Doc Phibes (Good name. Don't kill any of your colleagues , though.) , That's not silly , that's BRILLIANT. I wish I could have shown this to my Godchild , when she was two , playing Riff Randall and Angel Dust with her Barbies , and later introducing herself as "I'm_ _ _ _ , Rock'n'Roller! My other friend's Daughter , same thing.

Young girls like Riff Randall , because she's a FAN , not some coke - snorting groupie whore like Angel....ANGEL DUST !
 Doc Phibes said:

haha, yeah love it!

we made a silly little tribute video some years ago:

Find more videos like this on GaragePunk Hideout


Alison said:

Joey Ramone in this scene from Rock N Roll High School is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

OH ! He was saying "Fun Fun". I thought it was "Pleased to meet you....PUNK ROCK ! So you wanna be a pinhead? Hmm. It's so much easier to pick my nose?!".......I love that stuff , like at the end of "We're a Happy Family" - "Hey , where are my socks? Hey , where are my underwear?    Tell me , my Son. What is Minimalism?" . It's like Cheech and Chong , when they'd slip little jokes under the main joke.
 
Mike M said:

We're a happy Family & I don't care are my favorite Ramones tunes, it's already been said it's hard to name a bad one. Glad I saw them when I had the chance.

Gabba gabba, pleased to meet you, fun fun....

haha, yeah love it!

we made a silly little tribute video some years ago:

Find more videos like this on GaragePunk Hideout


Alison said:

Joey Ramone in this scene from Rock N Roll High School is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

+1 for "You're Going to Kill that Girl"

and also "Teenage Lobotomy", "Bop Till You Drop", "Bonzo Goes To Bitburgh" and so much more.... no, can't decide - they were just great most of the time!

Jane Dear said:

"Chain Saw" + "You're Going to Kill that Girl" = my all time faves. 

We're a happy Family & I don't care are my favorite Ramones tunes, it's already been said it's hard to name a bad one. Glad I saw them when I had the chance.

Gabba gabba, pleased to meet you, fun fun....

No , I don't think it's too intellectual. I think you're right on the money. Dee Dee said , when he left , "Your fantasy of The Ramones is four Brothers , but , we were really more like four ANGRY Brothers". Dee Dee admitted , as a teen in Germany, it was very easy to score Morphine and buy a syringe in a drug store without a prescription. He said he got into different drugs , sometimes only smoking pot , but developing a full blown Heroin habit in New York . This was'nt a nice foil for Johnny's anti - semitic baiting of Joey. If he'd known Tommy was also Jewish , and that most of his family died in the Holocaust , he would have had a field day . But , Joey's personal , physical and psychological problems made him an easy target , and , things like his (Then Little - known) O.C.D. made just getting out of the house and into the van increasingly difficult for all concerned. It seems like Tommy kept it low - key , and handled the interviews , because he could articulate better than the others.    Tommy needed a change . He still only knew , like , three beats. It's easy to take pot - shots at Marky , and , later , Richie , because they could actually PLAY, but , Johnny just wanted to play faster , on stage. Tommy was born to produce. When he ceased to be their Producer , yes , THAT is where the trouble started. Not every hotshot drummer could hack it with The Ramones - look at Clem Burke /"Elvis Ramone"....Monster drummer , but I heard a recording of one of the shows they did together  , did'nt work.

 I remember reading that Culture Club's future Drummer was being considered for The Ramones. No one in the band(Except Johnny.) may have had a problem with a Gay drummer, but an English one ? I think not. Their self - image WAS THAT OF the ALL - AMERICAN BOYS WHO TOOK ENGLAND ON , IN A BLOODLESS COUP , AND WON.......
 
Manu said:

Best album: "Rocket to Russia"

Best analysis: a friend of mine told me (and I found it true) that the 20-year fight between Joey and Johnny helped to keep the spirit. Johnny obvisouly acted as a conservative asshole (not all conservatives are, though) BUT thanks to him, they kept the sound, they kept the look. I love Joey but he was attracted by diversity, which is great in general but could have dispersed them. In fact, the magics comes from the balance between the pop and humanist attitude of Joey, the cool and crazy Jewish boy from Queens and the punk and autoritarian attitude of Johnny, the white trash side of the band.

All those fights may have affected their health. Maybe. But a creative tension was there. You could probably touch it. And it gave great songs, like the KKK took my baby away.

Is my analysis too intellectual? Ok sorry. So... now... 1.2.3.4!!!!!!!!!!

 

"If we like it , we'll come and pay you and Mr. McGloob a visit !".
 
Alison said:

Joey Ramone in this scene from Rock N Roll High School is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

I couldn't have said it better, regarding the Pleasant Dreams vs End of Century!

