Joan Jett [Hardcover]

Todd Oldham (Author), Kathleen Hanna (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 19, 2010

Rock-and-roll goddess Joan Jett holds a beloved place in the world of music. She started her first band, The Runaways, at age fifteen and has blazed a trail that has inspired and thrilled her fans to this day. AMMO Books is proud to release this authorized, loving tribute conceived and authored by designer Todd Oldham. The book chronicles all aspects of her career and passions through images—from forming The Runaways, to her years of touring with her band, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts. JOAN JETT features many never-before-seen photos, ephemera, and excerpts from thirty years worth of interviews, carefully curated with Joan herself, covering the multi-decade career of a real rock-and-roll icon. A thoughtful introduction written by renown indie rocker and Riot Grrrl Kathleen Hanna brings context to this exciting title.

Joan Jett is a revered songwriter, musician, and American icon. In keeping with her pioneering spirit, she went on to be the first woman to start her own independent rock label, Blackheart Records. Joan Jett and The Blackhearts Greatest Hits compilation released in March 2010, and the film based on The Runaways starring Dakota Fanning, and Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett, released on March 19, 2010.

Now available in this popularly priced, flexi-cover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Be thankful young Joan Jett didn't take to the clarinet. And be thankful to her parents for buying a cheap Silvertone guitar that would inspire her to rock away her hormones with her all-girl punk outfit, the Runaways, in the 1970s and rule the charts in the 80s with the Blackhearts and other bands." —Vanity Fair

"Before we even dropped it onto our coffee table to see how it looked there, we flipped through to see the sweet pictures of Jett that comprise most of the book." —New York Magazine

"While it's a look into the life of a rock and roll goddess, it's simultaneously a celebration of women, and not in that Indigo-girls-drum-circle, revolutionize-your-life-by-abandoning-crucial-habits-of-personal-hygiene kind of way." —Juxtapoz Magazine

"Joan Jett really doesn't need to give a damn about her reputation; with a seminal band, a slew of hit singles, and now a movie and a book under her belt, she's one of rock'n'roll's most iconic figures." —Nylon Magazine

About the Author

Todd Oldham is one of the most beloved and mediagenic designers working today. Originally a couture fashion designer with several stores in New York, and a commentator on MTV's House of Style, Todd's career has evolved to include all areas of design, from film and photography to furniture and graphic art. Todd appears frequently as a consultant on NBC's Today, as well as on MTV's enormously popular Crib Crashers, for which Todd redesigns teenagers' homes in the likeness of their favorite stars' abode. Oldham designs his own line of dorm room furnishings for Target in addition to a line of furniture for La-Z-Boy, and he is currently developing a television series based on Handmade Modern. Most recently, he has become a contributing editor to ReadyMade magazine. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ammo Books (March 19, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934429600
• ISBN-13: 978-1934429600
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 0.8 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Photobook - Buy it for that - but text is a let-down March 26, 2010

By suecag

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

It seems I have been waiting forever for a Joan Jett book to come out. This book is fantastically full of great photos. I definitely recommend it and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again. Besides the great photos, there is also text in this book and it's exciting to finally read about Joan in a nice hardcover book rather than a magazine article.

But it's a tease. The problem is that there's not much text, not much biography or writing about music in here and I was very let-down after reading what the author wrote in the back, about how much info he has about Joan - that he didn't put in the book. Here's what he wrote: "...I reviewed three decades of printed and taped interviews with Joan, which was a dizzying treat. I then conducted eight hours of taped conversations with Joan and combined the two..." What?! And this small amount of text is all we get? It's such a tease. I'm guessing they didn't have enough time before the Runaways movie release.

I hope there will be a second volume coming someday in the future.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An inside look that leaves a nice touch of mystery. March 23, 2010

By L. Reznicek

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This lovingly packaged autobiography/photo-essay combines a wealth of rare photos (emphasizing Joan's early days, extending through her 1980's chart-hits peak and 1990's "Riot Grrl" revival) with short, sharp bursts of commentary, as well as recollections from special guests Kathleen Hanna, Kenny Laguna, and others. Joan's writing wisely leaves much to the imagination, while managing to be revealing and disarmingly personable. Don't purchase this book expecting a juicy rock n' roll confessional: "Joan Jett" keeps it tabloid-trash free, while focusing on Joan's earliest (and enduring) personal passions and her closely-held beliefs on life, music, and the entertainment industry. Think of it as a high-fashion scrapbook memoir of one of rock's uniquely (and often unintentionally) influential figures - who incidentally happens to be a woman.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Longtime Jett fans, save your money! Real letdown. May 4, 2010

By Bette VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I was so excited about this book. After all, Todd Oldman + Joan Jett, how could it possibly suck?! Well, it does.

It's basically a photography book with little else, and seeing as how Joan worked with Todd to put this thing together, there should be much more text. We've all seen *most* of the photos here, there is very little new to us, except for Joan as a baby, little girl and young adult. The rest are publicity, album and video photos throughout the years, but mostly just the 80's, and what's up with that?? There are a couple of pages of handwritten lyrics, and of memorabilia such as the JJ&BH Wonderbread card.

In an interview, Oldham made it sound like he worked laboriously on this book, but considering his design aesthetic, well it is simply not to be found in this book! It's basically mostly black pages with blocked photos, and where is the creativity in that? Seems thrown together, and there *is* no creativity in simply choosing a bunch of photos, mostly from one era, and laying them out monotonously.

This could easily have been a much more interesting anthology had Joan inserted some interesting anecdotes from specific times of her life, her career, or even the photo shoot/photographer. Something. Anything but old quotes we read 20-30 years ago.

A real disappointment for longtime Jett fans.