WebProNews

Tag: the Runaways

  • Jackie Fuchs of the Runaways Says Joan Jett Watched Her Get Raped

    Jackie Fuchs of the Runaways has a horrific story to tell. The Runaways were an all-girl band from the 70s that launched the careers of Joan Jet and Lita Ford, as well inspiring numerous other girls to rock out. The band was initially managed by a man named Kim Fowley. Jackie Fuchs played bass in the band.

    Jackie Fuchs now says Kim Fowley raped her. And she says Runaways bandmates Joan Jett and Cherie Currie watched.

    Kim Fowley died in January of this year after a battle with bladder cancer. But the story that Jackie Fuchs tells of an alleged event in 1976 speaks in his absence.

    Jackie Fuchs went by the name Jackie Fox at the time. the rest of the band lineup included Joan Jett and Lita Ford on guitar, with Cherie Currie on vocals, Sandy West on drums. The band was touring behind their debut album The Runaways.

    Fuchs says she was given Quaaludes by a roadie. Quaaludes have been referred to as “thigh openers.” You may remember them from recent Bill Cosby news.

    Jackie Fuchs told Huffington Post her tale.

    “At some point, Jackie says she had to lie down on a bed to rest. She was having trouble staying upright. When a roadie checked to see if she was OK, Fowley asked him if he was interested in having sex with her. ‘She doesn’t mind,’ Fowley said. ‘Do you?’”

    Jackie says she could not move.

    “Jackie tried to protest, but she was frozen. ‘You don’t know what terror is until you realize something bad is about to happen to you and you can’t move a muscle,’ she says. ‘I can’t move. I can’t speak. All I can do is look him in the eye and do the best I can do to communicate: Please say no. … I don’t know what it looked like from the outside. But I know what was going on inside and it was horror.’”

    When no one else stepped forward to have sex with the incapacitated Jackie, she says Kim Fowley himself took over.

    “Fowley invited other guys to have sex with Jackie before removing his own pants and climbing on top of her.”

    Other people were called in to watch the Runaways bassist get raped.

    “On the bed, Fowley played to the crowd, gnashing his teeth and growling like a dog as he raped Jackie. He got up at one point to strut around the room before returning to Jackie’s body.”

    Jackie said she saw her friends in the room, who offered no help.

    “’I remember opening my eyes, Kim Fowley was raping me, and there were people watching me,’ Jackie says. She looked out from the bed and noticed [Cherie] Currie and [Joan] Jett staring at her. She says this was her last memory of the night.”

    Joan Jett has responded to the story, saying in a statement:

    “Anyone who truly knows me understands that if I was aware of a friend or bandmate being violated, I would not stand by while it happened. For a group of young teenagers thrust into 70’s rock stardom there were relationships that were bizarre, but I was not aware of this incident.”

    “Obviously Jackie’s story is extremely upsetting and although we haven’t spoken in decades, I wish her peace and healing.”

  • Kim Fowley Accused of Raping Runaway While Joan Jett Watched

    Kim Fowley is dead. The man who managed the legendary all-girl rock group The Runaways died in January of this year following a battle with bladder cancer.

    Now comes a story that is hard to read. It is a story that has the potential to haunt the memory of Kim Fowley and the legacy of The Runaways. In this age of information and communication, the evil that men do — or even may have done — indeed lives after them.

    The story takes place in 1976. The Runaways lineup included future superstars Joan Jett and Lita Ford on guitar, with Cherie Currie on vocals, Sandy West on drums, and Jackie Fox on bass.

    It is Jackie Fox (born Jackie Fuchs) who later told the tale of a night of horror with Kim Fowley.

    The band was touring behind their debut album The Runaways at the time. Fowley would part ways with the band over money isues in 1977, but was reportedly very much around at the time.

    Fuchs says she was given Quaaludes by a man she thinks was a roadie. Quaaludes have been referred to as “thigh openers.” They have been mentioned recently in allegations against Hugh Hefner and Bill Cosby.

