By Paul Freeman [1991 Interview]

Carmelita Rossana ‘Lita” Ford was born September 19, 1958, in London, to a British father and Italian mother. At four, she and her family moved to the U.S. She grew up in Long Beach. By 11, Ford, a Ritchie Blackmore fan, had begun playing guitar.

That foul entertainment entrepreneur Kim Fowley was smart enough to snap up 16-year-old Ford to join pioneering female rock band The Runaways. The influential group had a terrific, though tumultuous, four-year run.

After they split in 1979, Ford launched a successful solo career. The dynamic singer/guitarist registered such memorable pop-metal hits as “Kiss Me Deadly,” “Shot of Poison” and “Close My Eyes Forever,” a duet with Ozzy Osbourne.

We interviewed Lita in 1991, at the time of her “Dangerous Curves” album. A few years later, she took time off from performing, to raise two sons with second husband, former Nitro vocalist Jim Gillette [she filed for divorce in 2011.] Ford roared back with her “Wicked Wonderland” album in 2009, again hitting the road.

Today, 38 years after exploding into the spotlight with The Runaways, Ford continues to rock. Her latest album is “Living Like a Runaway.” For tour dates and news, visit LitaFordOnline.com.

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
Did you go into the studio with a defined concept or feel in mind for ‘Dangerous Curves’? Or did it evolve as you went along?

LITA FORD:
Well, I wanted to make sure that we put an album out that was really up and really on the positive side. I didn’t want to do an album that had a lot of ballads. I didn’t want to do an album that was depressing or too dark. I wanted to do kind of a bright, happy, I mean, not too happy, but a bright, happy, uptempo album. And so, every song that came up, we either used it or we trashed it. And we just kept writing. We had twentysomething songs. Some of them would be too heavy or too dark. I wanted to have a colorful album.

PCC:
So was that reflecting what you thought would work in the marketplace? Or just reflecting where you want to be, personally, at the moment?

FORD:
Well, I don’t really know what the f--k reflects the marketplace. I mean, it’s so crazy right now. It’s just the way I felt. And that’s the way I wanted to be on stage, in performance. It’s the way I’d want to see the kids reacting to it, to an up, colorful album.

PCC:
You underwent a lot of changes in your personal and professional life before this album, how did that affect the work?

FORD:
Well, it affected my vocal performance a lot. I I laid off the alcohol. And I started running. We’d run everyday, before we went into the studio. As a matter of fact, Tom [producer Tom Werman] and I used to make bets on who would run the farthest. Every morning, we did that. And, you know, your whole outlook on the whole day is just so much brighter and stronger. And it really affected my vocal performance, as far as energy goes.

PCC:
And what led you to make the resolution to get healthier?

FORD:
I don’t know, I just woke up one day and had a hangover and said, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. This is not for me.’

PCC:
So did that mean moderation or abstinence?

FORD:
I always drank in moderation. I was never really a full-blown alcoholic. But drinking just seemed to hold me back. It put me to sleep, made me feel sluggish. I just wanted to really clean myself up, clean my life up and just be the best I could possibly be.

PCC:
So you don’t drink at all at this point?

FORD:
No. I had some champagne the other night. It made me sick.

PCC:
So the physical regimen, have you continued with the running and all of that?

FORD:
Yeah, I try to, as much as possible. I think the best thing to do is some sort of cardiovascular exercise. Not necessarily building any muscle, but just keeping your respiratory system active and open. Your whole mind is clearer.

PCC:
Has it affected your stamina on stage?

FORD:
It’s made it so much easier to keep my stamina up on stage. For me, I find that, if I get on a stage and I’m really out of shape and I hit one of those high notes, the whole room starts spinning around. I feel like I’m going to fall over and black out. And now, I don’t get that at all. I just feel like I can hit high note after high note. And I’m fine.

PCC:
You’ve also had vocal training? Was this a new coach?

FORD:
No, I’ve used the same coach for quite a while, Evelyn Halus. She works out of Seth Rigg’s office. He teaches a lot of different people - Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson. They’ve worked with many, many stars - Paula Abdul, Dale Bozzio [Missing Persons]. And I just feel that it gives me the confidence I need. It’s a good warm-up, after you’ve had time off, to go in and do some strenuous vocal exercises. And it’s a great way to warm up your voice for a concert or before singing a song in the studio.

PCC:
Were you conscious, going into the voice training, of retaining the natural quality?

