poised for a comeback, and she didn't have to compromise her music a conform to performing power ballads or keyboard driven pop songs like some of her contemporaries (think Heart or Eddie Money). Production values aside, Up Your Alley is just as hard and driving as any of Jett's previous albums, and the addition of Thommy Price makes this one of the most enjoyable rock albums from the late 80s.
My freshman college roommate owned this cassette, so I heard plenty of it in the fall of '88. The hit from Up Your Alley is the classic, "I Hate Myself for Loving You." The song was a top 10 hit and remains a staple of classic rock and oldies stations to this day (it's still odd to call the songs I listened to in high school and college "oldies,"). That's how Up Your Alley opens, and the rest of Up Your Alley doesn't let up. "Ridin' with James Dean" is an arena crowd pleaser with Price's thundering drums front and center, and "Little Liar" is an old school ballad, something that reminds me of a 70s Aerosmith song. Side one ends with two exemplary cover song. "Tulane" is a fresh take on a Chuck Berry nugget, and "I Wanna Be Your Dog" gave mainstream audiences exposure to the twisted glory of the Stooges.
Side two is just as strong as the first one, despite some very dated keyboards on the second track "You Want In, I Want Out." Familiar power chords carry "I Still Dream About You," Byrd has some nifty guitar playing throughout "Just Like in the Movies," and Price leads the attack of "Back it Up." The album closer, "Play That Song Again" is a mid tempo, 60s garage band throwback that wraps up everything on a reflective, nostalgic note.
I love this album, and it holds up well considering it came out in an era when anything AOR was as slick as an oil spill. Credit Jett for not applying too many keyboards to the production and for keeping the music true to her brand of rock and roll. Besides Jett, the star on this album is Thommy Price. After stints with Billy Idol and Scandal (his great drumming is all over Rebel Yell and The Warrior albums), he found a home in the Blackhearts and really shined for the twenty plus years he remained in the band.
I was gifted a piece of artwork called "My 90's Tapes" by an artist named Jeff Klarin (https://www.bughouse.com/wall-of-sounds/choose-a-tape-collection-print. It looks like one of my own collections at that time, a mix of rock/classic rock, pop, new wave, punk, dance, heavy metal and soundtracks. I decided to use this artwork as a writing prompt to review all 115 albums pictured and share some personal anecdotes along the way. Consider this me dipping my toe back into the Basement Songs pool.
Comments