[Live Music Alert: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will be at the Dakota Magic Casino, Hankinson ND, Sept 25, 8 pm. Tickets: $30. (800) 325-6825]

This story ran in Skope Magazine in the March/April 2008 issue before the magazine became online only.

When Joan Jett started Blackheart Records nearly three decades ago, it wasn’t with any visionary plan of genius that she to revolutionize the music industry. “We just did it out of desperation,” Joan Jett says.

After launching her career with all-girl, teenage rock band, The Runaways, in 1975, Jett found herself without a band or a label four years later. She met Kenny Laguna, who had been churning out tunes like “Yummy, Yummy” with Tommy James and the Shondells. “Kenny and I came together to write songs,” Jett recalls. “Kenny’s background was a lot of lot of bubblegum and hit record exposure and lots of songwriting experience.”

They wrote songs for a project that Jett had contracted for while with The Runaways and was obligated to finish. “I think we sort of came together for a 3-minute catchy, hooky, big chords kind of song.” she says.

Jett formed a new band, The Blackhearts. Though she had created history by proving that women could handle rock and roll, she decided not to compete with herself by starting another all female band so she opted for three male bandmates. This was still revolutionary because she wasn’t just window dressing. She wrote and sang her own material and could play guitar with the big boys.

In 1981, Jett shopped an album around to all of the major labels. She was rejected 23 times. “The thing that’s funny about people turning it down was the songs that they turned down. They turned down ‘I Love Rock and Roll,’ ‘Don’t Want to Touch Me,’ Crimson and Clover,’ and ‘Bad Reputation.’ So we had 23 rejections letters, saying ‘You have no songs here.’” Jett says.

When Jett and Laguna met, Laguna had a baby daughter named Carianne. “He took the college fund that he and his wife had started for Carianne. I don’t even know how much money it was, and we printed up 500 records of what became Bad Reputation,” said Jett. They sold that out of the trunk of Laguna’s Cadillac. “I Love Rock and Roll” became a rock anthem.

While Jett was still with The Runaways, she had produced a record for an LA band, The Germs. Later, she did Circus Lupus and Bikini Kill. “The Germs that Joan did is considered the ultimate punk album by a lot of critics,” said Laguna. “They point to that as the American equivalent of Never Mind the Bolux, a Sex Pistols record.”

Over the years, Blackheart Records has continued to produce Jett’s records and a number of indie bands including The Dolyrots, The Vacancies, and The Eyeliners. They even signed a couple of rappers like Big Daddy Kane. The Dolyrots had a top 40 hit late last year, charting in at about 15, which is extremely difficult for an indie band.

The Blackheart handles its own distribution, putting CDs directly into stores. Best Buy and Wal-Mart are their two biggest retailers. In addition, Blackheart Records go directly to the Pacific Transworld chain, the corporate arm of a number of record stores including Sam Goody, Coconuts, FYE, Musicland, and Camelot.

Currently, the label is run by Laguna’s daughter Carianne. “Her vision has been very successful for us. She concentrates on punk rock and especially girls, but not exclusively girls,” says Laguna. Jett quickly adds, “It definitely was a decision, when Carianne came into the situation, to move this company forward and start going after young bands and certainly letting women know they were welcome in this atmosphere.”

One of their newest signs is Texas girl band, Girl in a Coma, which toured with Morrisey last fall. Nina Diaz, their bass player, lead singer, and principal songwriter, said, “Being under the wing of such an artist such as Joan, who is a producer and writer, and also Kenny Laguna and the whole team at Blackheart is very encouraging. It’s a pleasure for our name, Girl in a Coma, to be next to the likes of Joan Jett. Definitely, she’s a door opener for female musicians and for us to be called just musicians.” Blackheart records gave the band totally creative freedom and allowed them to select their own producers in Austin who did the majority of the record. Jett and Laguna just put the final polish on it.

Blackheart Records grew out of desperation but has been shaped by a youthful vision of technology and the music industry.