So, Tommy Ramone, the last of the original Ramones is dead. Sad, fucking sad. Tommy was one of the architects behind the the band, supposedly only taking the drum stool after auditions failed to secure anyone capable of understanding what the band was doing. When the band lost its way in a fog of big-name producers in the early 80's, it was Tommy who took the producers helm for the comeback album "Too Tough To Die and righted the Good Ship Ramone.
Here's an artifact of the Tommy-era. The sound is dirty as hell but it's still amazing that this not only exists but how how clearly it demonstrates the band's focus well before the recording of the first album.
The fact that this was filmed says that a lot of people, artistic director Arturo Vega not least among them, knew that something earth-shaking was afoot in NYC.
Ramones-maniacs:
What do you make of this super-early Ramones performance?
It seems a shame that it not only took one of America's greatest bands, The Ramones (more HERE), twenty years to tackle a track from one of America's greatest singer-songwriters, Bob Dylan, but that when they finally did tackle a Dylan tune then-new bassist CJ Ramone took over vocal duties from main man, Joey Ramone. CJ's vocals do give their version an even-greater rawness than Joey's fractured croon would have but Joey, as his cover of "What A Wonderful World" would soon prove, had the better chops and phrasing to wrestle with the mighty lyrics Dylan provided.
So what we have here is a short, solid session The Ramones did in the MTV studios in 1994 that contains two classics ("I Wanna Be Sedated" and "Rockaway Beach") with one of the stronger tracks from Mondo Biazarro ("Strength To Endure") and a preview of Acid Eaters in the form of the aforementioned cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages" (which I'm guessing da bruddas learned from The Byrds).
Ramones-maniacs:
What do you make of their cover of 'My Back Pages"?
While we had a great reaction to our posting of The Rolling Stones and the Dead Kennedys [!] comics (see HERE), MRML is not planing on becoming a 'scan blog'. However, thanks to Big Scott we've received an avalanche of rock n' roll comics, including the comic from the Weird Tales of the Ramones set. (More Ramones HERE)
Rather than go the autobiographical route, this comic uses some amazing artists including Sergio Aragones (Mad Magazine), Bill Stout (EC Comics), Bill Griffith (Zippy The Pinhead), Xaime Hernandez (Love And Rockets), and Matt Groening (The Simpsons) to illustrate different aspect of the Ramones career..
MRML Readers,
Let us know what you make of this Ramones comic and whether you want to see more rare rock n' roll comics in the COMMENTS section!
.
Update: This is not to be confused with the issue of
Revolutionary Comics called The Ramones: The Birth of Punk, pictured above.
If any one has a
scan of that, please let me know!
Hey, if you're interested in MRML re-upping some of the lost treasures from our archives, go HERE to make your requests!
To celebrate the end of their slow-motion break-up, the Ramones (more HERE) released a lavishly packaged recording of their final show in 1997. This now out-f-print set features guest appearances by Dee Dee, Lemmy from Motorhead, Lars and Tim from Rancid, Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden and, for better or worse, Eddie Vedder of Pear Jam fame.
Track Listing
1. "Durango '95"
2. "Teenage Lobotomy"
3. "Psycho Therapy"
4. "Blitzkrieg Bop"
5 "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?"
6. "I Believe in Miracles"
7. "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment"
8. "Rock 'n' Roll High School"
9. "I Wanna Be Sedated"
10. "Spider-Man"
11. "The KKK Took My Baby Away"
12. "I Just Wanna Have Something to Do"
13. "Commando"
14. "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker"
15. "Rockaway Beach"
16. "Pet Sematary"
17. "The Crusher"
18. "Love Kills" (featuring Dee Dee Ramone)
19. "Do You Wanna Dance"
20. "Somebody Put Something in My Drink"
21. "I Don't Want You"
22. "Wart Hog"
23. "Cretin Hop"
24. "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." (featuring Lemmy of Motörhead)
25. "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World"
26. "Pinhead"
27. "53rd & 3rd" (featuring Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid)
28. "Listen to My Heart" (featuring Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid)
29. "We're a Happy Family" (featuring Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid)
30. "Chinese Rocks" (featuring Chris Cornell and Ben Shepherd of Soundgarden)
31. "Beat on the Brat"
32. "Any Way You Want It" (featuring Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam)
Ramones-maniacs:
What do you make of this last gasp of the Ramones?
