Ramones - Subterranean Jungle front cover

Back on track with the Ramones. This is a great one. I mentioned a long time ago that I bought Subterranean Jungle (1983) at the same time I got U2’s War. The counter jockey was all about U2 and in my hostile teenage punk rock I mind I took that as slap on the Ramones. Because the Ramones were never going to be huge, but they were special to me, then and now. I’ve outgrown my punk rock defensiveness and the Ramones continued to get respect. Too bad the core three members are not around to see it.

The record opens with a cover, totally manly move, of “Little Bit O’ Soul.” It’s a perfect choice for them and they rock it proper. There’s even another cover, “Time Has Come Today,” on side two. But the originals are even better! My favorites are “Psycho Therapy” and “In the Park.” And then there are some ’60s style pop ditties like “My-My Kind of a Girl” that are both incongruous and killer at the same time. But wait! There goes “Highest Trails Above” playing on my turn table now. Another favorite; it makes me want to grab my guitar. And I’ll mention the album closer “Everytime (sic) I Eat Vegetables It Makes Me think of You” just for the title.

Long live The Ramones!

Ramones - Subterranean Jungle back cover

Ramones - Road to Ruin (album cover front)

Oh man was that a pathetically long period of non-posting. I’m pretty sure that’s a record, one that I hope will stand for a long time.

Back to our regularly scheduled program… Ramones, Road to Ruin (1978) was a big artistic leap forward for these guys. Some people like to think all their music is the same, but this record alone is proof against that. Overall it’s a more “melodic” album, with even a strummed pretty ditty called “Questioningly,” which is 100% power-chord-free. And oh yeah, there’s also a cover of the ’60s pop hit co-wrote by Sonny Bono, “Needles and Pins.” My favorite though is “Bad Brain.” That song eventually became the namesake of my all-time favorite band, Bad Brains. It’s true, they named themselves after a Ramones song.

One not-so-pleasant memory about Road to Ruin goes back to my teenage years. My friend John (last name removed to protect the guilty) and I went through a brief, and ultimately painful period of spray painting graffiti at places like our high school. John, being a huge Ramones fan at the time, chose to spray the words “Road to Ruin” on one of our outings.

To make a long story short, we were eventually ratted out, interrogated individually, we confessed, and then got suspended for a week I believe. To minimize the cost of removing the paint and just pay some dues, John and I spent some days over the winter break on our hand and knees with wire brushes and paint stripper trying to clean the bricks and concrete we had vandalized. It sucked. The whole thing sucked. I don’t even know why we did it. We were generally trouble-free kids. It’s one of the few things that I’m embarrassed about, and completely regret it. But there is this that makes me smile… John said that when he was getting grilled about it that the vice principal said in a deadpan way, “Looks like this was your road to ruin, John.” As John put it later, it was like something from a closing scene of Dragnet.

Ramones - Road to Ruin (album cover back)

Ramones - Leave Home front cover

I’ve probably played the Ramones’ Leave Home (1977) 20 times in the last week, which isn’t that hard to do since all of the 14 songs are under three minutes and many are less than two minutes. And the sound is perfect! I’m sure that is due in large part to Ed Stasium’s work as “engineer.” I didn’t realize he had anything to do with the Ramones until just now, but I did know he has worked on a long list of killer records.

There are many great tunes on here and I think my favorites are “Glad to See You Go” and brilliantly retro-sounding (even for ‘77) “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.” It’s as if the Ramones were channeling the Beach Boys.

Ramones - Leave Home back cover

More greatness from genius graphic artist Arturo Vega. I’m sure his contributions have had a lot to do with the continued popularity of the Ramones. This Ramones “seal” is as much a rock and roll icon as the band itself. “Look Out Below.”

Ramones - Leave Home seal detail

(Due to dicog disorganization I originally posted the next picture with the first Ramones record; it belongs to Leave Home.)

Because they’re so good looking someone decided to add another punk rock portrait on the album liner. Nerds? Tough guys? Gang? I wonder what people thought back in the ’70s.

Ramones - Leave Home liner notes

This copy of Leave Home is apparently the third release, and included the song “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.”

More about Leave Home by the Ramones

Ramones - Self-titled cover front

Pretty cool picture. This image was from an issue of Punk magazine. I like the minimalist layout and typography, sort of a prototype for some of the album art that Sub-Pop records would have years later. And speaking of minimalist, and cool, 14 songs in less than 30 minutes, and a solid hook in every number? That’s the brilliant self-titled record Ramones (1976). I was never that deep into the band back then, despite buying all the records and seeing them a dozen times, but lately I can’t stop playing the early stuff.

More great, great minimalist art on the back. This one is from Arturo Vega. He eventually did a lot of the Ramones’ artwork. Recognize the eagle? This is perfect.

Ramones - Self-titled cover back

More about this Ramones album at Wikipedia

All the ingredients, and the players, Bootsy Collins, Maceo Parker, McKnight, Shider, and more are here, but R&B Skeletons in the Closet (1986) is not the most vital piece of George Clinton’s body of work. Some of songs are perfect and some are down right grating. The two I like the most are “Hey Good Lookin” and the semi-hit “Do Fries Go With That Shake!?”

The album cover art alone is worth the price. I wish you could see it better, but I’m feeling too lazy for detail shots. In a nutshell the whole thing is a commentary on black artists that sell out to “cross over.”

Check out his “ObamaNation” at MySpace. It reminds of that blast from the past: “Paint the White House Black.” Look how many celebs are in this video!

I got to see Mr. Clinton, George that is, live somewhere between this album and that video. Maybe I’ll dig out the t-shirt I got and post that later.

Read more about George Clinton’s R&B Skeletons in the Closet at Wikipedia