Joan Jett and The Runaways: How ‘Cherry Bomb’ Challenged 1970s Rock

In 1975, five teenage girls walked into a world that never expected them to be so loud, energetic, or serious about rock. With one explosive song, they upended the industry's preconceived ideas about women in music. This is the story of The Runaways' iconic song “Cherry Bomb”: how it was born in a parking lot audition, how it shocked the rock world, and how a band of teens forced a male-dominated scene to pay attention.

It began with a bold question. On Aug. 5, 1975, producer Kim Fowley set out to build an all-female punk rock band. Fowley was no stranger to the music world. He had a knack for marketing, and he pitched the group as an all-girl answer to Grand Funk.

Fowley found his members in odd places. He noticed Joan Jett in a moment of luck when she spontaneously traded her ukulele for a guitar while playing along to a Sweet album. Sandy West and Jackie Fox were discovered in parking lots, the former behind the famous Rainbow Bar and Grill, while Cherie Currie was spotted in a teen club. Each girl brought raw, largely self-taught skills and a hunger to play.

They were all very young. Most were 17 or younger when the band took shape, and Currie was only 15 when she joined at the end of 1975. Back then, women faced significant challenges breaking into the industry. Only a small percentage of artists, bands, and producers were women. In that field, a band of teenage girls stood out.

The story of "Cherry Bomb" reads like rock folklore. Currie arrived at her audition planning to sing Peggy Lee's "Fever." She knew every detail of the song, but Jett and Fowley found out in the moment that no one in the room could play it the way it needed to be played. They wrote a new number on the spot so they could trial Currie's vocals. The result was "Cherry Bomb," a fast, striking piece meant to fit her persona.

Fowley later explained the idea behind the title: It played on Currie's name and conjured the image of "a teenage firecracker that's popular at the Fourth of July." That image shaped how Currie performed. She even bought a pink corset from a small boutique on Santa Monica Boulevard and wore it during the band's early shows.

Musically, the song blended chunky riffs and steady drums with a snarling attitude. The band had Ramones and Black Sabbath in mind when they recorded the track in February 1976 at Fidelity Recorders in Studio City, with Fowley in the producer's chair.

From the opening lines, "Cherry Bomb" announced the band as far from polite. Lyrics such as "Can't stay at home, can't stay in school" and "I'm the fox you've been waiting for" pushed against the old rules for young women, speaking of a teenage girl who refused to fit into the neat boxes society offered.

The sound helped. Heavy riffs, steady drums, and Lita Ford's shredding guitar solo gave the song teeth. Background moans and Currie's raw vocals added a shock element. To many male fans, the group of girls became an object of desire first and a band second, a reaction that undercut the skilled musicianship The Runaways were proving night after night.

Still, "Cherry Bomb" became an anthem for youthful rebellion and for girls who wanted the freedom to be loud. The song has lived on in pop culture. In the decades since its release, it has been featured in films and TV shows and honored on best-of lists. That ongoing presence proves the song did more than shock — it stuck.

Being iconoclastic came with a cost. The Runaways faced insults and worse from the beginning. They were called cruel names. Objects flew at them from crowded venues. Jett has recounted severe injuries from violent shows: a beer bottle to the head, a cracked rib, and even a battery thrown at her. Currie described some European crowds as frenzied mobs that hated them.

The press could be just as vicious. Some rock magazines attacked their music or focused only on their looks. Some dismissed them with slurs. The band endured physical danger and a steady stream of hostility. Yet they kept playing.

On tour, The Runaways proved their point. They shared stages with acts including Van Halen and Talking Heads. They played hard and held their own. Watching teenage girls perform loud, fast-paced music at that level inspired others to pick up guitars and drums, helping to break the stereotype that rock was a space reserved for men.

Jett was instrumental in shaping the sound and look of the group from the beginning, including co-writing "Cherry Bomb." Later, she built a massive solo career with the Blackhearts. "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" spent seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Jett lasting fame. She was named among the top guitarists and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Currie was the face of The Runaways. Her stage presence and pink corset made her a memorable frontwoman and an integral part of the band's success. Since the band's breakup, she has maintained a creative life in music and other arts.

Ford supplied the lead guitar fire. Her solos and technical skill set a high bar for women in hard rock and heavy metal. Meanwhile, West kept the beat with fierce drumming, and Fox held down bass.

The Runaways band split in 1979, having released four studio albums. While their debut sold well in some markets and enjoyed a particularly notable run in Japan, creative fights and management issues eventually took their toll.

The band's true legacy is not only in sales tallies, though — it's in every woman who picked up a guitar because she heard "Cherry Bomb" and felt permission to make noise.