POP MUSIC REVIEW : 3 Runaways Reunite at the Whisky

It wasn’t money that persuaded three founding members of the Runaways to reunite at the Whisky on Saturday. “Because there isn’t any,” singer Cherie Currie assured the crowd.

The original all-female rock quintet never enjoyed much chart action during its brief career in the mid-’70s. But its tough bubble-gum rock did inspire a lingering cult following here and abroad, and paved the way for later all-female punk acts in Los Angeles, from the Go-Go’s to the edgier L7.

At the Whisky, bassist Jackie Fox and drummer Sandy West joined Currie during one of her own rare concert appearances and ripped through six Runaways songs. Two guitarists from Currie’s own band filled in for the missing Joan Jett and Lita Ford, the two Runaways who found greater success as solo artists.

Even without those key members, songs such as “Cherry Bomb” and “Queens of Noise” were simple and direct rockers that now sound charmingly retro. As Currie played to the ecstatic hard-core fans near the stage, West pounded at her drums with an intensity suggesting this was more than a lark.

The Runaways material easily outpaced Currie’s more anonymous solo songs. But while the singer expressed some regret over quitting the band in 1977, she noted that this trio was unlikely to perform again. Which may be a lost opportunity--they’d probably be huge in Japan.