Sure you knew the Ramones (more HERE) licensed "Blitzkrieg Bop" to Budweiser but did you know they wrote and recorded a trio of tracks for the Steel Reserves Brewing Company back in 1994? Well, the weird thing is not only did they do that but that the songs are gallons of fun, much more so then a lot of the CJ era. Since I've never even heard of Steel Reserves beer, I'm able to enjoy these without bitter sell-out after-taste
While I have no song-writing credits on these songs, "Gimme My Steel Reserve" bears more than a passing resemblance to Dee Dee's "All is Quiet on the Eastern Front" from 1981's Pleasant Dreams.
Ramones-maniacs:
Whaddya make of the Ramones flogging beer? Let us know in the COMMENTS section
So, yeah, I ordered the Ramones (more HERE) album, Mondo Bizarro the other day from one of my local record stores. I'm ready. I was deeply disappointed back in '92 but over the years I've come to see the albums strengths outweighing its weakness. Other than the fact that it is obviously from 1992, I don't know the exact source of these live tracks, all from Mondo Bizarro, otherthan that they were recorded for radio broadcast along with an interview with Joey. The fact that they aren't playing at Loco speed, makes me suspect that this may have been recorded from a music industry gig of some sort. Enjoy!
1. Intro
2. Interview with Joey
3. Take it as it Comes (live)
4. Censorshit (live)
5. Poison Heart (live)
6. Strength to Endure (live)
Ramones-maniacs:
What do you think of Mondo Bizarro's place in the Ramones discography? Let us know in the COMMENTS section!
I bought some kid's cassette copy of the Ramones (more HERE) Too Tough To Die for $2.00 back in 1984. He was just waving it around in the hallway looking for offers. At the time I only owned LP's of End of the Century and Road to Ruin and wasn't yet a fanatic.
Too Tough To Die was one the albums that really kicked off my never-ending Ramones bender (the other being It's Alive). While I know it is not their absolute prime, I still love the Richie era, especially TTTD and Animal Boy. This BBC concert comes from the tour for Halfway To Sanity (my least favourite of the Richie era) and finds the band racing through hits old and new in controlled fashion.
If you like your Ramones (more HERE) primitive (and who doesn't, really?) then this piece of history is for you. The sound is dirty as hell but it's still amazing that this not only exists but how how clearly it demonstrates the band's focus well before the recording of the first album.
The fact that this was filmed says that a lot of people, artistic director Arturo Vega not least among them, knew that something earth-shaking was afoot in NYC.
Ramones-maniacs:
What do you make of this super-early Ramones performance?
Here's a somewhat famous bootleg of a Ramones (more HERE) FM broadcast that was recorded live at My Father's Place in July, 1982. At this point the band is still touring the under-rated-if-over-produced album, Pleasant Dreams, still have Marky on the kit and have not yet hit their top speed. Not only is it good to hear the songs from the Spector-Gouldman era in raw form but you also get to hear the band tear through the Jan & Dean (and Brian Wilson) song, "Surf City", which they wouldn't record for another decade.
CD # 1:
1. intro
2. Do You Remember Rock-n-Roll Radio?
3. Do You Wanna Dance?
4. Blitzkrieg Bop
5. This Business Is Killing Me
6. All's Quiet On The Eastern Front
7. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
8. Rock-n-Roll High School
9. I Wanna Be Sedated
10. Beat On The Brat
11. The KKK Took My Baby Away
12. Commando
13. Come On Now
14. Suzy Is A Headbanger
15. Let's Dance
16. Needles and Pins
17. I'm Affected
18. Chinese Rock
19. Rockaway Beach
20. Teenage Lobotomy
CD # 2:
1. Surfin' Bird
2. Cretin Hop
3. California Sun
4. Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World
5. Pinhead
6. 53rd and 3rd
7. Judy Is A Punk
8. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
9. We Want The Airwaves
10. I Just Want To Have Something To Do
11. We're A Happy Family
12. Surf City
13. I Don't Want You
14. Go Mental
A pleasant find indeed this one. These are the early '81 demos for what may be the Ramones pop-iest album, Pleasant Dreams. NONE of these demos appear on Rhino's 2002 re-issue of Pleasant Dreams. These demos do demonstrate that this was going to be a pop album, whether Graham Gouldman manned the board or not, due to the heavy presence of Joey and his songs. The sound quality is good, if a little box-y, and the track selection perfect for us fanatics that already bought the real thing!
