Joan Jett - 1999

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Many famous and interesting people have had brushes with me that served to skyrocket their careers to new heights. If they hadn't met me, chances are you never would've heard of them. Sure, many of them were famous before they met me, but that's just how awesome I am: I can improve your career before you've even met me!

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, known for such awesome tunes as “I Love Rock n Roll” and “Bad Reputation”, visited the Bataan while it was docked in Haifa, Israel, in the early part of December.

To much fanfare, they gave a helluva performance that could be heard from anywhere on the ship.

A quick trip to her website reveals she committed a major no-no while on tour in Jerusalem. Don’t tell anyone!

I’m now embarrassed to admit I didn’t really know who she was. I’m not into bands; I’m into music. I’ve heard plenty of bands with only a couple good songs, and figured Joan would be just another one of those, so I missed the show. Upon going through my collection to help get my website rebuilt, we looked her up and found out she’s actually pretty darn cool, for someone so freaky-looking.

She does a CONSIDERABLE amount of USO work, and is head and shoulders above all other entertainers when it comes to how many tours she’s done for the troops. She’s performed closer to combat lines than anyone, and performed more shows than anyone, for more years. Bob Hope would be humbled! The reason you never hear about it is because she doesn’t want to be a glory-hound in even the slightest. She doesn’t want to take any credit, she just wants to give back to the troops. I really admire that kind of selflessness.

I’ve got a couple videos of the show, and a few pics, which were given to me by other shipmates who did see the show. I’m still not going to be a metal-head, and I still think she’s way too freaky for me, but Joan is definitely someone I’d be proud to give a plankowner’s tour of the ship to, if she wanted one, and promised not to launch any missiles.