Song of the Day No.2: 'I Hate Myself for Loving You' Joan Jett & the Blackhearts

"Ooh, didn't she do that 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' one, that Britney did a cover version of?" Not an actual quote, just one I made up in my head. A slight variation on the 'band everyone has heard of but not many people have actually heard' (see Song of the Day No.1 'Caught in a Mosh' Anthrax), this is the band everyone knows one song by but hasn't actually heard anything else they've done. I seem to remember 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll' getting played by 'trendy' Radio 1 djs a good few years before the whole rock 'n' roll thing took off again and along with the video it does have a certain iconic thing going for it, but it's appropriation by overdressed, sullen teens and trustafarian hacks like the Queens of Noize has depreciated its value somehwat.

But the main point is that I actually like 'I Hate Myself for Loving You' better than 'I Love Rock 'n' Roll'; it's like the smarter, prettier sister who doesn't get the attention she deserves just because the less smart/thicker sister dresses like a slut. My technical knowledge of music can be located somewhere between zero and 0.0001, so I'm not going to try and prove anything I say on that basis, but IHMFLY sounds like a more full song, with more parts and more variation and better harmonies or something. If I'm really honest I think it just deserves to be played in public a little more (which doesn't necessarily mean the public deserve to hear it more). Then Joan Jett will be known for 2/3 songs (I think 'Bad Reputation' has also been played a few times in films and stuff) which can only be good.

Postnote: What the hell does Britney Spears think she is? She doesn't look sexy at the best of times, the best being compared to a chubby faced under age Bratz doll, but in that ILRnR video it's like watching a ropey Thai transexual attempt to convince you that he is genuinely female through a combination of excessive pouting and the rubbing of non-existent or, more alarmingly, incorrect reproductive organs. If covering a classic rock song was designed to lend Britney a touch of credibility they could at least have left her out of the video. It definitely didn't improve my experience of Brussels airport.