They say that the Raomones have sold more t-shirts than albums. The infamous eagle with bat image seems everywhere and bootlegged numerous times. What an honor to a silly band from Queens
The punk days are back and its cool to see its modern twist. With the CBGB Festival going down this week in NYC it’s a great time to pause and reflect on the birth of the movement. I am a big fan of Rhino Records, they seem to power through with intersting compilations and offerings and a six disc set from the ‘hey ho lets go’ guys is a fabulous gift (for me).
How do you top the start when youre first album, simply titled Ramones, includes ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, ‘Beat On The Brat’, ‘Judy Is A Punk’, and ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’—and runs only 32 minutes.
Their next lp “Leave Home” gave us less chainsaw and more punk melody with ‘What’s Your Game’, ‘Swallow My Pride’, and ‘I Remember You’. But the chain saw guitars were still sharp in songs like ‘Glad To See You Go’, ‘Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment’, and ‘Pinhead’ with its classic “Gabba Gabba Hey!” chant.
Four more albums are in this Rhino Box and with it you’re well on your way to become a Ramones fan rather than just a T-shirt wearer. The band was amazing live if only for their simplistic approach. Long before the gimmicks 4 guys in motorcycle jackets ruled the world.
Here’s your history lesson straight from Rhino:
So it’s 1974. High school buddies Jeffrey Hyman, John Cummings, Douglas Colvin and Tom Erdelyi are sitting there in Queens, eating refried beans. They’re listening to WABC play “Bennie and the Jets,” “Tin Man,” and “Seasons in the Sun.” Jeffrey says, “Hey, man, that don’t move me. We’ve got leather jackets. We know two or three chords. Let’s get real, real gone for a change. Let’s all change our names to Ramone. McCartney used to call himself Phil Ramone back when he was in the Silver Beatles, O.K.?” And Jeffrey becomes Joey Ramone, John becomes Johnny Ramone, Douglas becomes Dee Dee Ramone and Tom becomes Tommy Ramone.
The box releases October 29th.