End of the Century may have benefited from an aura of legend (with the story of Phil Spector and his gun on the boys) but it is overrated. Pleasant Dreams is clearly dominated by Joey and he was so good at bubblegum songs (especially 7-11!!!!!)

Thee Wild Wraith said:

The 1st two albums are just pure classics, every song is great. 3 and 4 were good, but for me not as good as the 1st two. After that it was just a slow march downward for the rest of their career. There were still good songs to be found here and there, but it seemed more and more forced as the years went on and they seemed to not give a crap about their later horrible albums at all.

I think a good jumping off point is when Dee Dee left the band, though they had been going downhill before that.

Even earlier, they were hurt when Tommy stopped being a producer. He got their sound and what they were all about in a way almost none of their later producers did. Even the later rather mediocre Too Tough to Die album benefited from his coming back to produce it and it helped a lot.

The thing is, at a certain point like many long running bands the guys started treating it as a job. Maybe for Johnny it was always just a job. He often said that it was. Once being in a punk rock band is a job...well that isn't really the point of a punk band is it?

My most controversial Ramones opinion: I've always thought Pleasant Dreams was a decent album. It just isn't a good RAMONES album. It's a pop album showcase for Joey. Most people seem to hate it. I like it much more than the highly overrated End of the Century. Phil Spector and the Ramones are not a good mix. Ramones songs need to be stripped down. Wall of sound style just defeats the whole purpose. For me Pleasant Dreams succeeded as a pop album where End of the Century failed as one.

Best album: "Rocket to Russia"

Best analysis: a friend of mine told me (and I found it true) that the 20-year fight between Joey and Johnny helped to keep the spirit. Johnny obvisouly acted as a conservative asshole (not all conservatives are, though) BUT thanks to him, they kept the sound, they kept the look. I love Joey but he was attracted by diversity, which is great in general but could have dispersed them. In fact, the magics comes from the balance between the pop and humanist attitude of Joey, the cool and crazy Jewish boy from Queens and the punk and autoritarian attitude of Johnny, the white trash side of the band.

All those fights may have affected their health. Maybe. But a creative tension was there. You could probably touch it. And it gave great songs, like the KKK took my baby away.

Is my analysis too intellectual? Ok sorry. So... now... 1.2.3.4!!!!!!!!!!

"Chain Saw" + "You're Going to Kill that Girl" = my all time faves. 

Alison said:

Joey Ramone in this scene from Rock N Roll High School is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

Just saw that movie. Great stuff!

Joey Ramone in this scene from Rock N Roll High School is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

It was still a big deal to me , when The Ramones would put out a new album , in the 80's and 90's. I'll take their worst over Nirvana and Soundgarden's best any day. I WAS A LITTLE TOO YOUNG TO RELATE TO PUNK , WHEN IT ARRIVED , AND TOO OLD TO RELATE TO GRUNGE , LATER ON.

Best tunes, sure. But subsequent LPs have at least one or two classic songs, esp. if ya like Girl Group sounds.

Worst one for me is that crappy Phil Spector one, even DeeDee says so.

johnny, dee dee, tommy, joey. all other line ups fail

'Baby I love you' is a pretty fresh tune. Phil Spectors stench all over it... 

Johnny Lurg said:

I always thought that ? & the Mysterians were the first band to be called punk.

One of the first. Dave Marsh wrote the legendary article in Creem in 1971 about seeing Question Mark play in a small club , and he referred to the music as being Punk. I INTERVIEWED QUESTION MARK IN , i THINK IT WAS 1997 , AND HE TOLD ME , "People used to call us "Punks" , I said , "Don't call US Punks !" , because , to be a Punk meant to be , like , a hoodlum , and that would have kept us from getting shows. I understand , the music being called "Punk" , now , but , it's not like The Sex Pistols ,
 it's not VIOLENT !".

Johnny Lurg said:

I always thought that ? & the Mysterians were the first band to be called punk.

I always thought that ? & the Mysterians were the first band to be called punk.

Yah, it's a real time capsule! I need to finish it, too...

"Why don't You do something?" he asks that girl. Pretty funny...

John Battles said:

I just watched part of it. I love how that guy's bell bottoms are SO huge , when he crosses his legs , one knee gets caught in the other pant leg.
 
dave said:

Another interview-

The Ramones On EAUGTV -- 1978

My pleasure, Mike! Don't be a stranger...

Mike said:

Thanks for posting that! Love Stiv's cameo at the end too.

dave said:

Another interview-

The Ramones On EAUGTV -- 1978

Thanks for posting that! Love Stiv's cameo at the end too.

dave said:

Another interview-

The Ramones On EAUGTV -- 1978

I just watched part of it. I love how that guy's bell bottoms are SO huge , when he crosses his legs , one knee gets caught in the other pant leg.
 
dave said:

Another interview-

The Ramones On EAUGTV -- 1978

Another interview-

The Ramones On EAUGTV -- 1978