Up Your Alley (album)

Up Your Alley
Studio album by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Released	May 23, 1988
Studio	The Hit Factory and Record Plant, New York City, Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York, Dreamland Recording Studios, Woodstock, New York
Genre	Hard rock, glam metal
Length	41:20
Label	Blackheart/CBS-Sony (US) Polydor (Europe and Japan)
Producer	Kenny Laguna, Ric Browde, Desmond Child, Thom Panunzio
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts chronology
Good Music (1986) Up Your Alley (1988) The Hit List (1990)
Singles from Up Your Alley
"I Hate Myself for Loving You" / "Love Is Pain (live)" Released: 1988 "Little Liar" / "What Can I Do for You" Released: 1988

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]
The Village Voice	B+[3]

Up Your Alley is the sixth studio album by the American hard rock band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. This album contains the single "I Hate Myself for Loving You", which reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[4] and had been used as the theme song for Sunday Night Football NFL games in America (with altered lyrics, by two singers) during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The follow-up single "Little Liar" continued Joan's chart success, reaching No. 19 on the Hot 100 in late 1988/early 1989.^[4]

Up Your Alley peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard 200 albums chart^[5] and has since been certified Platinum.^[6]

Former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor played the guitar solo on "I Hate Myself for Loving You".^[7]

"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). "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.

Two videos were shot for "Little Liar", the first of which told the dramatic story of twin Joan Jetts (one in white, one in black) fighting over a man they were both dating. It received heavy rotation on MTV, but was quickly replaced with a highly-stylized in-concert video with Ziggy Stardust-like artistic flourishes.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"I Hate Myself for Loving You"	Joan Jett, Desmond Child	4:07
2.	"Ridin' with James Dean"	Jett, Ricky Byrd, Ric Browde	3:17
3.	"Little Liar"	Jett, Child	4:01
4.	"Tulane" (Chuck Berry cover)	Chuck Berry	2:54
5.	"I Wanna Be Your Dog" (The Stooges cover)	Dave Alexander, Ron Asheton, Scott Asheton, Iggy Pop	5:12
6.	"I Still Dream About You"	Jett, Byrd, Gary Rottger	3:23
7.	"You Want In, I Want Out"	Jett, Child	4:15
8.	"Just Like in the Movies"	Jett, Browde, Byrd, Kenny Laguna	3:05
9.	"Desire"	Jett, Diane Warren, Laguna	3:53
10.	"Back It Up"	Jett, Byrd, Browde	3:31
11.	"Play That Song Again"	Jett, Byrd, Frank Carillo	3:42

Personnel

The Blackhearts

• Joan Jett - guitars, lead vocals
• Ricky Byrd - lead guitars
• Kasim Sulton - bass
• Thommy Price - drums

Additional musicians

• The Uptown Horns:
  • Crispin Choe - baritone sax
  • Robert Funk - trombone
  • Arno Hecht - tenor sax
  • Paul Litteral – trumpet
• Ronnie Lawson - keyboards
• Mick Taylor – guitar solo on track 1
• Frank Carillo - guitar, backing vocals
• Kenny Laguna - various instruments and backing vocals
• Chuck Kentis, Louie Merlino, Paul Carrizzo, Desmond Child – backing vocals

Production

• Kenny Laguna - producer on all tracks
• Ric Browde - producer on tracks 2, 4-6, 8-11
• Desmond Child - producer on tracks 1 and 3
• Thom Panunzio - associate producer, engineer, mixing
• Jay Healy - engineer, mixing on track 5
• Arthur Payson, James A. Ball, John Aiosa - engineers
• Andrew Spigleman, David Cook, Rich Travali, Roger Talkov, Scott Forman, Teddy Trewhella, Thom Cadley - assistant engineers
• Bob Ludwig - mastering at Masterdisk, New York

Charts

Album Year Chart Position 1988 Swedish Albums Chart[8] 16 Billboard 200 (USA)[5] 19 New Zealand Album Charts[9] 31 RPM100 Albums (Canada)[10] 48

Singles Year Single Chart Position 1988 "I Hate Myself for Loving You" Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[4] 8 New Zealand Singles Charts[11] 8 Swedish Singles Chart[12] 12 Mainstream Rock (USA)[4] 20 RPM100 Singles (Canada) 21 Dutch MegaCharts[13] 28 UK Singles Chart[14] 46 "Little Liar" Mainstream Rock (USA)[4] 13 Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[4] 19 1989 New Zealand Singles Charts[15] 35

Certifications

Country	Organization	Year	Sales
USA	RIAA	1989	Platinum (+ 1,000,000)[6]
Canada	CRIA	1988	Gold (+ 50,000)[16]

References

1. Huey, Steve. Up Your Alley (album) at AllMusic. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
2. Tennenbaum, Rob (August 11, 1988). "Joan Jett / Joan Jett & the Blackhearts - Up Yor Alley". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 9, 2015.
3. Christgau, Robert (May 24, 1988). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved March 30, 2013.
4. "Up Your Alley Billboard Singles". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
5. "Up Your Alley Billboard Albums". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
6. "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Jett". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
7. Wissmuller, Christian (Oct/Nov 2007) "Mick Taylor: Soul Survivor". Jazzed Magazine.
8. "Joan Jett – Up Your Alley (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
9. "Joan Jett – Up Your Alley (Album)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
10. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 48, No. 24, October 01 1988". Library and Archives Canada. October 1, 1988. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
11. "Joan Jett – I Hate Myself for Loving You (Song)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
12. "Joan Jett – I Hate Myself for Loving You (Song)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
13. "Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - I Hate Myself for Loving You". Dutch Charts.nl (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
14. "Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 5, 2015.
15. "Joan Jett – Little Liar (Song)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
16. "Gold Platinum Search for Up Your Alley". Music Canada. Retrieved July 10, 2015.