Dave's Song of the Day
I Love Rock ‘n Roll – The Arrows
Tuesday song of the day: The co-writer of today’s song died of the coronavirus on Sunday.
On Sunday, Alan Merrill died in New York of complications from COVID-19. He was 69 years old. He had a varied career as an actor, model, and musician, but in the United States he is best known as the co-writer of the song
I Love Rock ‘n Roll, which later became a huge hit for Joan Jett.
Among other things, Merrill was the lead singer of The Arrows, an English band of the mid-1970s. Merrill was born in New York but found success mostly in England and Japan. In 1975, The Arrows released
I Love Rock ‘N Roll. Merrill wrote the song with bandmate Jake Hooker as a response to the Rolling Stones’
It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It).
Originally, The Arrows released the song as the B-side of their
Broken Down Heart single, but soon found that
I Love Rock ‘n Roll was the more popular song, so the record was re-released with the sides reversed. The record did not chart, however.
While touring with The Runaways in England in the 1970s, a young Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform the song on British TV. It stuck with her and she recorded a cover version in 1979. That version was the B-side of her first single,
You Don’t Own Me, but the record did not chart.
Then in 1979 she re-recorded it as the title track of Joan Jett and The Blackhearts’ 1982 debut album. (Jett had released a solo album in 1980, but this was her first with the Blackhearts.)
I Love Rock ‘N Roll was released as a single, and the accompanying video received heavy play in the early days of MTV. It became a huge hit, staying at #1 on the
Billboard Hot 100 for seven weeks.
The Arrows, 1975
TV appearance (Merrill is the main singer/bass player)
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, 1982
Joan Jett on the Dutch TV show
Top Pop [Even lip synching, nobody is as cool as Joan Jett, except maybe Lou Reed]
Tomorrow: You know the rules and so do I