Jackie Fox

For the (male) English cricketer usually known as "Jackie Fox", see John Fox (cricketer, born 1929).
Jackie Fox
Birth name Jacqueline Louise Fuchs
Also known as Jackie Fox
Born (1959-12-20) December 20, 1959
Genres Punk rock, hard rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s) Musician, bassist, attorney
Instruments vocals, bass
Years active 1975–1977
Labels Mercury Records
Associated acts The Runaways, Lita Ford, Joan Jett, Cherie Currie, Sandy West
Notable instruments
Gibson Thunderbird

Jacqueline Louise Fuchs (born December 20, 1959) is an American musician and attorney. Under her former stage name of Jackie Fox, she played bass guitar for the pioneering all-girl teenage rock band the Runaways. She is the sister of screenwriter Carol Fuchs and sister-in-law of Castle Rock Entertainment co-founder Martin Shafer.

The Runaways

A merit scholar, Fox was set for an early entry to University of California, Los Angeles, to study mathematics when the opportunity to join the fledgling rock band the Runaways presented itself. Fox was "discovered" dancing at the Starwood by Rodney Bingenheimer, the self-proclaimed "mayor of the Sunset Strip", who introduced her to producer/impresario Kim Fowley. She had initially auditioned for the lead guitar position but the band hired Lita Ford instead. Some time later, she was called back and offered the bassist position in the band, which she accepted. Fox joined the Runaways in 1975, shortly before her sixteenth birthday.

Fox played on the Runaways' second studio album Queens of Noise but was not permitted to play on the band's 1976 debut album. According to multiple sources, including Cherie Currie's memoir Neon Angel and the liner notes of the Raven Records release of The Runaways, Blondie bassist Nigel Harrison was hired to play bass on the first album due to manager Fowley's refusal to let Fox play on the record.[1] Fox herself acknowledges this.[1]

Fox's final appearance with the Runaways' was on their 1977 Live in Japan album. It was during the Japanese Tour on which that album was recorded that Fox decided to leave the band. According to Fox herself in the 2005 documentary film Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways, she was distraught over the band members' inability to get along with each other and called her close friend Randy Rhoads of the L.A. band Quiet Riot, who encouraged her to come home. Victory Tischler-Blue (AKA "Vicki Blue") was quickly hired as her replacement.

Though she had quit the band three years earlier, Fox appears on Flaming Schoolgirls (1980), an outtakes compilation featuring songs recorded during the Queens of Noise recording sessions in 1976. She would later appear on the compilation albums, Neon Angels and The Best of the Runaways.

Jackie played bass at The Runaways reunion in 1994 with Currie and West. Currie's sister Marie also performed with the band that night.[2]

Fox refused to give permission for her name to be used in the 2010 Hollywood feature film The Runaways. Instead, the producers created a fictional character named Robin (portrayed by actress Alia Shawkat) as the band's bassist in the film.[3]

After the Runaways

In the years following her tenure with the Runaways, Fox has worked in a variety of fields, most notably as a record promotions executive, as a modeling agent, as the promoter of Tony Robbins' Firewalking seminars, and most recently as an entertainment attorney in the motion picture and television arenas, representing actors, writers, directors, authors and producers.

In a live rendition of the song "Suicide Machine" by punk rock band the Germs, Darby Crash is heard saying he is looking for Jackie and that the song is dedicated to her.[4]

Fuchs received her B.A., summa cum laude, from UCLA in Linguistics and Italian, with a specialization in computing, and her J.D. from Harvard, where Barack Obama was one of her classmates.[5][6] Fox speaks Italian and French, as well as conversational Greek and Spanish. She has written a script called "Delilah's Scissors" with Victory Tischler-Blue and appeared in Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways, Tischler-Blue's 2005 documentary about the Runaways. Fuchs has also written for the Huffington Post blog.[6]

She appeared as a contestant on The Dating Game circa 1980.[7]

Jackie Fuchs on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", September 6, 2013

In 2013, she appeared as a contestant in the fourth episode of The Chase, and on September 6, 2013, she was a contestant on the syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, now hosted by Cedric the Entertainer. She had banked up to $16,100, but ended up with only $1,000 after missing a question.

Personal life

In July 2015, Fox alleged that she was raped by Fowley on New Year’s Eve 1975 at an after-party following a Runaways performance at an Orange County club. Sixteen years old at the time, Fox was reportedly given Quaaludes by a man who she thought was a roadie, and while she was incapacitated, Fowley allegedly raped her in full view of group of partygoers and her bandmates (Currie, West, and Jett; Ford was not present at the party).[8]

West's location at the time of the incident is unknown, but Fox stated that her last memory of the night was seeing Currie and Jett staring at her as Fowley raped her.[8] Kari Krome (co-founder and songwriter for the group) stated that she saw "Jett and Currie sitting off to the side of the room for part of the time, snickering" while the rape was occurring.[8] Jett has publicly denied witnessing the incident "as described" while Currie stated that she spoke up against Fowley's actions, then stormed out of the room when he refused to stop.[8][9]

Prior to Fox coming forward, Fowley raping an underage girl at the after-party on New Year’s Eve 1975 had been alleged to have taken place, though the victim was never publicly identified. Currie spoke about the incident in the documentary film Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways and also mentioned it in detail in an updated edition of her memoir Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway.[10] In this chapter, titled "Kim Fowley's Sex Education Class", Fox is originally mentioned as a bystander, and asks for more food after witnessing the rape. However, Fox threatened legal action against Currie if the chapter was published in its original form because "the event described in Cherie's book never happened", and Currie edited the chapter to exclude Fox.[11] Tischler-Blue (Fox's replacement in the group) stated that all of the members of the group "have always been aware of this ugly event".[12]

Albums by the Runaways

References

  1. 1 2 Victory Tischler-Blue (2004). Edgeplay: A Film About the Runaways. Sacred Dogs Entertainment. [Fowley] kicked me out of the studio and hired Nigel Harrison, who went on to be the bass player in Blondie so it's not actually me on the first album.
  2. ↑ "An Interview with Jackie Fox". tripod.com.
  3. ↑ "The Insider: Alia Shawkat - Nylon Magazine". Nylonmag.com. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FchtdMVXwi4
  5. ↑ Weekly Standard interview Jacqueline Fuchs discusses Barack Obama
  6. 1 2 Huffington Post Jackie Fuchs bio
  7. ↑ "Runaways bassist Jackie Fox on 'The Dating Game,' 1980". November 29, 2011. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Cherkis, Jason (8 July 2015). "The Lost Girls". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Marie Lodi. "Joan Jett and Cherie Currie Respond to Jackie Fox's Rape Allegations". Jezebel.
  10. ↑ "Statement on "The Lost Girls" - Populism". Populism.
  11. ↑ "The Runaways Remembered". runawaysstories.blogspot.com.
  12. ↑ "The Jackie Fox rape disclosure shows we still have a lot to learn". Boing Boing.
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