I bet y’all know Joan Jett & the Blackhearts‘ version of “I Love Rock and Roll”—it prolly defined her career. But what y’all might not know is that it was a song nicked from a popular-for-a-minute English glam/lads group called the Arrows.
“I Love Rock and Roll” was first issued as a B-side, but was reissued as an A-side after a TV performance earned them their very own short-run TV series!! Frontman Allen Merrill has been quoted saying “I Love Rock and Roll” was “a knee-jerk response to the Rolling Stones‘ “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Hmmm, I do hear the obvious sleezy Jagger swagger in the song. (By the way, this group was not connected to ANY other groups called the Arrows.)