Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22033 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-06-05
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Dolby, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 44 minutes

Amazon.com
The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the rise of butt-kicking female rockers who followed the punk wave of the late 1970s: Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, the Go-Gos, and the Runaways, the seminal American punk band that gave us Joan Jett. Jett was a chart-topping feminist icon of the early 1980s, a tough rock & roller in leather and eye makeup, sexy and defiant and tough. Though pop-music styles may have passed her by, Jett remains a satisfying live performer, as this set reveals. Taped in 2001, the rather amateurishly shot show offers Jett blazing through a list of both her own hits and the hits of others. The songs that thrilled today's 35- to 40-year-olds when they were in high school include "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," "I Hate Myself for Loving You," and "Do You Wanna Touch Me." Jett also displays her exceptional taste in covering everything from Bruce Springsteen's "Light of Day" to the Runaways' "Cherry Bomb" to "Love Is All Around," the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song. DVD features include a pair of videos, biography, discography, and photo album. --Marshall Fine

From the Back Cover
The original bad girl of rock & roll, Joan Jett, blasts through a smoldering set of her greatest hits in her first-ever live release. In this exclusive DVD release, Joan and her incendiary band blaze through all her signature songs, including "Bad Reputation," "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," and "I Hate Myself for Loving You" and put their own brand on tunes such as "Crimson and Clover," "Real Wild Child," and "Roadrunner." Unique bonus features include Joan rockin' at midnight on New Year's Eve, a montage of career-spanning photos from Joan's personal collection, and menus accompanied by unreleased audio tracks. This is your chance to see Joan Jett and the Blackhearts as never before: up close and powerful!

Track list: Bad Reputation, Cherry Bomb, Light of Day, Crimson and Clover, I Hate Myself for Loving You, Love Is All Around (Mary Tyler Moore Theme), Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah), Roadrunner, Friend to Friend, I Love Rock 'N' Roll, Androgynous, Fetish, Real Wild Child, Everyday People. Bonus videos: Real Wild Child, Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah). 44 minutes.

Customer Reviews

A thrilling live show, hurt by overactive edits. Fun extras
Although a fan of punk and musical outsiders in general, I hadn't really heard Joan Jett until I caught her at a casino (gulp!) in Elko Nevada 2002. I was thrilled, Joan Jett is one of the very few performers that I truly could not take my eyes off. She really does have a look that kills, great showmanship, and inspiring attitude. Ambiguious. I loved trying to figure her out while "comped" ranchers picked up their Stetson hats and left. She threw guitar picks to the few people in the crowd who seemed to get it.

This 1998 VH1 show was filmed in Telluride Colorado. The hits are included, along with many other songs I feel are stronger. The recording quality is sometimes a little thin, but good enough. My big complaint for this great show is the camerawork and editing. If a band is playing as hot and intense as this, they are the focus of the night. They are the event. The thrilled audience gets this, but the hyperactive cameramen clearly don't. This DVD has too many cut-aways from Jett and her band, and too many useless shots of nobodies crowd-surfing and shots from the back of the room. Sometimes less is more.

The extras? The DVD includes a brief photo album that reminds you how long Jett has been performing. (Those hairstyles connect generations...) Also included: 2 videos - one flawed, one great '80s cheese. The '90s "Real Wild Child" cover shows Joan Jett's excellent skill for pantomime/facial expression, proving she's got half the acting game down pat. The live performance of "Do You Wanna Touch Me" - filmed during a 1985 New Year's Eve for MTV or something even worse, is ridiculous. Jett and her band may be visibly bored, but they appear sane in a room filled of what can best be called "TV Party People". To put it another way, drunk party ghouls with Rob Lowe hair. (Pick a decade, it's the same creepy Rob Lowe hair...) A horrible clip, and it's my favorite point in the disc. It reminds me how much I hated the safe white-bread '80s culture - this clip is something else. Although I never really liked them, thank god Nirvana swept away the tired empty '80s vibe. Joan Jett's work fits better with the '90s vibe and beyond. This DVD shows that.

Inactivity Grrl - Anybody Seen Joan Jett Lately?
I'll be the first to admit that my grasp of DVD technology extends about as far as Robert Downey Jr.'s tenuous grasp of sobriety, but any live footage of Joan Jett ought to be a cause for celebration - a gift from the gods. Other than two video compilations she hawks on her website, a smoldering "Bad Reputation" from "Urgh: A Music War," and a surprising performance in "Light Of Day," there is a decided dearth of Jett available on the big screen. Missing in action since 1999's "Fetish" album, apparently to concentrate on acting endeavors, Jett (as well as the largely unheralded Suzi Quatro) blazed a trail in the industry for other women to follow but always seems to duck the accolades which come her way. Filmed in 1998 in Colorado (?!??), Jett and The Blackhearts (these guys deserve more credit - especially guitarist Ricky Byrd - total pros each and every one) tear through a 14-song set drawing from all phases of her career. Barely recognizable and clad from head to toe in lean, mean, streamlined black rubber and vinyl, with close-cropped blonde hair (gone forever apparently are the long raven tresses), there's no doubt it's Jett when she steps up to the microphone and sings into the light. It would have been nice to see more bonus features, like interviews with Jett and the band, but the videos for "Real Wild Child" and a 1980-something live "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" are a nice touch. For the price, this one's a no-brainer

Bad Reputation
I think I added and removed this DVD from my wish list THREE TIMES before finally just biting the bullet and ordering it. My trepidation? When I read this was a concert from just a year ago, I didn't want to see some watered down rock show performed without the fire that many 80's artists put out. Not that Joan Jett has done that before, but I've been disappointed with the Blonde Live DVD, and recent others. Like most people, I want to see the artist rockin' it live in their PRIME - when they have the most energy and sass. That said, this DVD exceeded my expections wonderfully! Joan snarles, rocks, swears and sweats as if grunge, boy bands and sugar pop rock never took over the airwaves. The audio mix is loud and heavy and all the classic songs are performed with as though they were released a week ago. And according to the enthusiastic audience, pumping their fists along with each word.... you would think these songs were! My only complaint would be that there is not enough extra stuff on here. I would have loved to have listened to an Audio Commentary by Joan and the band about the songs and maybe watched some behind the scenes stuff. Not a big deal, but those additions would have made this already fun DVD perfect!