Today in 1977 The Ramones released the album Leave Home Forest Hills, Queens Punk rock Status:Split Up Years active 1974–1996 The Ramones were a punk rock band that formed in Queens, New York, United States, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk group. Despite achieving only limited commercial success, the band was a major influence on the punk rock movement both in the United States and the United Kingdom. All of the band members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname “Ramone”, though none of them were related. They performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years. In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played a farewell concert and disbanded. By a little more than eight years after the breakup, the band’s three founding members—lead singer Joey Ramone, guitarist Johnny Ramone, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone—had died. Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania. However, recognition of the band’s importance built over the years, and they are now cited in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone list of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time and VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2002, the Ramones were ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin magazine, trailing only The Beatles. On March 18, 2002, the Ramones—including the three founders and drummers Marky and Tommy Ramone—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2011, the group was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Formation: 1974–1975 Forest Hills High School, attended by the four original members of the Ramones The original members of the band met in and around the middle-class neighborhood of Forest Hills in the New York City borough of Queens. John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi had both been in a high-school garage band from 1966 to 1967 known as the Tangerine Puppets. They became friends with Douglas Colvin, who had recently moved to the area from Germany, and Jeffry Hyman, who was the initial lead singer of the glam rock band Sniper, founded in 1972. The Ramones began taking shape in early 1974, when Cummings and Colvin invited Hyman to join them in a band. The initial lineup featured Colvin on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Cummings on lead guitar, and Hyman on drums. Colvin, who soon switched from rhythm guitar to bass, was the first to adopt the name “Ramone”, calling himself Dee Dee Ramone. He was inspired by Paul McCartney’s use of the pseudonym Paul Ramon during his Silver Beatles days. Dee Dee convinced the other members to take on the name and came up with the idea of calling the band the Ramones. Hyman and Cummings became Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone, respectively. A friend of the band, Monte A. Melnick (later their tour manager), helped to arrange rehearsal time for them at Manhattan’s Performance Studios, where he worked. Johnny’s former bandmate Erdelyi was set to become their manager. Soon after the band was formed, Dee Dee realized that he could not sing and play his bass guitar simultaneously; with Erdelyi’s encouragement, Joey became the band’s new lead singer. Dee Dee would continue, however, to count off each song’s tempo with his signature rapid-fire shout of “1-2-3-4!” Joey soon similarly realized that he could not sing and play drums simultaneously and left the position of drummer. While auditioning prospective replacements, Erdelyi would often take to the drums and demonstrate how to play the songs. It became apparent that he was able to perform the group’s music better than anyone else, and he joined the band as Tommy Ramone. The Ramones played before an audience for the first time on March 30, 1974, at Performance Studios. The songs they played were very fast and very short; most clocked in at under two minutes. Around this time, a new music scene was emerging in New York centered around two clubs in downtown Manhattan—Max’s Kansas City and, more famously, CBGB (usually referred to as CBGB’s). The Ramones made their CBGB debut on August 16. Legs McNeil, who cofounded Punk magazine the following year, later described the impact of that performance: “They were all wearing these black leather jackets. And they counted off this song…and it was just this wall of noise… They looked so striking. These guys were not hippies. This was something completely new.” The band swiftly became regulars at the club, playing there seventy-four times by the end of the year. After garnering considerable attention for their performances—which averaged about seventeen minutes from beginning to end—the group was signed to a recording contract in late 1975 by Seymour Stein of Sire Records. Stein’s wife, Linda Stein, had seen the band play at CBGB; she would later co-manage them along with Danny Fields. By this time, the Ramones were recognized as leaders of the new scene that was increasingly being referred to as “punk”. The group’s unusual frontman had a lot to do with their impact. As Dee Dee explained, “All the other singers [in New York] were copying David Johansen [of The New York Dolls], who was copying Mick Jagger… But Joey was unique, totally unique.” Sire Joey Ramone – Lead vocals (R.I.P.2001) Johnny Ramone – Lead guitar (R.I.P.2004) Dee Dee Ramone – Bass guitar, backing vocals (R.I.P.2002) Tommy Ramone – drums, producer (R.I.P. 2014) All songs written and composed by Ramones; except where indicated. Actual writers of all songs credited to the Ramones listed below. Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. Glad to See You Go Dee Dee Ramone, Joey Ramone 2:10 2. