I Love Rock 'n' Roll

"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written byAlan MerrillandJake Hookerand first recorded by theArrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version byJoan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from heralbum of the same name, became Jett's highest-charting hit, reaching number one on theBillboardHot 100and becoming theNo. 3 song for 1982.The single was certified platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America, representing two million units shipped to stores. Jett's version was inducted into theGrammy Hall of Famein 2016.
The song was originally recorded andreleasedby theArrowsin 1975 onRak Records, with Merrill on lead vocals and guitar andMickie Mostproducing. Merrill wrote both the music and lyrics, whilst living in London atNell Gwynn Housein Chelsea.  He gave a co-writer credit to Hooker as part of settling a debt.In an interview with Songfacts, Merrill said he wrote the song as "a knee-jerk response tothe Rolling Stones' 'It's Only Rock 'n Roll (But I Like It)'."This version was first released as aB-side, but was soon re-recorded and flipped toA-sidestatus on a subsequent pressing of the record. Arrows performed the song in 1975 on theMuriel Young-produced show45, after which Young offered Arrows a weekly UK television series,Arrows, which was broadcast onITVstarting in March 1976.
Joan Jettsaw theArrowsperform "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" on their weekly UK television seriesArrowswhile she was touring England withthe Runawaysin 1976.The Runaways' producer and managerKim Fowleyhad the band learn the song in the summer of 1977, during the brief period whenVicki Bluehad replacedJackie Foxas bass player andCherie Curriewas still the group's vocalist.
Jett first recorded the song in 1979 with two of theSex Pistols,Steve JonesandPaul 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 single was released in late 1981 in Australia and New Zealand by Liberation Records, and by Boardwalk Entertainment in Canada. This recording became a USBillboardHot 100number-one single for seven weeks, being the only one for the band.
Record Worldsaid it "has anthem qualities and heroic lead guitar riffs."
The music video for "I Love Rock 'n Roll" produced by Barry Ralbag, received heavy play by the fledglingMTVnetwork. It featured Jett and the Blackhearts traveling to a small, dingy bar and then exciting the drunken crowd by performing the song and yelling out itschorus. A snippet of Jett's 1981 hit "Bad Reputation" can be heard at the beginning of the video. The video was originally in colour, but it was converted to black and white because Jett hated the look of her red leather jumpsuit.
In 1993 Joan Jett & the Blackhearts made another music video for the song as part of theWayne's World 2soundtrack. The video consisted of scenes from the movie, withMike MyersandDana Carvey, mixed with footage of Jett and her band in a faux concert filmed atIrving Plazain New York City. The song was again released as a single by Warner/Reprise with "Activity Grrrl" as the B-side.
Jett's version has received many rankings, including:
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is the fourth European single from American pop singerBritney Spears' third studio album,Britney(2001), released on 27 May 2002. The song was used in her 2002 filmCrossroads, in which Spears' character Lucy performs it in a karaoke bar. Spears said of the song, "They asked me to sing karaoke in the movieCrossroadsand I've actually sung 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' in a lot of clubs that I've been to."Spears has publicly stated that the original song is one of her favorites. She listened to the original Arrows Mickie Most-produced version just before she recorded the song, according toJiveA&R representative Steve Lunt. The scratches performed on this version were performed by Corey Chase at The Hit Factory Criteria studios in Miami. When promoting the single's release, Spears mistakenly attributed the hit version of the song toPat Benatarinstead of Joan Jett.
Spears' cover was met with mostly favorable reviews.NME's Ted Kessler wrote that she "still works best when making a good pop cheese and dance sandwich: there's the aceRodney Jerkins-produced version ofJoan Jett's 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll', which does exactly what it says on the tin."Rolling Stone's Barry Walters wrote that "producer Rodney Jerkins' hip-hop blaspheming of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" doesn't go as far as it should (is aLimp Bizkitremix in its future?), but it certainly beats what her earlier studio architects did to thoseSonny and Cher("The Beat Goes On" on...Baby One More Time) andStones("(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" onOops!... I Did It Again) songs."Another positive reception came fromPopMatters'editor Nikki Tranter, who enjoyed that the song is "different from the average run-of-the-mill pop offering," and praised that "she does strange justice to the tune, vamping up her vocals and turning out something, that while silly and camp, is actually a fun listen."In contrast, David Browne wrote forEntertainment Weeklythat "her remake is neither imaginative (it simply xeroxes Joan Jett's arrangement) nor all that believable."
"I Love Rock 'n' Roll" charted moderately upon release, reaching the top 20 in most regions. The song was moderately successful in the UK, where it peaked at number 13 (which, at the time, was Spears' lowest peak for a single released there, until "If U Seek Amy" only managed to reach number 20 in 2009. It was certified gold in Australia.
Directed byChris Applebaum, the music video for "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" shows Spears with her own band, a stack of speakers and flashing lights. The video begins in black and white and switches to and from colour throughout. It was shot at The Inn, a bar in Long Beach, New York. The video was ranked at number two on the 100 Best Videos of 2002 list duringMTV Latin America's countdown. A director's cut version of the video was later leaked, containing previously unseen scenes.
The song was performed live during Spears'Dream Within a Dream Tour(2001–02). In 2016, it was added to the revamped set list of herLas Vegasresidency show,Britney: Piece of Me(2016–17), marking the first time Spears performed the song in 14 years. During the performance, Spears rode a mechanical electric guitar, which simulated a mechanical bull, as it rotated on stage. The same prop electric guitar had been used during herFemme Fatale Tour(2011) for a segment in which she covered the song "Burning Up" byMadonna. At the2016BillboardMusic Awards, the song was performed as part of a medley.
A cover version byAlex Gaudinoand Jason Rooney was released in 2008.
In December 2019, English bloggerLadBabyreleased a comedy version of the song with asausage rolltheme as a charity single whose profits went toThe Trussell Trust. The single's cover is based onAbbey Road's cover. The song peaked at number one on theUK Singles Chartand in Scotland.
In December 2019, LadBaby announced his bid for the official Christmas number one. As with their last release "We Built This City", all proceeds from the single went toThe Trussell Trust. He said, "We were blown away by the support we received on our Christmas Number 1 single last year and how far that money has gone into changing the lives of families living in poverty across the UK. We're continually looking for ways we can support food bank charity the Trussell Trust further as the size of the problem still facing so many adults (and children) is huge and we ALL need to do whatever we can to say goodbye to poverty once and for all in the UK! If we can use our social media presence for good by singing about sausage rolls, giving people something to smile about and helping families eat this year, then why wouldn't we. Officially, the most unanticipated single of the decade...AGAIN!"
On 20 December 2019, the song entered theUK Singles Chartat number one, claiming theChristmas number onewith 93,000 chart sales and with 85,000 of that total coming via downloads. It was also the fastest-selling download since Artists for Grenfell version of "Bridge over Troubled Water" in June 2017. LadBaby became the third act to have two consecutive Christmas number one singles and the first to have two successive novelty Christmas number ones in the UK. After reaching number one, LadBaby said, "How have we done this again? It's the best feeling in the world – it's a Christmas miracle yet again! Thank you everybody for supporting us once again, and all for an amazing cause. It's going to the Trussell Trust – to the 14 million people living in poverty in the UK. Who doesn't love a sausage roll at Christmas?"
Joan Kirner,Premier of Victoriaat the time, performed the song onThe Late Show (1992 TV series)in 1992. Former Health Minister David White played the guitar solo.