Pleasant Dreams Demos
NY, Jan-Feb 1981
01 Sitting in My Room
02 She's a Sensation
03 She's a Sensation(take 2)
04 Yeah, Yeah
05 7-11
06 Don't Go
07 This Business Is Killing Me
08 Wasn't Looking For Love
09 You Sound Like You're Sick
10 The KKK Took My Baby Away
11 All's Quiet on the Eastern Front
12 Come On Now
Ramones-maniacs:
Whaddya think of Pleasant Dreams? Let us know in the COMMENTS section
It's the end of the seventies, the Ramones are about to unleash the more carefully-constructed End of the Century album on an unprepared world but things on the stage are still a pure forward motion, as this soundboard recording from New year's Eve 1979 proves. Critics and fans alike have tepid feelings about End of the Century but I consider it the last piece of their golden era. What about you?
THE RAMONES - 1-2-3-4 DIE
Live at The Palladium, New York - December 31, 1979
Stereo Soundboard :: Recording 320Kbps.
01 Blitzkrieg Bop
02 Teenage Labotomy
03 Rockaway Beach
04 I Don't Want You
05 Go Mental
06 Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
07 I Wanna Be Sedated
08 I Just Want To Have Something To Do
09 She's The One
10 This Ain't Havana
11 I'm Against It
12 Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
13 Havana Affair
14 Commando
15 Needles And Pins
16 I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
17 Surfin' Bird
18 Cretin Hop
19 All The Way
20 Judy Is A Punk
21 California Sun
22 I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
23 Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World
24 Pinhead
25 Do you Wanna Dance?
26 Suzy Is A Headbanger
27 Let's Dance
28 Chinese Rock
29 Beat On The Brat
30 We're A Happy Family
31 Bad Brain
32 I Wanted Everything
Ramones-maniacs:
What's your take onEnd of the Century? Do you wanna hear MORE MORE MORE Ramones rarities?
Yesterday we talked about the Ramones live albums and posted a raging show from '76 (see HERE). This show, a clear-sounding FM broadcast recorded just a month after the recording of It's Alive, is a scorching set of songs from the first three albums - what many consider the band's peak.
THE RAMONES
OLD WALDORF,
SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA,USA
JANUARY 31,1978
EARLY SHOW
1-Rockaway Beach >
2-Teenage Lobotomy
3-Blitzkrieg Bop
4-I Wanna Be Well
5-Glad To See You Go
6-Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
7-You're Gonna Kill That Girl
8-I Don't Care
9-Sheena Is A Punk Rocker >
10-Havana Affair >
11-Commando
12-Here Today Gone Tomorrow
13-Surfin' Bird >
14-Cretin Hop
15-Listen To My Heart >
16-California Sun >
17-I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You >
18-Pinhead
19-Crowd/Radio Announcers
20-Do You Wanna Dance? >
21-Oh Oh I Love Her So >
22-Today Your Love Tomorrow The World
23-Crowd/Radio Announcers
24-We're A Happy Family >
25-Suzy Is A Headbanger >
26-Let's Dance
Yeterday, I bought two live Ramones albums.
First it was Greatest Hits Live (with "'Spiderman" and "Any Way You Want It" as bonus tracks) for $3.50, then the double CD version of Loco Live (paid for in trade). Partly, this is a sign of degenerative addiction, scavenging for a fix from more and more dubious sources and partly it's a re-assessment of the band's later days.
I won't deny that, like Bob Dylan, relentless touring did the band's reputation a lot of damage in the nineties. While Dylan disillusioned a lot of his fans by re-arranging songs on the fly, the Ramones lost a lot of fans by just playing ever faster.
Now I see a pride in Dylan's refusal to pander to the crowds and in the Ramones refusal to become just another boring rock band striving for validation. The Ramones and Dylan made the culture come to them and they didn't make it easy.
Of course, whatever your judgement of their nineties roadwork, Dylan, with the "Royal Albert Hall" Concert and the Ramones with It's Alive did put out two of the greatest concert albums in history.
So with that talk out of the way, let us turn to the Ramones of '76, ripping up the clubs of America and kicking off a revolution.This show, still the Tommy-Johnny-Dee Dee-Joey line-up, is an excellent oundboard recording - enjoy, fellow Pinheads!
