The Runaways是第一支女子组合的摇滚乐团，它的成员有Joan Jett (guitar, vocals)、Sandy West (drums, vocals)、Jackie Fox (bass,vocals)、Cherie Currie (vocals,piano)及Lita Ford (guitar, vocals)，是一支平均年龄只有16岁、合约及演出还必需要监护人的同意才能生效的少女摇滚团体，她们以一种近乎狂暴的方式表达了对摇滚乐的热爱，那混合着金属和Punk的音乐，在当时的确震惊了由男性统治的摇滚乐坛。只是很可惜的，百般争取获得她们经纪权的Kim Fowley并没有善加经营她们，而是将这一群有才华的女子以轻浮性感的形象展现在舞台上，完完全全掩盖了她们原有才华的发挥。

by Steve Huey

Dismissed during their existence as a crass marketing gimmick, the Runaways have grown in stature over the years as the first all-female band to make a substantial impression on the public by playing loud, straight-up, guitar-driven rock & roll. Since all of the members were teenagers (some of whom were still learning to play their instruments when they passed their auditions), their music was frequently raw and amateurish, but it neatly combined American heavy metal (think Aerosmith and Kiss) with the newly emerging sound of punk rock. In the media, the Runaways were victims of their own hype, supplied by maverick promoter/manager Kim Fowley. Fowleys insistence on a sleazy jailbait image for the group made it easy for the press to dismiss them as nothing but a tasteless adolescent fantasy — an impression bolstered at the time by the admittedly erratic quality of their music. But in the end, the Runaways sound and attitude proved crucially important in paving the way for female artists to crank up the volume on their guitars and rock as hard as the boys; plus, they produced one undeniably classic single in the rebel-girl manifesto Cherry Bomb.

The genesis of the Runaways can be traced to a 1975 Alice Cooper party at which Fowley met teenage lyricist Kari Krome. Fowley was impressed with Kromes streetwise perspective and set about putting together a band. Kromes friend, guitarist Joan Jett (born Joan Larkin), had been putting together a band with drummer Sandy West (born Sandy Pesavento), and Fowley quickly had a trio on his hands. However, it soon became apparent that Krome was not much of a singer, and she was replaced by vocalist Michael Micki Steele (born Sue Thomas), who also began learning the bass. As a trio, this lineup recorded a demo titled Born to Be Bad in late 1975; shortly thereafter, guitarist Lita Ford successfully auditioned through a trade-paper ad, and Steele left the group (she would later join the Bangles). Cherie Currie became the new lead vocalist, and after an extremely brief stint with a bass player known only as Peggy (which lasted just a few weeks), the band settled on Jackie Fox (born Jacqueline Fuchs), who switched to bass from guitar in order to join the band