"Ain't It Fun" is a song written by

Peter Laughner Peter Laughner (August 22, 1952 – June 22, 1977) was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer. A native of Bay Village, Ohio, Laughner was described by Richie Unterberger as "probably the single biggest catalyst in the birth of Clevel ...

and Gene O'Connor (known as Cheetah Chrome) and performed by their

protopunk Proto-punk (or protopunk) is rock music from the 1960s to mid-1970s that foreshadowed the punk rock genre and movement. A retrospective label, the musicians involved were generally not originally associated with each other and came from a variet ...

band

Rocket from the Tombs Rocket from the Tombs (or RFTT) is an American rock band originally active from mid-1974 to mid-1975 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band featured David Thomas and was reconstituted several times with various line-ups starting in 2003. ...

. The song was first released by O'Connor's later group

Dead Boys The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv Bators, rhythm gui ...

on their 1978 second studio album, '' We Have Come for Your Children''.Tricia Weight
''Who says Dead Boys tell no tales? Cheetah Chrome talks punk history''
" (interview of Cheetah Chrome) Laughner died a year before.

Lyrics

"Ain't It Fun" is notable for being one of the first commercially released recordings of song lyrics containing the profanity

cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...

, which is said once in the song's third verse. The word's presence was not picked up on by the media at the time, with the same being the case in the release of

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

' 1993 cover, which reached the top 10 in several countries' singles charts despite being uncensored.

Guns N' Roses version

The song was covered by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

for their 1993

cover album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

"The Spaghetti Incident?" ''"The Spaghetti Incident?"'' is the fifth studio album by the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is composed of covers of older songs mostly in the punk rock and hard rock genres. ''"The Spaghetti Incident?"'' is the only stud ...

''. It was also released as a single and included on the Guns N' Roses ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' compilation in 2004.

Michael Monroe Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm (born 17 June 1962), better known by his stage name Michael Monroe, is a Finnish rock musician who rose to fame as the vocalist and saxophonist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks and has served as the frontman ...

from

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish Rock music, rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when ...

featured on vocals. GNR guitarist

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash th ...

observed that Monroe "was just excited about having it come out, because it was a cool song, and it was sort of a memorial for Stiv Bators".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other covers

When

reunited in 2003, they recorded the song and released it on their debut album, ''Rocket Redux''.

Rollins Band Rollins Band was an American rock band formed in Van Nuys, California. The band was active from 1987 to 2006 and was led by former Black Flag (band), Black Flag vocalist Henry Rollins. They are best known for the songs "Low Self Opinion" and "L ...

also covered the song for their album ''

A Nicer Shade of Red ''A Nicer Shade of Red'' is a compilation album by the Rollins Band. It was recorded at the same sessions that produced ''Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration ...

''. The Lords of Altamont covered the song on their 2011 album ''Midnight to 666''.

Notes

Sources

*Cheetah Chrome and

Legs McNeil Roderick Edward "Legs" McNeil (born January 27, 1956) is an American music journalism, music journalist. He is one of the three original founders of the seminal ''Punk (magazine), Punk'' magazine; as well as being a former editor at ''Spin (magaz ...

, (2010). ''Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy's Tale: From the Front Lines of Punk Rock'' (Voyageur Press; First edition). . {{authority control 1978 singles 1993 singles Guns N' Roses songs Song recordings produced by Felix Pappalardi 1978 songs Sire Records singles