Thanks so much to everyone who has bought, read, reviewed, and commented on the book since its release on Sept. 3. This photo, taken at Santa Monica Civic Center on April 1, 1977, is the next photo up from American Standard. It appears everywhere now. Creem ran an edited version of in 1978 when it featured Cheap Trick. Rob Patterson's profile included Robin and Jackie Fox, along with Rick and Bebe Buell. That photo could have been in the book, but Brad Elterman politely backed out. You probably already know him from all the Joan Jett photos he took. The shot with Rick was at a Fiorucci party in LA which I think was celebrating the God-awful Sgt. Pepper's movie. According to Brad, however, it was a party for Blondie at the same location. Elterman also took some great shots of Cheap Trick at the Coronado in San Diego during their three-night stand in January of 1979. Those shots appeared in Teen Beat, of all places.
Needless to say, Jenny was not fairly compensated for her photos. She took a bunch of shots of Cheap Trick at the April Fool's show and some more at their Starwood stand that year. She was understandably hesitant to license this photo with all the negative experiences she'd had in the past. I didn't have a very large budget for photos, so I couldn't offer anywhere what she deserved. However, she ultimately allowed me to use the photo because she wanted to share it with fans. When I sent her a copy of the book, I wasn't sure how she'd react. Thankfully, she wrote this review on Amazon:
"Last night UPS dropped a mystery package. When I opened it, my sad mood brightened. I fell and injured my legs, so I'm in a lotta pain. HOW did I get the book?
MY PHOTO!! Page 22, smiling Joan Jett being kissed on the cheek by Tom with Rick in the front, giving me his usual goofy Huntz Hall smile. Oh joy!!
I always thought the Runaways opened for Cheap Trick, April 1, 1977. Then around 20 years ago, Runaways lead singer Cherie Currie very strongly told me THEY [CT] opened for the Runaways. Ok, but in my mind, the lads were far more stars than the teen women.
Cheap Trick wrote fun, catchy, danceable, melodic songs with strong guitar, bass, drums and that golden voice of angelic Robin. Their manager, Ken Adamany, dealt me dirt re: my fine photos and then banned me from seeing or shooting them. BUT Robin snuck me in. He is as sweet as he is charmingly handsome."
Of course, I never broached the subject of her shots with Ken Adamany. I heard many stories of his tactics to promote and protect the band. I wouldn't be surprised if Jenny's account was entirely true. But I'm happy the photo is finally in a book with proper credit and context.
In the rare event you haven't heard the music from that night...
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