nationcrafting

Well, since you're telling people not to give a damn, I'm going to illustrate this for you.

In my school, when I was about 12 (early 80s) we had these parties on Saturday afternoons from 2pm til 7pm, usually in some kid's garden but including their garage because it was dark and you could put up a few coloured lights and make it look like a disco. Anyway, your song "I love rock n roll" came out and it was a real hit, all the kids would clap in the air when that song came up, a bit like people do with "Radio Gaga" by Queen.

I was a total geek, with thick glasses and computer magazines and handmedown trousers and jumpers that were too short for me because I was taller than my older siblings. But I loved your song, Joan, totally melted into it, especially the bit where they stop the music but keep on singing, and then they start again with the guitars towards the end. So much energy! I ended up doing a whole routine with it, completely liberating myself from my anxious geekiness.

So, this one time, your song came up, I did a couple of moves and, just to make fun of me, this guy behind me starts imitating me and some other boys start laughing. But, weirdly enough, I didn't care, and I didn't stop doing my moves. Just a few seconds later, this girl comes over and does my move standing next to me. Then another two girls. Then, about 5 or 6. It was just like something you might see in a cheesy movie, but it felt great! Not only were these girls not laughing at me, they were doing my moves, and we all jumped up and down and high-fived like idiots when it was over! I was around 12 years old, but I felt like a sex symbol, and even though I still dressed like a nerd for at least another 2 or 3 years (no pocket money to buy cool things), another door had been opened to me, and I've loved music in a very intense way ever since, not just rock, but a lot of different music. For a while, I even got paid to compose some music for movies and directed a computer-animation pop video for The Cure a few years later (another favourite).

So, thank you Joan Jett for rescuing my nerdy childhood for me.

EDIT: ¡¡¡Glittering gold!!! See, Joan, you made me win Reddit gold, too. Now I really love rock n roll!

You should do an AMA about that sometime.

The song was called "Out of this World". You can find a Flash version of it here: http://www.galle.com/filmvideo.html One of these days, I'll have to update that page, maybe upload some stuff to YouTube too, when I get a spare couple of hours...

Did Reddit turn out how you thought it would turn out, or did you think it would be something closer to, say, The Well?

How would Tommy Wiseau pronounce your name if you were a character in The Room?