Album: Ramones, Ramones, 1976 (cassette reissue)
Best Track: "Let's Dance"
Lasting Memory: Remember that time that absolutely rocked? That was the time I was listening to the Ramones debut album because, you know, Ramones rocks.
1, 2, 3, 4 ....
Lots of bands before and since 1976 have rocked. What always set the Ramones apart from their progenitors, peers, and progeny, though, is that beneath the leather jackets and power chords beat the pure heart of a bubblegum pop act doing girl-group numbers.
Would the New York Dolls have been anything but scary if they had sung "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend?"
If the Sex Pistols had suggested "Let's Dance," would the audience have agreed?
Could Green Day sound as deludely charming when claiming "Today Your love, Tomorrow the World?"
No, no, and good God no.
The highlight of many a Ramones album, as I'll make eye-bleedingly clear as I blog through damn near the band's entire discography over the next couple of weeks, is a garage punk cover of a Motown, Stax, or Brill Building classic. And even on a majority of their originals, the Ramones' essential sweetness shows through.hat
Picture Slipknot recording a song titled "Beat on the Brat," for instance. I guarantee you t you didn't conjure this, which for all of its intended menance plays more like a lullaby than a felony.
Up Next: Ramones, Leave Home, 1977 (cassette reissue)
1 comment:
Dizzy never pays any attention to the noise that comes from my computer's speakers; when I hit "play" on that video, he came over to see what it was.
To me, that sums up all the glory of The Ramones.
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