    The story goes on, as related to Huffington Post.

    “At some point, Jackie says she had to lie down on a bed to rest. She was having trouble staying upright. When a roadie checked to see if she was OK, Fowley asked him if he was interested in having sex with her. ‘She doesn’t mind,’ Fowley said. ‘Do you?’”

    Jackie says she could not move.

    “Jackie tried to protest, but she was frozen. ‘You don’t know what terror is until you realize something bad is about to happen to you and you can’t move a muscle,’ she says. ‘I can’t move. I can’t speak. All I can do is look him in the eye and do the best I can do to communicate: Please say no. … I don’t know what it looked like from the outside. But I know what was going on inside and it was horror.’”

    When no one else stepped forward to have sex with the incapacitated Jackie, she says Kim Fowley himself took over.

    “Fowley invited other guys to have sex with Jackie before removing his own pants and climbing on top of her.”

    Other people were called in to watch.

    “On the bed, Fowley played to the crowd, gnashing his teeth and growling like a dog as he raped Jackie. He got up at one point to strut around the room before returning to Jackie’s body.”

    Jackie said she saw a friend in the room, who offered no help.

    “’I remember opening my eyes, Kim Fowley was raping me, and there were people watching me,’ Jackie says. She looked out from the bed and noticed [Cherie] Currie and [Joan] Jett staring at her. She says this was her last memory of the night.”

    Joan Jett has responded to the story, saying in a statement:

    “Anyone who truly knows me understands that if I was aware of a friend or bandmate being violated, I would not stand by while it happened. For a group of young teenagers thrust into 70’s rock stardom there were relationships that were bizarre, but I was not aware of this incident.”

    “Obviously Jackie’s story is extremely upsetting and although we haven’t spoken in decades, I wish her peace and healing.”

    Kim Fowley’s widow, Kara Fowley, had no comment on the interview with Huffington Post.

    Perhaps Kim Fowley is lucky, in a sense, that he is not alive to have to fight the allegations against him. Men like Bill Cosby and Joe Paterno probably never imagined that hey would have to fight such thing in their old age.

    Then again, not being around to fight them may mean that they are left to stand as truth unopposed.

  • Joan Jett Talks Rock Hall Induction

    Joan Jett Talks Rock Hall Induction

    Joan Jett and her band The Black Hearts will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This past April, she and her band played on stage during Nirvana’s induction at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.

    “Maybe it reminded people I’m out there,” Jett said on Tuesday about the fact that she received her nomination shortly thereafter.

    “It’s a roiling pot of emotions,” Jett said during a recent interview with Billboard. “I’m amazed. I’m happy. I’m honored. I’m flabbergasted. It feels so surreal. It’s kind of still sinking in. When I think about all the musicians in the history of music that have been out there making records and touring, that I get chosen into this elite group of musicians is pretty incredible.”

    Joan Jett and her band have been on the ballot for nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before, but this year they were finally voted in.

    “I think you don’t think about those things–at least I don’t,” she explains. “You just go out and do your job and make your records, and if something like those accolades get put onto you, then that’s an extra bonus. But I don’t know that you can set out to achieve that; I think it’s a gift, and I don’t think you can sort of expect it. So, no, when I was nominated before and didn’t get voted in, I took it with a grain of salt because that’s the way it is. I did not expect to have it handed to me on a golden platter.”

    It was back in 1980 when Joan Jett landed at the top of the record charts with her huge hit ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.’ She sees her impending induction as ‘a total career achievement and her impact in breaking down barriers for women in rock.’

    “Certainly I will take that with me to that ceremony,” she says. “I’ll take the view that it’s encompassing my early work with the Runaways, all the various incarnations of the Blackhearts…everything.”

    Joan Jett will officially become an inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on April 18, 2015. In addition to Joan and her band, the other inductees include Green Day, Bill Withers Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Lou Reed, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.