Well , Brandon , You're right , too.....The Ramones tried to make their sound more commercial , or Sire tried to get them to do so by going for superstar Producers instead of Tommy Erdelyi ( Tho' I , too ,like Richie Cordell's production on"Subterranean Jungle" , but , again , the record would have benefitted from a real drummer throughout.) . But , a lot of their later songs only really sounded commercial in OUR world. Never mind the charts , they were'nt even getting airplay ! Barring Public Radio , and George Gimarc("PUNK dIARY")'s late night show in Dallas , I heard The Ramones a total of ONCE on the airwaves , when they were still a band. I still think "Road To Ruin" is a great album. I even like the "Country Rock" stuff , but , it was their way of keeping up with the changing times ("Punk is Dead" was already the word on the streets by 78-79.), without losing their edge or their identity. I DON'T THINK THEY REALLY FELT LIKE THEY'D HIT A BRICK WALL UNTIL "END OF THE CENTURY", If only because it was'nt up to their own expectations , and because Spector was a little...um ....meshuggah.
But , as I recall , Punk was getting coverage in the magazines , but, outside of Documetary footage, you'd scarcely see any of these bands on Television. You would'nt have heard them on the radio or in record stores , unless , maybe, you lived somewhere like LA or NYC.
THE LACK OF COVERAGE , SOMEHOW , AFFORDED THE RAMONES A CHANCE TO BUY SOME TIME. "ROCK'N'ROLL HIGH SCHOOL " COMPLEMENTED THE RAMONES IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY , EXCEPT COMMERCIAL VIABILITY , OR EARNED CREDIBILITY (THE CRITICS SEEMED JUST AS MIXED IN THEIR REACTIONS AS THE RECORD BUYING PUBLIC , FROM THE WORD "GO"). BESIDES , THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL - "THE 80'S ARE COMING ! BE A-SCARED !!!".
Brandon said:
well said, though they we're always trying to commercialize in fairness...they thought road to ruin would be top of the fucking pops and it really should have been. the early albums we're straight up american pop songs (in a good way if that makes sense).