FORD:
Well, working with Evelyn really lets me maintain my natural quality. I’ve worked with a lot of other vocal coaches in the past and it didn’t feel right, because they were teaching me things that didn’t make sense to me, as far as being a rock singer goes. Maybe for an opera singer, it made sense. So I moved on. And I think it’s best for me, working with a woman, being a woman myself. It’s best to work with someone who can sing in your own vocal range.

PCC:
Going through the divorce, losing your mother to cancer, was it difficult to get past all that and muster the enthusiasm you needed for a new project?

FORD:
Well, that’s one reason why I stopped drinking. It just really made me see how precious life is and how good you can be, if you just really give it your all. I saw my mother go through hell with cancer and chemotherapy, putting drugs in her system. And alcohol is just another drug to me. And going through so much pain with her... She would want me to do my best. I got pretty depressed for a while, especially at Christmas time.

PCC:
And the divorce? [following a brief marriage to W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes]

FORD:
The divorce was nothing. I got married, because I wanted to try it. I’m not the marrying type. It was just, I’d never been married before, he was there, and I thought, ‘F--k it, let’s try it.’ I think he felt the same way. But he’s cool. We’re friends. It was an easy divorce. It was no big deal. I just picked up a phone and said, ‘Get out.’ He said, ‘Okay.’

PCC:
Some of the songs on the new album, ‘Hellbound Train,’ ‘Larger Than Life,’ reflect a party attitude, does that conflict with your new lifestyle?

FORD:
Well, I kind of miss those party attitudes, myself. I really like songs like, ‘Running with the Devil’ and ‘Panama,’ those old songs that make make you feel like you want to put the pedal to the metal and just speed. And I think ‘Larger Than Life’ and ‘Hellbound Train’ are two songs like that. It’s one reason why I named the album ‘Dangerous Curves,’ as well, is because it just gives you that driving feeling.

PCC:
Do you think it’s important in rock to always have some sense of danger.

FORD:
Well, I think that rock ’n’ roll is exciting and thrilling. It’s a thrilling kind of music. And danger, I suppose, goes hand-in-hand with thrilling and exciting.

PCC:
When you started out with The Runaways, did you find a lot of prejudice against female musicians in rock ‘n’ roll?

FORD:
I think The Runaways were just before their time. It was hard for the audience to accept them as true musicians. We didn’t really portray ourselves as true musicians. We were partiers. We were underage. We wanted everybody to know we were underage. We wore clothes - garter belts, shorts with half of our ass hanging out. We were having fun. We were partiers. We were punks. And we wanted everybody to know it. But then again, we did do some good records and they probably should have gotten a lot more airplay than they did. They didn’t get as much airplay as they deserved.

PCC:
What about from fellow musicians? Did they show respect for the band?

FORD:
Well, I don’t know about the other girls, but I’ve never had any problems with my fellow musicians. They’ve always shown respect for me.

PCC:
Did you realize you were paving the way for future female rock bands?

FORD:
Well, I knew that nobody else was doing it. But no, it was just something I wanted to do. Actually, the reason I got into it, was because I was such a Hendrix fan. I really admired the way Hendrix played and sang at the same time. And Johnny Winter, the way he could sing and play at the same time was tremendous. It was just an inspiration that I had from seeing them. And I wanted to do it, too.

PCC:
Were your parents panicking when you hit the road with a rock band at 16?

FORD:
My parents were extremely supportive of me. They used to get on my case, when I wasn’t practicing enough. When I was out on the road and I was homesick, I would call them up and they would comfort me and they’d say, ‘Okay, you’re doing great. Just kick ass tonight. And give it all you got.’ They were the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll mom and dad. The ultimate. I love them more than anything in the world. They were just so great to me.

PCC:
Were they into rock?

FORD:
My Dad used to play Italian opera records, Mario Lanza and Pavarotti. My mother was from Rome, so he was into Italian opera. We’re really a European family. My father was in the war and he was stationed in Rome. He met my Mom. And they got married and moved to England, where he had his home. And they had me. And from London, we moved to Boston, because my mother’s sister was in Boston. And then from there we moved to Dallas, Texas and from Texas to Long Beach, where my father’s sister lived. My mother hated cold weather. She wanted the sunshine. So we made our home in California. My Dad was a jack of all trades. The last thing he did was real estate.

My Dad loved music. We had a back house. I used to set up all my gear in the back house. I’d go back there and learn like ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ or something on guitar. And I’d come running into the front house and I’d say, ‘Mom! Listen to this riff I just learned from the Black Sabbath album!’ And I’d play ‘Fairies Wear Boots’ and she’d say, ‘Oh, Lita, that’s nice. That’s so nice. I like that.’ She was very inspirational.

