Besides the Stones declaration that it’s only rock and roll, but they like it–perhaps nobody has praised rock more effusively, grindingly right there in the song than Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. For tens of millions, it’s impossible to say “I love rock and roll” without a trigger in the brain firing back “so put another dime in the juke box, baby.” That’s Joan Jett’s doing–and for all the great accomplishments of the all-girl rock band of yore, it might be that single crossover into earworm territory that puts Joan Jett & the Blackhearts into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
After all, they love rock and roll. Even if the jukebox is on your phone now (and you haven’t seen a dime in ages), everybody still knows just what Jett means when she sings it. Or maybe it’s just that she doesn’t care one bit about being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that makes her belong there. That used to be the thing about rock–not giving a damn–and Joan Jett never gave a damn about her bad reputation.
