Fake Friends

The Zoo Crew is spinning Fake Friends by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts from their 1983 album Album, and the Zoo Freaks are loving this raw, punchy track. One juicy piece of trivia about Fake Friends comes from Joan Jett’s longtime collaborator and producer, Kenny Laguna, who revealed in an interview with Creem magazine that he wasn’t thrilled about the song being chosen as the album’s first single. He felt it wasn’t the best fit for rock radio, but the label pushed it anyway. Despite heavy airplay for its music video on MTV, the song only hit number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100, a bit of a letdown compared to Jett’s earlier smashes like I Love Rock 'n' Roll. The video itself, directed by David Mallet, is a quirky gem, showing Jett and the band performing on a set with geometric triangles while “fake” fans morph into cardboard cutouts that topple over, perfectly capturing the song’s biting message about disloyal friends.

Another cool tidbit about Fake Friends is its revival in later years. In 2020, the grunge band L7 teamed up with Joan Jett for a gritty cover of the song, released on Blackheart Records. L7’s Donita Sparks sang lead, with Jett adding vocals and guitar, and the band even dropped a fan-made video packed with art and clips from their community. Fans went wild for this collaboration, which showed how Fake Friends still resonates, especially with its lyrics about shaking off toxic people: “Ya got nothin’ to lose / Ya don’t lose when you lose fake friends.” Jett herself has said in interviews26 interviews that music is healing and magical, calling it “medicine” for the soul, and Fake Friends embodies that raw emotional release, written by Jett and Laguna during a prolific creative period for the band.

Joan Jett’s journey to rock stardom kicked off in the mid-1970s when, as a teenager, she co-founded the all-girl punk band The Runaways in Los Angeles. Born Joan Marie Larkin on September 22, 1958, in Philadelphia, Jett moved to California and quickly fell in love with the gritty glam-rock scene. At just 15, she started The Runaways with drummer Sandy West, manager Kim Fowley, and later, singer Cherie Currie. The band’s hit Cherry Bomb put them on the map, but they faced sexism and struggled for mainstream success, disbanding in 1979. Undeterred, Jett pursued a solo career, moving to England to record with ex-Sex Pistols members Paul Cook and Steve Jones. There, she cut an early version of I Love Rock 'n' Roll. Back in the U.S., she teamed up with producer Kenny Laguna, who became her lifelong creative partner. After facing rejections from 23 labels, they formed Blackheart Records to release her debut solo album in 1980. In 1981, Jett formed The Blackhearts with guitarist Ricky Byrd, bassist Gary Ryan, and drummer Lee Crystal, and their album I Love Rock 'n' Roll soared to number one, cementing her as a rock icon.

Jett’s influence endures, with three platinum or gold albums and a 2015 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. You can keep up with her on her official website, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Fans also gather at sites like Joan Jett Bad Reputation, a dedicated fan page, and on Facebook groups like Joan Jett and The Blackhearts Fan Club, where Zoo Freaks can join fellow devotees to share their love for Jett’s music.