Some of the most recognizable songs in pop history are not quite what they seem. Two famous tracks, Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” and Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two,” both carry hidden pasts that most listeners never learn. One is a cover; the other is built on a sample. Together they show how a great musical moment can travel across years and genres to reach a brand-new audience.
Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” Was a Cover
Mention Joan Jett and most people immediately think of her 1981 anthem “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” the song that crowned her the Queen of Rock. What many do not realize is that it was not originally hers. The song was written and first recorded in 1975 by the British band The Arrows, led by Alan Merrill and Jake Hooker. Their version had a grittier, pub-rock feel and was tucked away as a B-side, never even released as a single in the UK. It gained a little exposure through the band’s British TV program, and that is where Joan Jett first heard it while touring with The Runaways.
Jett recognized the song’s potential immediately. After an early attempt with members of the Sex Pistols in 1979, she finally gave it the full treatment with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts in 1981. The single exploded, spending seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Her raw, punk-rock intensity transformed the Arrows’ laid-back original into a stadium-ready anthem, complete with an unforgettable riff and her signature raspy vocals. The cover was so dominant that the original faded into obscurity, and to this day many people assume Jett wrote it. Alan Merrill, who co-wrote and sang the first version, had mixed feelings about that legacy, proud of the song’s success but wishing The Arrows had gotten more credit. He passed away in 2020, but his contribution lives on every time the chorus is sung.
The Funk Classic Behind “It Takes Two”
If you have ever chanted “It takes two to make a thing go right,” you have felt the pull of one of hip-hop’s most infectious hooks. That unforgettable female vocal line in Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s 1988 hit was not new either. It is sampled from “Think (About It)” by Lyn Collins, a 1972 track produced by the legendary James Brown. Collins, known as the “Female Preacher,” delivered a powerhouse performance that has since become a cornerstone of sampled music.
“It Takes Two” succeeded not just on its catchy beat and energetic rap but on the gritty soul it borrowed from “Think (About It).” The pairing of Collins’s commanding vocals with Brown’s tight production gave producers a foundation they could not resist, and the influence of that track extends far beyond this one hit. It has been sampled in countless songs across the decades, weaving funk, soul, and hip-hop together.
Why These Stories Matter
The brilliance of both a cover and a sample is the same: they bridge eras and genres, taking the essence of one musical moment and reintroducing it to a new generation. The Arrows planted a seed that Joan Jett grew into a worldwide phenomenon, and Lyn Collins’s voice still echoes through clubs and headphones decades later by way of “It Takes Two.” So the next time you hear either song, you will know there is more history in it than you thought. Some grooves are just too good to be confined to a single decade.
Atomic Ideas From This Article
- Joan Jett’s signature anthem was originally a 1975 song by The Arrows. “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” was written and first recorded by the British band as a B-side, and Jett heard it while touring before making it her own.
- A cover can so dominate that it erases the original from public memory. Jett’s 1981 version spent seven weeks at No. 1 and became so definitive that many assume she wrote it, while The Arrows’ version faded into obscurity.
- A reinterpretation can transform a song’s entire character. Jett’s raw punk intensity turned the Arrows’ laid-back pub-rock original into a stadium-ready anthem, showing how performance can remake a piece of music.
- The hook of “It Takes Two” was sampled from a 1972 funk track. Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock’s 1988 hit borrowed its commanding female vocal from Lyn Collins’s “Think (About It),” produced by James Brown.
- A single powerful recording can echo across decades through sampling. Lyn Collins’s vocal became a cornerstone of sampled music, appearing in countless songs and weaving funk, soul, and hip-hop together long after the original.
- Both covers and samples bridge eras and genres to reach new audiences. Each takes the essence of one musical moment and reintroduces it to a new generation, showing that some grooves are too good to stay confined to one decade.