The Runaways, Queens of Noise

I'm not all that worked up about the possible weirdness of Kirsten Dunst playing Debbie Harry in Michel Gondry's as-yet-untitled Blondie biopic: Although I would never try to deny that Debbie rules harder than most any other human who's ever walked the planet, I've never had all that much of an emotional investment in Blondie (except when their version of "Hanging on the Telephone" comes on the radio, at which point my heart always melts into a puddle of mushy goo).

Besides, I'm too busy being all psyched about Neon Angels, an in-production movie about the hot life and times of The Runaways. Directed by Floria Sigismondi - who's made videos for David Bowie and The White Stripes - Neon Angels should finally debunk the myth that The Runaways were a manufactured band with creepy/legendary Kim Fowley as their svengali. We're big nerds for that sort of juicy rock-history stuff, but we're equally anticipating lots of leather stage-wear and wild feathered hair. Because just like so many modern-day rock-and-roll cupcakes have ripped their look from Joan Jett and the other girls, each Runaway modeled her image after a beloved rock star: Cherie Currie went for the Bowie thing, Joan was Suzi-Quatro-meets-Keith-Richards, Lita Ford was some hybrid of Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore and Jeff Beck, Sandy West did her best imitation of Queen drummer Roger Taylor, and Jackie Fox was a girl Gene Simmons.

Here's a 1977 clip of the Runaways covering the Velvet Underground's "Rock and Roll" live in Japan. We especially love that Cherie's silver sleeveless jumpsuit perfectly matches Lita's knee-high boots.

And a few classic shots of the band:

Oh, and a totally gratuitous side note: One of the giddiest moments of my preteen years was meeting the original Runaways bassist backstage at a concert in 1989 - although back then she was simply known to me as Michael from The Bangles.

Posted by Liz in Film
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