The splendor of Washington DC during Cherry Blossom Week inspired me to pick this rocker by the all-female, all-teenage Runaways. “Cherry Bomb” appeared on The Runaways self-titled debut in 1976, and was written by guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett and producer/svengali Kim Fowley as an audition song for new singer Cherie Currie. Lita Ford plays lead guitar.

“Cherry Bomb” clocks in at slightly more than two minutes, but what a two minutes! The perfect melding of punk, glam, hard rock and even power pop. This version is from Japan (where the band was HUGE) in 1977.