The Runaways – Cherry Bomb

Written On The Spot For A Fifteen-Year-Old’s Audition

Released in June 1976 as the debut single from their self-titled album, The Runaways’ “Cherry Bomb” barely scraped the bottom of the Billboard charts at number 106, yet it became the battle cry for teenage rebellion and female rock power. The song’s title played on lead singer Cherie Currie’s first name, but it meant something far more explosive: a teenage girl who was pure trouble wrapped in fishnet and leather. What most fans don’t know is that this signature track was improvised in minutes during Currie’s audition after the band rejected her song choice.

In America, the single failed to break into the Hot 100, hovering just below at number 106 on the Bubbling Under chart. It fared slightly better in Australia, reaching number 57 in 1977. But in Japan, everything changed. The song hit number one and helped make The Runaways the fourth biggest imported act in the country, trailing only Led Zeppelin, ABBA, and Kiss. Radio stations in the US refused to play it, uncomfortable with its explicit lyrics about youthful sexuality and rebellion sung by teenagers. The controversy only made the song more essential to the punk movement taking shape on both coasts.

When fifteen-year-old Cherie Currie walked into her audition, she’d prepared Suzi Quatro’s version of Peggy Lee’s “Fever.” The band had never heard of it and refused to play along. Frustrated, manager Kim Fowley and guitarist Joan Jett kicked Currie out of the room and wrote something new in minutes. They came up with “Cherry Bomb” right there, playing on Currie’s name and the image Fowley wanted: jailbait with attitude. Currie sang it cold, and by the time she finished, she was the band’s new lead singer. It was the first song Joan Jett ever co-wrote with another person, a collaboration born from pure necessity.

The band recorded The Runaways just two weeks after signing with Mercury Records in early 1976. Producer Kim Fowley pushed for a raw, aggressive sound that captured the band’s live energy. The recording featured Joan Jett on rhythm guitar, Lita Ford on lead guitar, Sandy West on drums, and Jackie Fox on bass, though session bassist Nigel Harrison actually played on much of the album. The song opened with a gritty, repeating guitar riff and Currie’s sultry breath before exploding into a shouted chorus. Ford delivered a nasty guitar solo midway through, followed by a key change that pushed the song into overdrive. Everything was designed to sound dangerous, and it worked.

The album debuted at number 188 on the Cash Box chart and sold around seventy thousand copies in its first year. For a teenage all-girl punk band in 1976, that was a statement. The Runaways toured relentlessly, opening for Tom Petty, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, and The Ramones. They became fixtures at CBGB’s in New York and hung out with the Sex Pistols and The Damned in London. By the summer of 1977, when they arrived in Japan for a tour, fans mobbed them at the airport in scenes Joan Jett later compared to Beatlemania. Their Japanese TV special and live album went gold, but back home, Currie’s corset-wearing stage persona overshadowed the band’s talent and hastened their demise.

Joan Jett re-recorded the song with her Blackhearts in 1984, giving it a harder edge. In 2010, Jett and Currie reunited to record it again for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Riot grrrl pioneers Bratmobile covered it on their 1993 debut, and Japanese punk band Shonen Knife released their version in 1995. The song appeared in films including Dazed and Confused in 1993 and Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, introducing new generations to its explosive energy. In 2009, VH1 ranked it number 52 on their list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs.

Nearly fifty years later, “Cherry Bomb” endures as the sound of fearless teenagers refusing to apologize. It paved the way for every woman who picked up a guitar and played louder than anyone expected. Written in minutes for an audition that almost didn’t happen, it became the defining moment for a band that burned bright, fast, and unforgettably.