The Runaways was an American all-girl rock band from Los Angeles, California, who performed from 1975 to 1979. Believed at the time to have been a novelty act formed by producer Kim Fowley, who thought the notion of five teenage girls dressed in leather and lingerie performing heavy metal music was highly marketable, the band released its eponymous first album in 1976. The Runaways were formed in late 1975 by drummer Sandy West and rhythm guitarist Joan Jett after they had…

Claude says:The Runaways were teenage wild cards out of mid-70s LA—leather, glam swagger, and actual chops that outlasted the novelty skepticism—and you caught them once through "California Paradise," a song that swings between their hard rock edge and something almost wistful about the scene that made them.