Bad Reputation: Joan Jett and Questions of Canon by Jessica Lillian Brown Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia August 2011 © Copyright by Jessica Lillian Brown, 2011 DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC The undersigned hereby certify that they have read and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for acceptance a thesis entitled “Bad Reputation: Joan Jett and Questions of Canon” by Jessica Lillian Brown in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Dated: August 16, 2011 Supervisor: _________________________________ Readers: _________________________________ _________________________________ DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY DATE: August 16, 2011 AUTHOR: Jessica Lillian Brown TITLE: Bad Reputation: Joan Jett and Questions of Canon DEPARTMENT OR SCHOOL: Department of Music DEGREE: MA CONVOCATION: October YEAR: 2011 Permission is herewith granted to Dalhousie University to circulate and to have copied for non-commercial purposes, at its discretion, the above title upon the request of individuals or institutions. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author’s written permission. The author attests that permission has been obtained for the use of any copyrighted material appearing in the thesis (other than the brief excerpts requiring only proper acknowledgement in scholarly writing), and that all such use is clearly acknowledged. _______________________________ Signature of Author TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................ vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: “I LOVE ROCK ‘N ROLL”......................................... 9 2.1 EARLY CAREER .................................................................9 2.2 “I LOVE ROCK ‘N ROLL” BACKGROUND ..............................18 2.3 MUSICAL ANALYSIS ........................................................21 2.4 CONTENT AND MUSIC VIDEO ...........................................23 2.5 PATTI SMITH AND CROSS-GENDER COVER SONGS .............27 2.6 BLACKHEART RECORDS AND AUTONOMY ...........................31 2.7 “I LOVE ROCK ‘N ROLL” FOR YOUNG WOMEN......................38 2.8 JOAN JETT AND PUNK......................................................40 CHAPTER 3: “BAD REPUTATION” ............................................ 46 3.1 “BAD REPUTATION” BACKGROUND....................................46 3.2 MUSICAL ANALYSIS ........................................................48 3.3 “BAD REPUTATION” AND GENDER .....................................51 3.4 JOAN JETT’S BAD REPUTATION .........................................55 3.5 MUSIC JOURNALISM........................................................56 3.6 JOAN JETT AND PAT BENATAR ..........................................58 3.7 WOMEN AND THE ELECTRIC GUITAR .................................62 3.8 THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME .................................68 CHAPTER 4: “ACTIVITY GRRRL”.............................................. 73 4.1 “ACTIVITY GRRRL” BACKGROUND .....................................73 4.2 MUSICAL ANALYSIS ........................................................74 4.3 THE START OF RIOT GRRRL .............................................77 4.4 JOAN JETT AND THE RIOT GRRRLS....................................83 4.5 MIA ZAPATA AND THE GITS .............................................84 4.6 FETISH ..........................................................................88 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION....................................................... 94 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................... 102 Abstract Acknowledgements "#""&$#%""&#$#!()!($"* #"(!#"$!###(%$"&%"$!# #!$$##"!#*&("#!##$#!* $!&) &"""#$"")#)$""!# %$""#*&$"#'!""("#!##$#!* !# !!!!#!$#"$!##$"#" &!#*#(!#$##$#("#!#$" %!"#(,"!## $"!#!"#)"#!$#)"##"$!#) #!"* #"$!!### "$#" "!$ #%!"#( !#,"!$# $"(!!!#! 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