Rocket to Russia

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Rocket to Russia
Studio album by Ramones
Released	November 4, 1977
Recorded	August – September 1977 at Media Sound Studios, Midtown Manhattan
Genre	Punk rock
Length	31:55
Label	Sire
Producer	Tony Bongiovi, Tommy Erdelyi
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A) link Rolling Stone link Rhino Records Expanded Release: All Music Guide link
Ramones chronology
Leave Home (1977) Rocket to Russia (1977) Road to Ruin (1978)

Rocket to Russia is the third album by American punk group the Ramones. Released on November 4, 1977, the album incorporates surf rock and other influences. It includes some of the Ramones' best-known songs, including "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and "Teenage Lobotomy". In 2003, the album was ranked number 105 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Contents 1 History 2 Song information 3 Track listing 3.1 Rhino bonus tracks 4 Personnel 4.1 Ramones 4.2 Additional personnel

[edit] History

The album was recorded in late August 1977 at Media Sound studios in Midtown Manhattan. The cost of recording Rocket to Russia was roughly $25,000, which was significantly higher than that of the band's two previous records. At the request of guitarist Johnny Ramone, Punk Magazine editor and illustrator John Holmstrom produced the sleeve art, a cartoonish view of the world from a rocketship with a pinhead, emblematic of the band, grabbing onto it. In 1978, the album peaked at #49 on the Billboard pop albums chart, making it one of the band's most popular releases.

On June 19, 2001, Rhino Records re-released the album. In addition to remastering the tracks from the original album, it included alternate versions of album tracks as well as a B-side.

[edit] Song information

"Rockaway Beach", penned by bassist Dee Dee Ramone in the style of the Beach Boys and other early rock 'n' roll bands, was written about Rockaway Beach, Queens, where Dee Dee liked to spend time. Johnny Ramone claimed that Dee Dee was the only real beachgoer in the group^{[citation needed]}. Released in 1977, it was the Ramones' highest charting single in their career, hitting #66 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Rockaway Beach" has been covered by Finnish punk rock band Ne Luumäet (in Finnish, "Hiekkaa Hietarannan"), Swedish rock band Sahara Hotnights and Canadian rock band Deja Voodoo (also in Finnish).

"Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" was written by lead singer Joey Ramone as a reference to a punk rock fan. Like "Rockaway Beach", it is one of their more popular and enduring songs^{[citation needed]}, showing the band's surf rock influences, and was arguably one of the first songs to reference punk rock in the title (the earlier "Judy Is a Punk" most likely meant the term in a somewhat different light)^{[citation needed]}.

"Surfin' Bird" is a cover of the original song by The Trashmen. "Do You Wanna Dance?" was written by Bobby Freeman in 1958, but is probably best known for a 1965 cover by the Beach Boys.

"I Don't Care", one of the first songs the group ever wrote, was originally recorded as a demo for their first album, Ramones.

"Cretin Hop" was played in the onstage fight scene in the punk movie SLC Punk.

"Rockaway Beach" and "Teenage Lobotomy" are available for download in the music game Rock Band.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by the Ramones except where indicated.

1. "Cretin Hop" (Tommy Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone)– 1:55
2. "Rockaway Beach" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:06
3. "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" (Joey Ramone) – 2:49
4. "Locket Love" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:11
5. "I Don't Care" (Joey Ramone) – 1:39
6. "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" (Joey Ramone) – 2:49
7. "We're a Happy Family" – 2:40
8. "Teenage Lobotomy" – 2:01
9. "Do You Wanna Dance?" (Bobby Freeman) – 1:55
10. "I Wanna Be Well" (Joey Ramone) – 2:28
11. "I Can't Give You Anything" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:01
12. "Ramona" – 2:38
13. "Surfin' Bird" (Carl White / Alfred Frazier / John Harris / Turner Wilson) – 2:37
14. "Why Is It Always This Way?" – 2:22

[edit] Rhino bonus tracks

15. "Needles & Pins (early version)" (Sonny Bono / Jack Nitzsche) – 2:24
16. "Slug (demo)" (Joey Ramone) – 2:23
17. "It’s a Long Way Back to Germany (UK B-side)" (Dee Dee Ramone) – 2:22
18. "I Don’t Care (single version)" – 1:40
19. "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (single version)" – 2:48

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Ramones

• Joey Ramone – lead vocals
• Johnny Ramone – guitar
• Dee Dee Ramone – bass, backing vocals
• Tommy Ramone – drums, producer

[edit] Additional personnel

• Tony Bongiovi – producer
• Ed Stasium – engineer
• Don Berman – assistant engineer
• Greg Calbi – mastering
• Danny Fields – photography
• John Holmstrom – artwork

v • d • e Ramones Joey Ramone • Johnny Ramone • Dee Dee Ramone • Tommy Ramone • Marky Ramone C. J. Ramone • Richie Ramone • Elvis Ramone 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 Gabba Gabba Hey: A Tribute to the Ramones (1991) • Ramones (1992) • Rocket to Russia (1994) • Rocket to Ramonia (1996) • Road to Ruin (1998) • Leave Home (1998) • Blitzkrieg Over You (1998) • File Under Ramones (1999) • The Song Ramones The Same (2002) • We're a Happy Family - A Tribute to Ramones (2003) Films Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) • Lifestyles of the Ramones (1990) • We're Outta Here (1997) • Ramones - Around the World (1998) • End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003) • Ramones: Raw (2004) • It's Alive 1974-1996 (2007)