I Love Rock N Roll | Through the Shattered Lens

It’s Britney!

This video was filmed at the Inn, which is a bar in Long Island. The video features Britney performing with her then-backing band. It also features a speaker that appears to be on the verge of exploding and a motorcycle. To be honest, if I was performing this song, I would probably want a motorcycle on stage with me too. This is a song that just makes you want to ride a motorcycle.

(Seriously, I’ve always had like a major weakness for motorcycles. It’s not so much that I like to ride them as much as I just like to lean up against them.)

I can remember that, when this cover was first released, a lot of people complained that it wasn’t as good as the previous versions and Britney also got a lot of criticism for saying that she had been inspired by Pat Benatar’s cover when the cover was actually performed by Joan Jett. Myself, I like Britney’s cover. It’s fun to dance too and Britney always seemed like she was happy when she was performing it. So, the haters can just shut up as far as I’m concerned.

Free Britney!

Enjoy!

Though everyone is probably most familiar with Joan Jett’s cover of the song, I Love Rock N Roll was originally recorded by a London-based group called Arrows.

Though Arrows were only together for three years (from 1974 to 1977), they were popular with British teenagers and they even had their own TV show on Granada Television, where they would play their own songs and introduce other acts. This video for I Love Rock N Roll comes from that television show. This is probably from the same episode of the show that Joan Jett saw in 1976 while she and the Runaways were on tour in the UK. She liked the song so much that she covered it when she made her first solo album. Her version, of course, went on to become a huge hit.

(As popular as they were in the UK, Arrows were basically unknown in the United States. During the time they were together, they only performed in the U.S. once and that was for an episode of Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert in 1975. When Jett released her version of I Love Rock N Roll, most American listeners were unaware that it was a cover.)

The song was written by Alan Merrill, who was the lead singer for Arrows. Sadly, Merrill, who was sick with COVID-19, died on Sunday. Today’s music video of the day is dedicated to his memory.