My 5 Favorite Rock Albums

I knew this was going to be a difficult choice, so instead I am going to name my top 5 and how they influenced my life at the time.

I grew up in an era where we actually had real, vinyl record albums. I remember the shear joy of arriving home, taking off the wrapper and doing the infamous sniff test. It was the scent of vinyl all new, shiny and black. You would always get excited to find out if there was going to be a booklet included with photos and lyrics. I still remember Led Zeppelin’s “In Through The Out Door”, the inside sleeve featured black and white line artwork which, if washed with water would become a permanent, full water-colour. I still remember when someone accidentally spilt water on mine, and we were all in awe and amazed by what we had discovered. We imagined that we were the only ones in the world that knew this secret. Today if you can still find a CD, the liner notes are so small that I can’t even make them out in my reading glasses. Gone are those days, but I still long for the sound of a good vinyl record, with scratches and all.

In the 70’s there just weren’t many female musicians playing rock n roll. Most of the role models were men, swinging their hips and caressing their guitars as if they were women. I thought how could I relate to that.

I began playing acoustic guitar at age 13, but when I discovered Suzi Quarto, The Runaways, Heart, Patti Smith and Girlschool all that changed. When I saw photos of Joan Jett with her electric gold top Les Paul, I knew I had to have one. I did get my Les Paul at the San Francisco Pawn Brokers and soon a gigantic Custom amplifier followed, which the neighbourhood and police soon learnt to hate. All of sudden I felt like I belonged and that I was in a secret club only for girls. We could be raunchy and play power chords just like our male counterparts.

Here is my list of my top 5

1. 1974 – Suzi Quatro – Suzi Quatro
2. 1976 – The Runaways – The Runaways
3. 1976 – Heart – Dreamboat Annie
4. 1978 – Patti Smith – Easter
5. 1982 – Girlschool – Hit and Run

The Runaways

The Runaways bring back a lot of memories for me, some great, some are melancholy. They were my inspiration for picking up an electric guitar. Before them, I was only playing acoustic guitar. There is great scene in the movie, where Joan’s guitar teacher, tells her, girls don’t play electric guitar, gotta love it, but then, those were the times. Once I saw them in a magazine and heard them, I was as they say god struck. I wanted a girl band of my own. What made them so awesome for me was that they were female and they were the same age as me and that they could actually play instruments. My problem was that I could never find girls that were as dedicated to the music as I was. I found the girls, but they would rather be with their boyfriends or doing drugs with their fathers. I was willing to practice and do whatever it took to get the band off the ground. When I saw the movie, I could relate to Joan Jett, because for her it was always about the music, which it should be.