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone 1:38 3. I Remember You Joey Ramone 2:15 4. Oh, Oh, I Love Her So Joey Ramone 2:03 5. Carbona Not Glue Ramones 1:56 6. Suzy Is a Headbanger (On some versions Suzy is spelt Susy, but it seems to be a misprint) Ramones 2:08 7. Pinhead Ramones 2:42 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 8. Now I Wanna Be a Good Boy Dee Dee Ramone 2:10 9. Swallow My Pride Dee Dee Ramone 2:03 10. Whats Your Game Joey Ramone 2:33 11. California Sun Henry Glover, Morris Levy 1:58 12. Commando Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone 1:51 13. Youre Gonna Kill That Girl Joey Ramone 2:36 14. You Should Never Have Opened That Door Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone 1:54 2001 Expanded Edition CD (Warner Archives/Rhino) bonus tracks No. Title Writer(s) Length 15. Babysitter (Leave Home outtake that replaced Carbona Not Glue) Ramones 2:44 16. Loudmouth Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone 2:08 17. Beat on the Brat Joey Ramone 2:36 18. Blitzkrieg Bop Tommy Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone 2:13 19. I Remember You Ramones 2:17 20. Glad to See You Go Joey Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone 2:03 21. Chain Saw Joey Ramone 1:51 22. 53rd & 3rd Dee Dee Ramone 2:27 23. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Tommy Ramone 2:22 24. Havana Affair Dee Dee Ramone 1:53 25. Listen to My Heart Dee Dee Ramone 1:47 26. California Sun Henry Glover, Morris Levy 1:58 27. Judy Is a Punk Joey Ramone 1:23 28. I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You Dee Dee Ramone 1:31 29. Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Dee Dee Ramone 2:52 30. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue Dee Dee Ramone 1:28 31. Let’s Dance Jim Lee 2:06 Tracks 16-31 recorded live at The Roxy in Hollywood, CA (8/12/76). Leave Home is the second studio album by American punk rock band the Ramones. It was released on January 10, 1977 through Sire Records. The album features the classic Ramones songs Pinhead and Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment. It is the only Ramones album to go through different incarnations on its original release, due to label controversy over the song Carbona Not Glue. The band had written most of the songs appearing on their first two albums by the time they were signed to Sire (as evidenced by the song listing of the 1976 live tracks appearing on the CD rerelease). They were placed roughly in chronological order on the first two albums; as explained by Johnny Ramone: We recorded them in the order they were written; we wanted to show a slight progression in song structure. Many fans and critics point to the more polished pop sensibilities of the second album as evidence of the bands evolving musical skill and style. The second album was recorded at the relatively upscale Sundragon Studios in Manhattan, New York. Craig Leon, the producer of the first album, Ramones, had left Sire Records by fall 1976 and was replaced by Tony Bongiovi. Bongiovi had mentored drummer Tommy Ramone while the two were working together at the Record Plant producing Jimi Hendrixs Band of Gypsys album. Tommy also assisted with production on the album, a role he would repeat for many later albums. Carbona controversy The original release included Carbona Not Glue as the fifth track on the album. However, the song was deleted from the album to avoid a potential lawsuit, as Carbona was a corporate trademark. The album was re-released with the single B-side Babysitter in its place. The British version with Babysitter does not list the name of this song on the back cover and on the inner sleeve. Its just referred on the vinyl itself. Most collectors believe that the Babysitter version is rarer than the Carbona version. When Sire Records suddenly switched distributors from ABC Records to Warner Bros. Records (who had bought the label), yet another version of the album was released, with Babysitter being replaced by Sheena Is a Punk Rocker, then a non-LP single already planned to be on the next Ramones album in a different mix. Rhino expanded rerelease Rhino Records re-released the album in a remastered format on June 19, 2001. The bonus tracks on this release are live tracks that encompass a full concert. They were recorded live at their first show at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, California on August 12, 1976. This release included both Carbona Not Glue and one of its replacements, Babysitter. The former was put back in its original place in the track sequence, and the latter was included at the end of the album, preceding the live bonus tracks. While the single mix of Sheena Is a Punk Rocker was not included here, it can be found on Rhinos expanded reissue of Rocket to Russia, as well as on multiple Ramones compilations, including the anthologies Ramones Mania and Hey Ho! Lets Go. Carbona Not Glue is a follow-up to the song Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue appearing on their first album. The band sarcastically suggested that the high obtained from sniffing Carbona cleaning solvent was more pleasurable than that of airplane glue. In the hardcover book included in some versions of Hey! Ho! Lets Go: The Anthology, Tommy Ramone says, Something like Carbona Not Glue has to be tongue-in-cheek. Its absurd, like saying that you should try something more poisonous. It was featured prominently in the graphic novel Ghost World by Dan Clowes. New York Radio station WNEW refused to play the song Glad to See You Go due to its off-the-cuff reference to Charles Manson. The song was actually written by Dee Dee about his volatile ex-girlfriend, Connie. Darlington (band) covered Glad to see you go on the limited-run Live Dallas 1999 CD release, which was released on indie label Mutant Pop Records and is no longer in print. Singer Christy Darlington stuck to the original arrangement. Pinhead was inspired after the band attended a screening of the 1932 film Freaks when a show in Ohio was canceled. The song became, along with Blitzkrieg Bop, something of an anthem for the band, as the chorus of Gabba gabba hey, based on the line from the film gooble gobble, gooble gobble, one of us, one of us (uttered in the song as gabba gabba/we accept you/we accept you/one of us) became a rallying cry for the band. At many shows a roadie named Bubbles in a pinhead mask would take to the stage at the end of the show, carrying a large sign with the phrase written on it. California Sun is a cover song originally recorded by The Rivieras in 1964 and also covered by The Dictators. youtube/watch?v=GT_2K4ddG7g
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 17:09:46 +0000