May 12, 1976 (or May 21, 1976)
The Club, Cambridge, MA
Soundboard
01 - Blitzkrieg Bop
02 - I Remember You
03 - Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
04 - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
05 - 53rd & 3rd
06 - Havana Affair
07 - California Sun
08 - Judy Is a Punk
09 - I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
10 - Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World
11 - Beat On The Brat
12 - Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
13 - Swallow My Pride
14 - Glad To See You Go
15 - Chain Saw
16 - Listen To My Heart
17 - Babysitter
18 - Oh Oh I Love Her So
19 - Commando
20 - Let's Dance
I was at school. A student knocked on my door and blurted out, "Joey Ramone died!" The sense of loss hit me immediately, probably more than any other musical death I'd experienced. I'd admired Joey, hell looked up to him, since I was fourteen and now he was gone and so quickly. In Joey, I saw a reflection of my own awkwardness and that of a friend who'd taken his own life. Losing someone in whom you see part of yourself, a part of your community churns up your guts, leaving a feeling of upset that never totally goes away.
Before Joey Ramone (more HERE) died in the spring of 2001, he did play one last show in New York City, which, judging by the Chritmas-y set list, was probably in December 2000. The backing band, I believe, consists of Marky Ramone, Andy Shernoff and Daniel Rey. Though, as you can tell, I don't have all the precise details on this final performance (anyone?), I'd like to offer it to you as a way to fill a bit of the Joey-sized void so many of us share.
Readers, How did you react when you heard Joey had died?
After Joey Ramone (more HERE) and punk rocker super-ish-group 22 Jacks, recorded "I'll Be With you Tonite" for a Cheap Trick tribute album, they played a show together in 1997 at Johnny Depp's LA night club, The Viper Room. It's a cool set list. There's a few tracks from the then-forthcoming Don't Worry About Me, a batch of Ramones "hits" and, as was standard during Joey's solo performances, he does a run-through of End of the Century's "Danny Says" which he clearly felt, as I always have, was a drastically-unappreciated song.
The Viper Room, November 11, 1997
01. Wonderful World
02. Rockaway Beach
03. Carbona Not Glue
04. Sheena Is A Punkrocker
05. Danny Says
06. 1969
07. I Don't Care
08. Blitzkrieg Bop
09. California Sun
10. I Wanna Be Sedated
Apparently the line-up that recorded the "I Am Seeing UFO's" single (See HERE) also played live, albeit with with Michael Wildwood of DGeneration instead of Marky Ramone in charge of the backbeat.
On this Fourth of July, 1997 night Joey Ramone (more HERE) sang a few songs with The Dictators as well as with his band for a blasting set of Ramones classics (and one Who cover!)
The sound is good (soundboard, I believe) and you can peruse the set list in the in the in the image below.
Readers,
Two questions:
Whaddya think of Joey/Dee Dee/Dictators alliance?
Do ya want the Joey rarities ONSLAUGHT to continue?
Sobering thought of the day: all the primary players on this single - Dee Dee Ramone, Joey Ramone (more HERE) and Lux Interior are dead. That NYC scene of the seventies did produce a lot of doomed men. So, while we still mourn the ever-painful loss of dead, talented men today - we also celebrate their ass-kicking with the posting of this low-budget-but-blitzkreiging out-of-print 1997 single.
Dee Dee Ramone: Guitar
Barbara Ramone: Bass
Daniel Rey: Guitar
Marky Ramone: Drums
Joey Ramone: Lead Vocals (1)
Lux Interior: Lead Vocals (2)
MRML is a blog about the devestating effects of culture: music, politics, comics plus etc. blah blah blah. At times MRML will post fine, unpurchasable three-chord obscurica (punk, pop-punk, new wave, mod, power-pop, gospel, reggae, hardcore, rockabilly, folk, country...whatever.) - - - - - - "The otherwise unavailable files in this blog are posted for a limited time and are intended for educational, non-commercial use. These files were transcribed from what are believed to be out-of-print sources. If you are aware of any of these items being readily available from commercial sources, or if any of these files infringe upon rights that you hold, please notify us so that we can quickly remove the referenced items immediately." - - - SUPPORT THE ARTISTS - BUY MUSIC!
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