The Runaways - Yesterday's Kids (1975)

In early 1975, rock music impresario Kim Fowley had an idea for assembling an all-female rock band, in a time when, according to guitarist Joan Jett, there were no young girls at all playing guitar or any sort of instruments. Fowley met lyricist Kari Krome at a party held for Alice Cooper, put her on salary, and had her begin looking for female performers, and when Krome met Joan Jett she brought her straight to Fowley, where she successfully auditioned for Fowley by playing ukulele to a Sweet album. She later picked up rhythm guitar as her instrument, and soon afterward, in the parking lot of the Rainbow Bar and Grill, Fowley met Sandy West, who agreed to play drums. Fowley had Jett rehearse with West at the latter's home in Huntington Beach, and then he turned to two radio stations to advertise for further auditions, which brought lead vocalist/bassist Micki Steele (later of The Bangles). The trio were christened The Runaways in August 1975, and Fowley touted the new group as "an all girl answer to Grand Funk", with the band signing to Kim Fowley Productions for management in September 1975. The line-up of Jett, West, and Steele made their live debut playing the Whisky a Go Go in late September, opening for Fowley's previous conceptual band the Hollywood Stars. In late 1975 the three-piece went into Cherokee Studios in West Hollywood, California, and with the help of Mark Andes on bass they laid down ten demos, with vocals alternating between Jett and Steele. 

At the end of October Steele left due to creative differences and was replaced by lead vocalist Paul Goldwin, with Peggy Foster added as bassist in November. By this time Lita Ford had joined the group as lead guitarist, allowing Jett to focus on rhythm guitar, and after Goldwin left, Fowley and Jett discovered Cherie Currie at the teen nightclub The Sugar Shack and brought her in as lead vocalist for the group. Two weeks later, Foster left and was replaced by Jackie Fox, whom Fowley's colleague Rodney Bingenheimer found at the parking lot of the West Hollywood nightclub the Starwood. With the classic line-up of the band now in place, Denny Rosencrantz agreed to sign The Runaways to Phonogram/Mercury Records in December 1975, and they recorded their debut album 'The Runaways' in January 1976, and released it in March through Mercury. Five of the songs from the 1975 demos were re-recorded by the new line-up for that debut album, but the rest have remained hidden away. Other recordings have also surfaced over the years, and I've added a couple that were recorded after the band had only been together for a week to the end of this album, as although the sound quality was particularly bad, they are a historical record of Steele's time with the group. I've boosted the vocals and cleaned them up as much as possible, and they now don't sound too bad, but the other ten tracks are superb quality for their age. 

Track listing

01 Who Do You Voodoo

02 Born To Be Bad
03 California Paradise
04 I'm A Star
05 American Nights
06 Yesterday's Kids
07 Secrets
08 Thunder
09 You Drive Me Wild
10 Rock 'n' Roll
11 Is It Day Or Night
12 Let's Party Tonight