In 1983, Bruce Springsteen Wrote A Song That Would Become A Rowdy Hit For Joan Jett

The Boss isn't just the boss of working-class Americana tunes; he's the boss of you not knowing that he wrote songs for other famous musicians. The Pointer Sisters' "Fire" is a surprise song that Springsteen wrote, but no more so than "Light of Day" by the Barbusters, aka Joan Jett and Michael J. Fox. 

The Barbusters were a fictional band in the 1987 music-themed movie, "Light of Day." Ostensibly a Michael J. Fox movie made during the height of his mid-80's fame ("Back to the Future," "Teen Wolf"), the movie received some rock-out cred in the form of Fox's co-star, Joan Jett, whose 1982 cover of "I Love Rock N' Roll" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and changed her life forever. Jett and Fox's band in the movie was called the Barbusters, credited with four songs on its soundtrack. "Light of Day," the movie's big single, is an old-school, simple, rock-out song that reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it's credited to Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. 

As for how Springsteen wound up writing "Light of Day," he'd originally written it for "Born in the U.S.A.," his colossal 1984 album that cemented his career and produced a song that still fools listeners into thinking it's a patriotic anthem. Springsteen decided not to use "Light of Day" (or whatever it was called at that point) for the album and passed it along to director Paul Schrader for use in his movie. 

It was a long, sinuous, and unpredictable path for "Light of Day" to see the light of day, starting way back in 1979. Back then, filmmaker Paul Schrader turned to Bruce Springsteen for his upcoming movie, tentatively titled "Born in the U.S.A." Schrader didn't want Springsteen to write music for the movie, but act in it as a — surprise, surprise — working-class protagonist. Springsteen turned the offer down, but the name stuck in his head. Come 1984, we got his smash hit, "Born in the U.S.A."  

Springsteen's role in Schrader's film wound up going to Michael J. Fox come the mid-80s. But Springsteen still stayed involved by gifting Schrader with a song he didn't use for the album inspired by Schrader's own movie: "(Just Around The Corner To The) Light Of Day." Schrader shortened the name to "Light of Day," copy-pasted the title for his movie, and by 1987 we got "Light of Day." 

Jett's role in all this should be obvious, though she was reluctant to get involved at first. Fearing a switch to film where she was basically playing a version of herself, she had trouble adjusting to on-set creative processes. Jett remained very much a closed book regarding her acting and taking direction, and the set was plagued with confrontations. But she fit the rock bill and drove the musical power of the film, right down to "Light of Day," which became a modest hit. She incorporated the song into live sets throughout her career, full of her typical rowdy rasp and uncontainable energy. She even did a performance with Fox himself in 2017.