Let's Rock and Roll with The Ramones

[The Curmudgeon]

When it comes to the masters of the three chord punk anthem, I'm a bit of a novice. Sure, I've dabbled but I would never say I have some huge number of Ramones songs at my disposal.

Until now.

I've mentioned before that I work in a town with a pretty healthy variety of music stores, and it was yesterday that I picked up the Ramones Anthology boxset (complete with hardback book!), that has a staggering 58 tracks on there. Fifty eight fucking songs, man. Where does one begin?

And that's where YOU come in. If you know of the Ramones, and I know a few people on here are, take a quick look at this gargantuan track listing and tell me any songs I should look out for; your particular favourites etc. I know of the famous Ramones songs; I Wanna Be Sedated, KKK Took My Baby Away, Blitzkrieg Bop.. but there's easily 50 songs on there that I have no idea what they sound like.

Here's the tracks, and what's surprising is the lack of "Baby I Love You", their one and only chart hit in the UK. It's a cover though so there's probably some copyright issues. Still a shame, though.

Disc: 1
1. Blizkrieg bop
2. Beat on the brat
3. Judy is a punk
4. I wanna be your boyfriend
5. 53rd and 3rd
6. Now I wanna sniff some glue
7. Glad to see you go
8. Gimme gimme shock treatment
9. I remember you
10. California sun
11. Commando
12. Swallow my pride
13. Carbona not glue
14. Pinhead
15. Sheena is a punk rocker
16. Cretin hop
17. Rockaway beach
18. Here today gone tomorrow
19. Teenage lobotomy
20. Surfin' bird
21. I don't care
22. I just want to have something to do
23. I wanna be sedated
24. Don't come close
25. She's the one
26. Needles and pins
27. Rock 'n' roll high school
28. I want you around
29. Do you remember rock 'n' roll radio
30. Chinese rock
31. Danny says
32. Baby I love you
Disc: 2
1. KKK took my baby away
2. She's a sensation
3. It's not my place (in the 9 to 5 world)
4. We want the airwaves
5. Psycho therapy
6. Howling at the moon (sha la la)
7. Mama's boy
8. Daytime dilemma (dangers of love)
9. I'm not afraid of life
10. Too tough to die
11. Endless vacation
12. My brain is hanging upside down
13. Somebody put something in my drink
14. Something to believe in
15. I don't want to live this life (anymore)
16. I wanna live
17. Garden of serenity
18. Merry Christmas (I don't wanna fight tonight)
19. Pet semetary
20. I believe in miracles
21. Tomorrow she goes away
22. Poison heart
23. I don't wanna grow up
24. She talks to rainbows
25. R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

[trashcanman]

Dude, you could listen to all of those in like an hour. Plus if you ask me for my favorite Ramones songs, the list will be longer than that. I REALLY love the Ramones. My personal must-hear faves from that list I'd recommend to you would be California Sun, Pinhead (if for no other reason than the Freaks references), Glad to See You Go, Chinese Rock, Howling at the Moon, My Brain is Hanging Upside Down, Something to Believe In, and Poison Heart. Honestly, though, you shouldn't skip any of them. In fact, you need more.

[The Curmudgeon]

It wasn't really the idea of me skipping any, it's just that 58 songs rattling by at 2 minutes long each there's no way I'm going to remember certain ones. I think our music tastes differ somewhat so I don't know if I'll have as much love for them as you do, Trash, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

As a Ramones fan, what did you think of the Phil Spector produced album, End of the Century? I loved it, but I can see it pissing a lot of hardcore fans off.

[trashcanman]

I love the Ramones top to bottom. I'm not one of those punk fans who thinks if a song has a guitar solo it's crap or anything dumb like that. The Ramones always wanted to be a pop group and most of their influences were groups like The Beatles and The Beach Boys. They invented punk as we know it because they sucked too much to play "real music" so they took early rock and roll, simplified it even beyond what it already was, and covered up their lack of musicianship with speed, attitude, and sonic power. Voila; punk rock. It should have surprised nobody when they softened up and started adding more layers and nuance to their production later in their career.

There's a quote from a documentary (can't remember which one or who said it) where someone said something like the first time you hear the Ramones you think it's stupid, The fifth time you hear them you think it's kind of catchy, and by the hundredth time you hear them, you are worshiping them. That's about right.

[The Curmudgeon]

I must've missed that you commented on here. That's a fantastic way of describing the Ramones, not being skilled enough to play "legit" so making up for it in other ways. That's just a perfect way of describing a band like that.

On the subject of punk, what's your take on the Sex Pistols? Is it true that they were pretty much manufactured and couldn't even play, and had to have session musicians play their instruments for them? That can't be true, can it?

[trashcanman]

No. They were put together by Malcolm McLaren after being inspired by The Ramones and their CBGB's buddies in New York, but the members were legit punks. I've read that Steve Jones played the bass on the album since the original bassist quit (and they used to turn Sid Vicious' bass off during performances when he was really bad), but Johnny Rotten wrote the lyrics and believed them enough to get stabbed in the street for "God Save the Queen", and I once saw a clip of Sid trolling the audience in Texas and getting hit in the mouth with a flying beer bottle (he spit out blood and then kept right on ranting) so I wouldn't say they were manufactured. McLaren was a typical rock manager publicity stunt guy and I'm sure he fits the bill, but if the band itself wasn't the real deal they wouldn't have lasted a week.