The Mercury Albums Anthology

So maybe manager Kim Fowley did want to sheath them in transparent togs and call the whole thing statutory rape. That's one of many myths you won't find addressed in Bud Scoppa's liner notes, settling as said notes do for just-the-facts about the ma'ams. Maybe it's in the Runaways movie, which I haven't seen yet, though I'm assuming most of you have.

This anthology gives you all original Runaways, their four albums over two sweaty years 1976-’77. "Waitin' for the Night," the last Mercury album and the only one without original lead singer Cherie Currie, sticks stickiest to my own ears. With her trashy lingerie and two-ticks-from-heroin-chic cheekbones, Currie made a fascinating centerpiece; but Joan Jett had (and has) a rasp, a shout, a screech, and a yowl, all for the ages. Riffs come swinging out of their corners, feinting with the left channel before rounding with the right, and for once les belle dames don't sound deported to a wind tunnel.

Amidst all the confounded talk about the Runaways' legacy, let me offer a simple sentence. Years ago I confessed to a friend my anxiety over a long, maybe dangerous trip his sister insisted on taking. "She can take care of herself," replied my friend. Self-reliance. Heading out to maybe lust, flirt, and maybe get high, and maybe push the limit of whatever limits lie around. But taking care of one's own business, naturally. The Runaways took this from Suzie Quatro, who took it from Wanda Jackson, who took it from Memphis Minnie, who took it from Sojourner Truth -- who took it probably from Lilith or the equivalent. But somebody had to translate this into blue jeans and leather jackets and the Sunset Strip. The young women on these two discs did not shy from their date with destiny.

• Album: The Mercury Albums Anthology (2010)
• Artist: the Runaways
• Label: Hip-O Select/Mercury
• Songs: 41 of ’em