Ramones (album)

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Ramones
Ramones cover
Studio album by Ramones
Released April 23, 1976
Recorded February 1976
Genre Punk
Length 29:04
Label Sire Records
Producer(s) Craig Leon, Tommy Ramone
Professional reviews

Rhino Records Expanded Release:
Ramones chronology
Ramones
(1976)		 Leave Home
(1977)


The self-titled debut album by the Ramones was released on April 23, 1976 (see 1976 in music).

Contents

[edit] History

After Seymour Stein of Sire Records signed the band in the fall of 1975, the band began to record their debut the following winter. Ramones was recorded very quickly and extremely cheaply; recording lasted from February 2 through the 19 on a budget of only $6,200. The template of guitar and bass in opposite channels with the drums in the middle was based on early Beatles and Cream records.

Many radio disc jockeys were supposedly put off by the records' primitive, frantic music and often bizarre themes and the album did not receive heavy airplay, only peaking at number #111 on the Billboard's (North America) Pop Albums chart upon being released April 23.

Despite this, the Ramones eventually established the reputation as being the godfathers of punk rock, and the album is largely considered a highly influential classic. Its influence on punk and myriad genres of alternative rock cannot be overstated. In 2003 the TV network VH1 named Ramones the 54th greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 33 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The album was rereleased in 2001 by Rhino Records. The original album was remastered, and it also contained eight bonus tracks which featured demo and alternate versions.

[edit] Songs

  • "Judy Is a Punk" is said to be written about two overzealous real-life fans named Jackie and Judy. One interviewee in the documentary End of the Century claims that the song was "prophetic", due to Jackie and Judy's supposed later death in an airplane crash, corresponding to the lyrics, "Perhaps they'll die, oh yeah." The song features an intro that is simply one power chord played at extreme speed. The Ramones recorded a follow-up song on the 1980 album End of the Century called "The Return of Jackie and Judy". The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums.
  • Dee Dee described "Beat on the Brat" as "a true story. Joey saw some mother going after a kid with a bat in his lobby and wrote a song about it."[1]
  • "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" was written about the adolescents of Forest Hills, who constantly sought cheap thrills to cure their boredom. The Ramones later recorded the similarly-themed song "Carbona Not Glue" for their second album Leave Home. Dee Dee joked that after writing songs like "I Don't Wanna Go Down in the Basement" and "I Don't Wanna Walk Around with You", "We didn't write a positive song until 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue'."[2]
  • "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World" was inspired by Dee Dee's youth in Germany, as well as Johnny's fascination with old WWII movies. Originally titled "I'm a Nazi, Baby" the song features tongue in cheek lyrics about Nazism, such as, "I'm a shock trooper in a stupor, yes I am/ I'm a Nazi schatze, you know I fight for the fatherland". The song was the first appearance of Nazi themes and imagery in Punk music, furthered by musicians like the Sex Pistols who often wore swastikas in concert. The song is viewed as important as it demonstrates the refusal of Ramones songs to be played on radio, although their later song "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)" that criticized Ronald Reagan for visiting an SS grave site also had been limited in airplay.
  • "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" is an endearing love song which proved to be one of the band's most enduring compositions. The relatively tender song is seen as a nod to the Ramones' early rock and roll influences. The studio version somewhat uncharacteristically features a glockenspiel. The song was written by drummer Tommy. According to Dee Dee Ramone's autobiography Lobotomy, "We could have made a million dollars on it, because the Bay City Rollers wanted to do it."

[edit] Track listing

(All songs except "Let's Dance" originally credited to the Ramones collectively. Credits have since been given to specific members where applicable.)

  1. "Blitzkrieg Bop" (Tommy Ramone) – 2:14
  2. "Beat on the Brat" (Joey Ramone) – 2:31
  3. "Judy is a Punk" (Joey Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone) – 1:32
  4. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (Tommy Ramone) – 2:24
  5. "Chain Saw" (Joey Ramone) – 1:56
  6. "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 1:35
  7. "I Don't Wanna Go Down to the Basement" (Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone) – 2:38
  8. "Loudmouth" (Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone) – 2:14
  9. "Havana Affair" (Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone) – 1:56
  10. "Listen to My Heart" (Ramones) – 1:58
  11. "53rd & 3rd" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:21
  12. "Let's Dance" (Jim Lee) – 1:51
  13. "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 1:42
  14. "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World" (Ramones) – 2:12

[edit] Rhino bonus tracks

  1. "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (demo)" – 3:02
  2. "Judy Is a Punk (demo)" – 1:36
  3. "I Don’t Care (demo)" – 1:55
  4. "I Can’t Be (demo)" – 1:56
  5. "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (demo)" – 1:42
  6. "I Don’t Wanna Be Learned/I Don’t Wanna Be Tamed (demo)" – 1:05
  7. "You Should Never Have Opened That Door (demo)" – 1:54
  8. "Blitzkrieg Bop (single version)" – 2:12

[edit] Recording details

[edit] References

  • Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ McNeil and McCain, p. 183.
  2. ^ McNeil and McCain, p. 212.
Ramones

Joey Ramone • Johnny Ramone • Dee Dee Ramone • Tommy Ramone • Marky Ramone • Richie Ramone • Elvis Ramone • C. J. Ramone
Discography

Studio albums: Ramones (1976) • Leave Home (1977) • Rocket to Russia (1977) • Road to Ruin (1978) • End of the Century (1980) • Pleasant Dreams (1981) • Subterranean Jungle (1983) • Too Tough to Die (1984) • Animal Boy (1986) • Halfway to Sanity (1987) • Brain Drain (1989) • Mondo Bizarro (1992) • Acid Eaters (1993) • ¡Adios Amigos! (1995)

Live albums: It's Alive (1979) • Loco Live (1991) • Greatest Hits Live (1996) • We're Outta Here (1997) • You Don't Come Close (2001) • NYC 1978 (2003)

Compilations: Ramones Mania (1988) • All The Stuff (And More!) Volume 1 (1990) • All The Stuff (And More!) Volume 2 (1990) • Hey Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology (1999) • Ramones Mania Vol. 2 (2000) • Masters of Rock: Ramones (2001) • Best of the Chrysalis Years (2002) • Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits (2002) • The Chrysalis Years (2002) • The Best of The Ramones (2004) • Weird Tales of the Ramones (2005) • Greatest Hits (2006)

Tribute Albums: Ramones (1992) • We're a Happy Family (2003)

Films: Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) • Lifestyles of the Ramones (1990) • Ramones - Around the World (1993) • We're Outta Here (1997) • End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003) • Ramones: Raw (2004)
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