ramones

Rip It Up, Issue 37, 1 August 1980, Page 8

ramones

George Kay

You couldn't call the Ramones a bunch of lazy punks. Already this year, they have toured the US, Europe and Australia. After their New Zealand visit they returned to New York for two weeks before heading off for Europe again. Johnny, the band’s guitarist, explains. “We play as much as possible. It keeps us all in shape. We like to think of ourselves as trained athletes." Going Soft? The release of their first album in 1976 motivated a generation of juveniles all over the world to start Ramone-clone bands. Initial critical reaction was good, and the band seemed set to take the Seventies by storm. Instead, they have had to watch the British bands who came after them climb higher and higher into the American charts, while mass acceptance has so far eluded them. Johnny feels that the Ramones have never deliberately aimed for commercial success. “People accuse us of making attempts at commercialism, but they really don’t understand that we are just making Ramone music. We would never go soft for monetary gain. It disappoints me to see bands like the Clash going soft to try to make it.” End of the Century It has been said that if the Ramones had never existed, there would never have been a band for Johnny to play in. He agrees, and adds, “The Ramones is right where I want to be. I wouldn't change it, no matter what.” The latest Ramones release is End of the Century. It further displays the maturity that has been evident in their song-writing since the departure of drummer/producer Tommy. He has been replaced behind the desk by legendary producer Phil Spector, who had been making vain attempts to work with the brudders since first seeing them in 1977, at LA's Roxy. Johnny comments, "All of a sudden it seemed like a good idea, after all, we had nothing to lose. The chance to use a real producer really started to excite us.” The end result was a wonderful synthesis of sixties and eighties pop, with the Wall of Sound giving depth Ramones songs have never known. Although the band were delighted with the result, Johnny insists that Spector won’t be with them when work starts on the next album in October. "We try to make every album unique. ft's a supreme challenge to keep giving the fans something new.” Despite Johnny's desire for freshness, End of the Century includes a song that dates back almost to the days of Ritchie Ramone (commemorated on the Rocket to Russia cover) who was fired for having "absolutely no musical talent”. Titled “Chinese Rock”, it was first recorded by ex-New York Doll, Johnny Thunders. Both parties claim credit for it. Johnny Ramone explains the brudders’ side of the story. “Thunders stole the song from us. He just changed a few lyrics, and then went around claiming he wrote it. We decided to include it on End of the Century because we do a better version.” Rock and Roll High School The Ramones made their screen debut in a B-Grade comedy, Rock and Roll High School. It featured the band doing ten songs and small bit parts and was well-received in the States. The British music press were not so receptive. Johnny is quick to defend the film. “English critics always try to dig too deep, trying to find hidden meanings that don’t exist. We did the movie purely out of fun it wasn't meant to be any kind of profound statement of youth. “The kids in England don’t take any notice of the music papers any more, they only read them to find out who’s playing where.” Johnny’s confident dismissal of the band’s critics is more than justified by their live show. Joey, the prize geek, with his head dropped, body rigid, seems to be supported by nothing but the microphone stand, while his sweet soaked brudders, Dee Dee and Johnny, bounce across the stage like runaway pneumatic drills. Mix this with some powerhouse drumming by newest member, Marky and you have pure and simple Ramones music timeless headbanging pop. Just what the world needs to make it through to the end of the century. Mark Phillips Ramones, Hoovers Christchurch Town Hall, July 24. Expectations, naturally enough, play a large part in determining whether or not a rock'n’roll act is going to deliver the required kick. Some rise well above,.some crash well below but the Ramones remained pretty close to expectations partly because of the quick-fire

homogeneity of their repetoire which leaves little margin for error, and the predictable gabbagabba response of the crowd. A Ramones concert must always be like this jammed stage-wise close enough to be doused in Dee Dee’s sweat, close enough to touch Johnny’s gym shoes and wonder how Joey manages to keep his hair the exact same length. So flag behind them they full-throttled into "Blitzkrieg Bop", what else? And if you weren't pogoing in the squash you were dead. I moved discreetly out of the way and proceeded to watch them try to live up to their legend and for the most part succeed. Dee Dee’s work-rate on bass never faltered, perpetual motion, Johnny ditto and he even managed to get a couple of kicks at a guy up front who was throwing his weight around. Joey stood permanently with one hand on the mike, legs apart and occasionally bellowed intros and Marky played drums. The emphasis, song-wise, fell on their first three classics as blocks of Ramones’ chords blasted out with the ease of four years frenzy. Disappointments were there imprecise hammerings of “Commando” and “Chinese Rocks" and they didn’t do “You’re Gonna Kill That Girl”. But the high points were plenty with "Surfer Bird”, echo vocals included, being perfect, and the first album bracket of “Let's Dance", “I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You” and “Today Your Love” registering a k.o. rock and roll and how. They were on stage one hour ten but it felt like three hours ten. I still haven’t ligured if that’s good or bad. Hoovers are a new Christchurch trio and let it be said that they opened for the Ramones. Combining an incongruous choice of nonoriginals (“So Lonely”, “Delilah” and "Back in the USSR”) with their own hastily assembled unsympathetic material they failed to elicit anything other than indifference bordering on antagonism from their local crowd. So they weren't about to blow Dee Dee and co off the stage.