Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at JB Scott’s — May 22, 1981

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts played JB Scott’s in Albany in May 1981 — the Bad Reputation era, just months before “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” would make her a household name. The debut album had come out in February, Jett was grinding out a grassroots following after being rejected by 23 record labels, and she’d launched Blackheart Records herself just to get the music out. JB Scott’s — Albany’s premier rock club on Central Avenue, open from 1979 to 1982 — was exactly the kind of room where careers were made or broken. Albany got to see her before the world caught up.