Queens of Noise

In four years the teenage members of the Runaways did what no other group of female rock musicians before them could: they released four albums for a major label and toured the world. The Runaways busted down doors for every girl band that followed. Joan Jett, Sandy West, Cherrie Currie, lead guitarist Lita Ford, and bassists Jackie Fox and Vicky Blue were pre-punk bandits, fostering revolution girl style decades before that became a riot grrrl catchphrase.

The story of the Runaways has never been told in its entirety. Drawing on interviews with most of this seminal rock band's former members as well as controversial manager Kim Fowley, Queens of Noise will look beyond the lurid voyeuristic appeal of a sex-drugs-rock n roll saga to give the band its place in musical, feminist, and cultural history.

The first narrative biography of the Runaways, told with the participation of many of the bands surviving members.

Evelyn McDonnell has written or coedited five books, including Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids and Rock ‘n Roll, Rent, and Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop and Rap. A former pop music critic for The Miami Herald and senior editor at The Village Voice, her articles on music, poetry, theater, and culture have appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including The New York Times, Spin, Interview, the Associated Press, and Vibe.