Up Your Alley by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

Up Your Alley, Joan Jett's sixth studio album and her fifth with the Blackhearts, came out on May 23, 1988, on her own Blackheart Records with CBS in the States, a year and a half after Good Music. Desmond Child produced, and the riffs are still leather-jacket tough while the choruses are built to arena size.

The proof is "I Hate Myself for Loving You", a stomping, lovesick sing-along with former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor tearing off the solo. It went to No. 8 on the Hot 100, earned the band a Grammy nomination, and years later came back, words altered, as the Sunday Night Football theme. "Little Liar" kept the run going, the album went platinum, and Jett and her co-founder Kenny Laguna closed out the decade with the Blackhearts still all over the radio.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.