I Love Rock And Roll
The song was later covered by Joan Jett and Britney Spears, who both had international chart success with their versions of the song.
Arrows version
The song was originally recorded and released by the Arrows in 1975 on RAK Records, with lead vocals by Alan Merrill and produced by Mickie Most. This version was first released as a B-side, but was soon re-recorded and flipped to A-side status on a subsequent pressing of the record.
Although not a chart hit in its original version as a result of non-existent promotion by the band's label, the song has come to worldwide prominence due to very successful cover versions that have been recorded. "I Love Rock 'n Roll" is on the list of top 100 songs of the twentieth century, according to The National Endowment for the Arts.
Joan Jett version
Joan Jett saw the Arrows perform "I Love Rock 'n Roll" on their weekly television series The Arrows Show when she was touring England with The Runaways in 1976.
In 1982, Jett re-recorded the song, this time with her band, the Blackhearts, and this recording became a U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single for seven weeks, effectively launching Jett's solo career and later reached number one in the Australian charts as well.
Its success propelled Jett's I Love Rock 'n Roll album to number two in the U.S.
"I Love Rock 'n Roll"'s gritty, black-and-white music video received heavy play from the then-young MTV network. In it Jett and the Blackhearts travel to a small, dingy bar and proceed to excite the drunken crowd by performing the song and yelling out its famous chorus.
Jett followed "I Love Rock 'n Roll" up with another cover — her version of Tommy James & the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" was a top-ten U.S. The video was originally in color, but it was converted to black and white due to the way Joan Jett felt her red leather jacket looked in color.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed Jett's version of the song at number 85 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
Jett's version is also ranked #484 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Jett's version also scored a #56 ranking in Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.
A cover version based on the 1982 recording with The Blackhearts was later recorded to appear in the Playstation 2 video game Guitar Hero.
The song appears in the game Karaoke Revolution Party.
Britney Spears version
Alternate cover
UK Cover
"I Love Rock 'n Roll" is the fourth European single released internationally by dance-pop singer Britney Spears from the album Britney during the second quarter of 2002, except in the United States.
Spears said of the song, " They asked me to sing karaoke in the movie Crossroads and I've actually sung I Love Rock 'n Roll in a lot of clubs that I've been to."
Spears has publicly admitted the original song to be one of her favorites. Spears listened to The Arrows' original Mickie Most-produced version just before she recorded the song, according to her Jive A&R man Steve Lunt.
When promoting the single's release she infamously attributed the hit version of the song to Pat Benatar instead of Jett, although she claims this was a remark made in sarcasm rather than a mistake.
Certifications
Music video
Spears in the "I Love Rock 'n Roll" video.
Directed by Chris Applebaum, the music video for "I Love Rock 'n Roll" features Spears in a tight-fitting leather getup. She crawls along on the floor, and plays air guitar before smashing the speakers with a real guitar.
However, the track was not a total flop as it made at least top forty placement in most regions. The song was successful in the UK, where it peaked at number thirteen (which, at the time, was her lowest peak for a single released there, until "Break the Ice" only managed to reach number fifteen in 2008).