''Up Your Alley'' is the sixth studio album 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 Wales ...

band

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

, released on May 23, 1988 by

Blackheart Records Blackheart Records is an American record label founded by rock musicians Joan Jett and Kenny Laguna. Artists include The Eyeliners, Girl in a Coma, the Cute Lepers, the Dollyrots, The Vacancies, Fea (band), Fea, Jackknife Stiletto, L7 (band), L7, ...

and

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

in the United States, and by

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

in Europe and Japan, a year and a half after their previous album ''

Good Music GOOD Music (also known simply as GOOD, stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label signed an exclusive long-term worldwide label agreement with t ...

'' (1986). This album contains the single "

I Hate Myself for Loving You "I Hate Myself for Loving You" is a song by American rock band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, '' Up Your Alley'' (1988). The song reached number eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, J ...

", which peaked at No. 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and had been used as the theme song for '' Sunday Night Football''

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

games in America (with altered lyrics, by two singers) during the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and 2007 seasons. The follow-up single "Little Liar" continued Jett's chart success, peaking at No. 19 on the Hot 100 in late 1988/early 1989. ''Up Your Alley'' peaked at No. 19 on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart and has since been certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

. Former

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

guitarist

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

played the guitar solo on "I Hate Myself for Loving You". "I Hate Myself for Loving You" was released as the first single, backed with a live version of the Jett composition "Love Is Pain" (the original version of which appears on 1981's ''

I Love Rock 'n Roll "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" is a rock song written by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker and first recorded by the Arrows, a British rock band, in 1975. A 1981 cover version by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, released as the first single from her album of ...

''). "Little Liar" was the second single, backed with an obscure Jett–Laguna composition "What Can I Do for You", which had been recorded for a movie Jett was set to make in 1979 that was never completed. The song eventually turned up again on the Jett fan-club only CD 1979. For

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

in 2015, the track was included on th
limited edition (4000 split color vinyl) LP ''The First Sessions''
documenting the first several songs Jett wrote with

Kenny Laguna Kenneth Benjamin Laguna is an American songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Joan Jett. Biography Laguna was born in Greenwich Village, New York City, United States, and started playing piano at high school dances from th ...

, her newly acquired producer. Two music videos were shot for "Little Liar", the first, a concept video, feature a slightly confusing storyline with two Jetts (one in white, one in black) interacting. After seeing the result of the first "Little Liar" video, Jett was unhappy with the silliness and visual translation so immediately shot a new live video (synced with the studio version of the song) for this track. The new video captured a more authentic feel with raw live shots combined with cutaways and studio shot closeups of Jett. It was a more stylized live video with Ziggy Stardust-like artistic flourishes. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 1988 for

Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal The Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal was awarded between 1980 and 2011. The award was discontinued after the 2011 award season in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. Beginning in 2012, all solo or duo/group ...

for "I Hate Myself for Loving You".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts *

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

– lead vocals, rhythm guitars *

Ricky Byrd Ricky Byrd (born Richard Scott Bird; October 20, 1956) is a rock and roll guitar player, singer, songwriter and producer. He spent over a decade as a member of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, where he contributed music and background vocals to tw ...

– lead guitar, backing vocals *

Kasim Sulton Kasim Sulton (born December 8, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist. Best known for his work with Utopia, Sulton sang lead on 1980's "Set Me Free," Utopia's only top 40 hit in the United States. As a solo artist, Sulton ...

– bass, backing vocals *

Thommy Price Thommy Price (born December 9, 1956) is an American musician. He has played drums in a number of bands, including Scandal, Billy Idol, Blue Öyster Cult, and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and is an in-demand session drummer. History Price was a ...

– drums Additional musicians * The Uptown Horns: ** Crispin Choe –

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

** Arno Hecht –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

** Paul Litteral –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

** Robert Funk –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

* Ronnie Lawson – keyboards *

– guitar solo on track 1 *

Frank Carillo Frank Carillo (born July 14, 1950) is an American rock musician. In 1971, manager Phil Lorito formed a band around Frank Carillo called Doc Holliday, with Carillo, Bob Mayo, Tom Arlotta and Bob Liggio. In 1973 they released one album, ''Doc Hollid ...

– guitar; backing vocals *

– various instruments; backing vocals *

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...

– backing vocals * Chuck Kentis – backing vocals * Louie Merlino – backing vocals * Paul Carrizzo – backing vocals Production team *

– production on all tracks *

Ric Browde Ric Browde is an American author, record producer, and songwriter. In the 1970s, Browde was working as a roadie, writing music for films, and involved in the production of albums by guitarist Ted Nugent, first as his assistant and later on as pro ...

– production on tracks 2, 4-6, 8-11 *

– production on tracks 1 and 3 *

Thom Panunzio Thom Panunzio is a music producer and engineer. His career began in 1974 at the Record Plant Studios NYC, working with John Lennon. Later, he became a staff engineer at the Record Plant, and later at The Hit Factory. Panunzio worked often with ...

– associate producer; engineering; mixing * Jay Healy – engineer; mixer on track 5 * Arthur Payson – engineer * James A. Ball – engineer * John Aiosa – engineer * Andrew Spigleman – assistant engineer * David Cook – assistant engineer * Rich Travali – assistant engineer * Roger Talkov – assistant engineer * Scott Forman – assistant engineer * Teddy Trewhella – assistant engineer * Thom Cadley – assistant engineer *

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

– mastering at

Masterdisk Masterdisk is an American multimedia company in New York, located at 8 John Walsh Boulevard in Peekskill. They provide production services such as audio mastering, vinyl cutting and enhanced CD and DVD production. Their clients include such no ...

, New York

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control Joan Jett albums 1988 albums Albums produced by Desmond Child Albums produced by Thom Panunzio Blackheart Records albums CBS Records albums Polydor Records albums