Top 10 Alert!
Song#: 3558
Date: 06/25/1988
Debut: 91
Peak: 8
Weeks: 26
Genre: Hard Rock
Pop Bits: Jett and her band really smashed through in 1982 with the #1 hit "I Love Rock n' Roll." The associated album of the same name would be a #2 platinum seller. Her next album would go gold, but then things went a bit downhill after that with her next two efforts not selling nearly as well. Things began to turn around a bit when she won a leading role in the 1987 flick Light of Day alongside Michael J. Fox. While the film wasn't a massive hit, Jett got some good notices and her version of the title track got her back into the Pop Top 40. The time was then right for Jett to make a big splash with her next album. She got hooked up with hit songwriter/producer Desmond Child and the pair set out to make a few tracks that could compete with hits being scored by other hard rock/glam metal bands. One of those songs was this first single from what would be Jett's sixth album Up Your Alley. While the song would do fairly well at Rock getting to #20, over on the Pop chart it slowly took off until it finally became Jett's third Pop Top 10. In turn, the album would get to #19 and go platinum. This song also earned Jett and her band a Grammy nod for Best Rock Performance, Duo or Group.
ReduxReview: This song with its huge hook and massive sound just blasted through speakers like a stick of dynamite. It was absolutely the perfect song for Jett at the time. Child's face melting production gave Jett a slick contemporary arena rock sound that had been missing on her previous albums. It reinvigorated the rocker and her career. Glam metal was on the rise and that also played a part in Jett's career resurgence. While she would never see the Pop Top 10 again, it didn't matter because between this hit and "I Love Rock n' Roll," Jett claimed her throne on the court of rock royalty.
ReduxRating: 8/10
Trivia: Double Shot! 1) Apparently, Jett originally had a different title in mind. When she first wrote the hook, she had it as "I Hate Myself Because I Can't Get Laid." When she began to work on the song with Desmond Child, he nixed that title because he though no one would play it. He suggested to use the word "love" somewhere in the title and when the song was done it became "I Hate Myself for Loving You." The change was appropriate for pop stations who would have never made a hit out of the song with its original title. 2) In 2006, this song would get picked up for use as the theme to NBC's Sunday Night Football program. The lyrics were altered to fit the theme and it was performed by superstar singer/songwriter P!nk. The next year, Faith Hill took over with a more country-rock version. Then in 2013, Carrie Underwood became the new theme vocalist. In all versions, the chorus says "waiting all day for Sunday night" instead of "I Hate Myself for Loving You."
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Joan Jett did have another Top 10 hit in 1982 with "Crimson And Clover", sadly that song has gotten very little airplay since its chart run.
ReplyDeleteYup. I think that remake, while really cool, rode on the wave of "I Love Rock and Roll" and just wasn't as iconic, so it kind of faded away. It should be noted that "I Hate Myself for Loving You" was Jett's only Top 10 single that she was credited as a writer. The other two were cover tunes.
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