There’s nothing new about the sexual exploitation of young female stars.
Last week, the Huffington Post published an account of a rape so callous, it was hard to read.
What made the story even more shocking was that it was alleged to have happened to a former teenage rockstar in an iconic “girl” band. While her bandmates watched on.
Runaways’ bassist Jackie Fuchs says that she was assaulted in front of her bandmates, the feminist icon Joan Jett and lead singer Cherie Currie.
In fact, Fuchs says she was raped by Kim Fowley, the band’s manager and producer, in front of a hotel room full of people at an after-gig party, while Jett and Currie watched, snickering, in a corner.
It was 1975 and she was 16 years old.
The Runaways: (clockwise from top left) Sandy West, Lita Ford, Jackie Fox, Joan Jett, Cherie Currie.
The entertainment industry is rife with starry-eyed teens – and adults ready and waiting to take advantage of them.
In the past few years alone, pop star Kesha, child actor Corey Feldman and Lady Gaga have come out with allegations of rape and abuse by men in positions of power in their early careers.
And the Bill Cosby, Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile sex-abuse stories need no elaboration. Back in the 1970s, when these men were at the peak of their powers, they were using their clout to take advantage of girls and young women – and no one said anything about it.
This same silence surrounded the shocking behaviour of Kim Fowley.
Kim Fowley with Joan Jett. He died at 75 this year. Image via Instagram.
The piece by Jason Cherkis, called The Lost Girls, describes how Fowley conceived of the idea of an all-girl rock band (unheard of at the time) and actively recruited the members, grooming the girls and sometimes their parents to allow them to play in the Runaways and tour overseas with him as their sole guardian.
Fowley was a songwriter and producer, a band-manager and hustler who managed to get his name on the liner notes of hundreds of albums from Helen Reddy to hair-metal. His last appearance, in a wheelchair, was in Beyonce’s video for Haunted.
Kim Fowley performing in later years. Image via Facebook.
He was openly interested in teenaged girls, and what he called “young c*nt” or “dirty pussy”.
A friend of Fowley told Cherkis that the two of them used to drive to high schools to try and pick up teenagers.
The rape of Jackie Fuchs allegedly happened in a hotel room in Orange County. The Runaways had played a New Year’s Eve gig there at a tiny club called Wild Man Sam’s and Fowley had invited a group of people to celebrate back in their dingy hotel room.
Fuchs was feeling elated after this gig – she finally felt part of the band.
The teenaged Jackie Fuchs.
At the hotel, a man who she thinks was a roadie approached her with a Quaalude and told her she was to take it, no questions asked. She did. A witness, Brent Williams, says she was given up to five or six Quaaludes that night.
“It was a date rape situation,” he told Cherkis.
Fuchs never discussed what happened that night until now, 40 years later.
Friends of Fuchs at the party were concerned by how out of it she was. Fuchs wasn’t a drinker and never took drugs, preferring to be in control.
She eventually had to go and lay down, unable to remain on her feet. That’s when Fowley offered up her body for sex to a roadie, who declined the offer.
Jackie Fuchs with a picture of the Runaways before she quit the band.
Fowley began undressing Fuchs, unbuttoning her blouse and pulling off her pants. Fuchs’ friends, unable to bear it a moment longer but too intimidated by Fowley to stop him, left the party.
He began having sex with her, while others crowded in to watch.
Fuchs says her last memory of that night is looking up and seeing Joan Jett and Cherie Curry staring at her.
The Runaways… post continues after gallery.
The Runaways
The Runaways back in 1976. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
The Runaways back in early 1976 at the Boom Boom Club. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Jackie Fox in 2013 after filming an episode of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
The Runaways in a beach photoshoot. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
The Runaways posing for of of the bands first publicity shoots. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Kim Fowley in his earlier years as manager. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Jackie Fox poses for a photo in the days of the Runaways. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Cherie Currie today continues to perform, and has released songs with her son. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
The Runaways performing in front of a crowd of predominantly young males. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
4/5 of the Runaways posing for a photo. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Jackie Fox posing next to a poster of the Runaways in recent times. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Kim Fowley performing in recent times. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Joan Jett today poses for a photo in-between her tour. Image via Instagram.
The Runaways
The Runaways pose for a photo amidst the peak of their musical success. Image via Facebook.
The Runaways
Joan Jett takes us behind the scenes of a video shoot for the 2015 Ladies in Levis campaign. Image via Instagram.
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