“I love Rock ’N Roll” is a song with nine lives. It was originally written and recorded by the UK band Arrow. Alan Merrill, Arrow’s lead singer says it was his reaction to The Rolling Stones “It’s Only Rock ’N Roll.” In 1976, Arrow released “I Love Rock ’N Roll” as a B-side (sort of like “I will Survive” last week). Later, that year it was re-released on Side A. It still flopped.
That’s when Joan Jett heard the song. She was on tour in the UK with The Runaways and heard the song on a TV show called “Pop 45.” In 1979 she recorded a version with members of the Sex Pistols. That version didn’t do well either. It was in 1981 after having to buy back the rights to “I Love Rock ’N Roll” (and two other songs) from her record company for $2300 that Joan Jett recorded and released the version that is in the Rock ’N Roll Hall of Fame and clocks in at #491 on Rolling Stone Magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. What makes it tick? Check out the sheet below.
The Prompt:
The Musical Idea:
Here’s a downloadable pdf of the worksheet above:
timmyr.com 