PCC:
Do you think all of that moving around in childhood paved the way for a nomadic life in rock ‘n’ roll?

FORD:
I guess. I’m an only child, too. I don’t have any brothers or sisters. So I was really a tomboy. I really spent my time jammin’ with the guys, hanging out in the park and jammin’ guitars. The guys I went to high school with were all black musicians that played white people’s music. We all played Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and Jimi Hendrix.

PCC:
And how did you go about developing your own style, figuring out what would work for you?

FORD:
I think that’s what you do by doing your own records and being in a band like The Runaways... or like any band. I mean, it’s easy to copy someone else’s riffs and play their music. But when you have to take their riffs and put it into your own songs, it has to develop into your own style. Otherwise, it doesn’t work.

PCC:
The Runaways did have a cult following. Was it difficult to carve out an identity for yourself as a solo artist?

FORD:
No, not at all. They started making videos around that time. We did a video for a song called ‘Gotta Let Go.’ And, no, it wasn’t difficult at all. I had a reputation for being a punk, a troublemaker. And I had a lot of trouble with the record label. They thought I was a major drug addict and they f--kin’ freaked every time I’d walked into the room. They thought I was going to jump up on the table and ax them all or something.

PCC:
[Laughs] And where did that reputation come from?

FORD:
Well, it was probably true at the time. The Runaways were pretty f--kin’ crazy. We used to go into radio stations with fire extinguishers and squirt everybody. We just used to destroy everything. You know that old saying, it’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s get drunk and fight.’ Well, that’s what I used to do, go in bars and get drunk and fight.

PCC:
It’s easy to establish a reputation like that, but hard to get rid of.

FORD:
It is hard to get rid of. It really is.

PCC:
Does that trouble you?

FORD:
Who gives a f--k anymore? It’s rock ‘n’ roll. And as long as you do your gig, who gives a f--k who you squirt with a fire extinguisher or whose desk you ax in little pieces? What matters is how you perform.

PCC:
Cultivating the sex symbol image, is that something you’ve been comfortable with, just part of the biz?

FORD:
Well, for my own head, for my self-confidence, I need to be looked upon as though I’m a good-looking woman. I need to feel that. I need that confidence, whether I’m playing, performing or just walking down the street, I need to feel that. I think, if I gained a hundred pounds and cut my hair off and pulled my teeth out, I wouldn’t be able to f--kin’ play or sing. I’d run and hide somewhere and stay there... until my hair grew back and I lost the weight and got some dentures. Then I’d be able to walk down the street again. I’m just that kind of person. I’m real self-conscious about things... about myself.

PCC:
How do you want the public to perceive you? What do you want your image to be?

FORD:
I think that rock ‘n’ roll is sexy. It’s a sexy style of music. And I don’t think it matters who you are, even if you’re ugly, you’re still sexy, in rock ‘n’ roll.

PCC:
Do you think you still have room to grow, musically?

FORD:
Absolutely. I’ll grow until I f--kin’ die. Especially with the ways things are changing. Each year, there’s new instruments, new sounds, new developments.

PCC:
Do you enjoy the road?

FORD:
I dig it. I dig being on the road. If you can maintain your health, then I think it’s real good for an artist, for a band. It makes you strong, in every way, being on the road.

PCC:
Are you confident that you can avoid burnout?

FORD:
Oh, f--k, yeah. I’ve been through it all. I feel like I’ve been through the worst times and I’ve gotten through them, so there’s not much that’s going to scare me anymore. I don’t worry about getting burned out or not being able to get through. I like what I do. I love touring. It just makes me strong.

PCC:
You’re 33 now?

FORD:
Yeah, I’m an old f--k.

PCC:
Do you start thinking about how long you can rock?

FORD:
No, not really. And there are different things you can do in rock. You can produce. You can write. You can manage. There are a lot of different jobs in rock ‘n’ roll. I don’t have to be the front person in a band till I’m 60 years old. I could do all of those things.

PCC:
The quiet life is not for you.

FORD:
No. I get bored. I get stir crazy and I turn into a f--kin’ witch. I turn into Kathy Bates in ‘Misery.’

PCC:
Is music the number thing in your life?

FORD:
It is my life. If you take that away from me, I would die, I swear. I have nothing else. It’s what rocks my world, is my music, my ability to be a rock ‘n’ roll performer.