♪Joan Jett and Sandy West at the Santa Monica pier, 1977

Comments: I took this photo of Joan Jett and Sandy West of The Runaways on the Santa Monica pier in 1977. I was always hustling their photos to the Japanese magazines. Sandy will be missed.  
Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Lita Ford in her parents' kitchen, 1977

Comments: Lita Ford of The Runaways was a fucking great guitar player even when she was a teenager. This photo was taken in her parents kitchen back in 1977 when I was photographing her for Music Life Magazine in Japan. 
All of the magazines wanted to see the rock and pop stars at home enjoying daily life. Today, it would not be possible to take a photo like this. It would never be permitted by the dreadful publicist, management or dancing midgets working for the bands.  I hear that Lita is living in Florida or the Bahamas these days.

Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Jackie Fox of the Runaways, Woodland Hills, 1977

Comments: I drove all the way to the Encino or Woodland Hills to do a photo session with Jackie Fox from The Runaways in 1977. Most of the photos were rather uninspiring , but I do like this photo of her with the doggie. I had the pleasure to dinning with Jackie a couple of times recently. She looks exactly the same after three decades!
Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Bob Dylan and Robert DeNiro backstage at Ronee Blakley’s Roxy concert in 1976

Comments: Bob Dylan asked me to take this photo of him with a an fairly unknown actor, Robert DeNiro backstage at Ronee Blakley’s Roxy concert in 1976. Dylan had been on my radar for ages and this was the first time that I met him and was able to take candid photos of the legend. He also claimed that we looked a bit alike!
Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Joan Jett of the Runaways

Comments: Joan Jett is not telling me to fuck off in this classic photograph I took backstage at The Whiskey A Go Go.  We were good pals even though I have not seen her in almost 30 years. I just hope that I get an invite to drop by the set of the new Runaways film.
Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Cherie Currie at home, San Fernando Valley, 1977

Comments: A never before published photo of Cherie Currie of the Runaways that I took at her SFV home in 1977. She was red hot!
Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Bob Dylan driving in Santa Monica, 1978

Comments: I was a nut about Bob Dylan when I was a teenager. I would follow any and all leads to try and get photos of him. He was kind of the Howard Hughes of Rock And Roll and because you never saw photos of him, that made the pictures valuable to magazines around the world. The best part was that he hated to have his photo taken. Kind of like, you are stealing my sole BS.

Actually, the very best part was that he was a fucking god and I grew up on his cosmic music. I still listen to Tambourine Man all the time. “Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands, With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves, Let me forget about today until tomorrow”. It just does not get any better than this.
I took this photo in 1978 and I had a tip that Dylan was recording in Santa Monica. I cut school and waited all of about fifteen minutes and then magic! Bobbie arrived in the flesh driving a cool jag. He did not have a clue that I was taking photos until he walked into the studio.
I do not go to his concerts anymore. It just is not the same.

Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols in the pool, 1978

Comments: Everyone thinks that this is Sean Penn performing a major wank in my pool, but it is a young Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols. I took the photo in 1978 when I was living in the legendary 999 N. Dohney building right on the Sunset Strip.  
Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Cherie Currie of the Runaways with friends Woody and Mark, San Fernando Valley, 1977

 

Comments: That’s Cherie Currie of The Runaways sitting on her bed at her parents home in the San Fernando Valley back in 1977. The guys on the bed with Cherie are our friends Woody and Mark the cool surfer dudes of the valley.

I was taking these photos for The Runaways record company in Japan. The Runaways were gods in Japan!

Photo Credits: Brad Elterman

♪Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols, 1978

Comments: No, this was not a Calvin Klein underwear campaign with a male model. It is Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols taking a swim in my pool back in 1978. I took the photo at my cool building at 999 N. Doheny in West Hollywood.

Just last week I had dinner with with Steve and gave him the first print from this edition. He loved it and showed it to everyone in the restaurant. 
I can not figure out why I never printed this photograph before. Enjoy!

Photo Credits: Brad Elterman