R is for…Ramones! ‘It’s Alive’

1 2 3 4….

“New York, ice cream, TV, travel, good times
Norman Wisdom, Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee, good times”
So sang Phil Oakey, lead singer of The Human League in ‘The Things That Dreams Are Made Of’’, a song from their 1981 hit LP ‘Dare’. This lyric definitely got the ‘good times’ part right, as this celebration of the Ramones will testify. Referencing Norman Wisdom in the same line as the Ramones members might seem incongruous to those familiar with the English actor, who featured in comedy films in the 50s and 60s, but Wisdom in fact has an NYC connection, in common with the punk rockers, later forging a career on Broadway and as a TV actor in the USA.

The essence of the Ramones is contained within their first three studio albums, debut ‘Ramones’, sophomore ‘Leave Home’ and ‘Rocket To Russia’. The band started in the Forest Hills area of Queens, New York City, USA. The original ‘classic’ band line-up was Joey Ramone (born Jeffrey Hyman in Forest Hills, Queens, NYC, USA, 1951), Johnny Ramone (born John Cummings in Long Island, USA, 1948), Dee Dee Ramone (born Douglas Glenn Colvin in Fort Lee, Virginia, USA, 1951) and Tommy Ramone (born Tommy Erdelyi in Budapest, Hungary, 1949). The adopted surname united the four as brothers in a dysfunctional punk rock family, changing music and fashion forever. ‘It’s Alive’ captures the original band live in London, England on 31st December 1977, when they blasted out high octane versions of songs from their first three LPs at breakneck speed. These recordings would be the last to include drummer Tommy, a key ingredient to their sound. Tommy left of his own accord citing, amongst other reasons, that he found touring depressing.

The double vinyl live album was named after the 1974 science fiction horror film of the same name, directed by Larry Cohen, about a couple whose child turns out to be a vicious mutant – perhaps the band found some resonance in that! That film’s soundtrack is by veteran composer and conductor Bernard Hermann, who also scored ‘Taxi Driver’, Martin Scorsese’s film set in a ‘decaying and morally bankrupt’ New York City, another strong connection to the ‘brothers’ from Queens.

The recordings were chosen from four UK concerts recorded on that tour, allegedly chosen because of the excessive vandalism at the New Year’s Eve gig – ten rows of seats were thrown at the stage by fans after the performance. The ‘brothers’ blast through 28 songs in 53 minutes and 49 seconds with the shortest song, ‘Judy Is A Punk’, clocking in at 1:14 and the longest song, ‘Here Today, Gone Tomorrow’, at 2:55, still under 3 minutes!

It’s notable that there are four covers on the record, a nod to some of the band’s influences: ‘Surfin’ Bird’ was a 1963 single by The Trashmen, written by Al Frazier, Sonny Harris, Carl White, Turner Wilson who combined two R&B hits by The Rivingtons, ‘Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow’ and ‘The Bird’s the Word’. An excellent, if somewhat unhinged version of this psychobilly ditty was also recorded by The Cramps. ‘California Sun’ is a 1960 surf song written by Henry Glover and recorded by Joe Jones – The most commercially successful version was by The Riveras in 1964 and it slots in perfectly to the Ramones set, alongside originals like ‘Rockaway Beach’, which evoke this era. ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’ was written by Bobby Freeman, who recorded it in 1958, and notable later versions were hits for Cliff Richard & The Shadows and The Beach Boys. Chris Montez had a 1962 hit with ‘Let’s Dance’, written by Jim Leem, the Montez 45 featuring a catchy keyboard hook, which doesn’t appear on the Ramones version, just buzzsaw power chords bludgeoning through! Most original songs on the album were written by Joey or Dee Dee, or co-written by both. ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ was written by Dee Dee and Tommy and five songs are credited to ‘Ramones’.

In his book ‘Wicked Game – The True Story Of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey’, Michael Goldberg records how the Ramones four-night residency in the back room of the Savoy Tivoli bar in North Beach, San Francisco, in August 1976 was a catalyst for the founding of West Coast punk band The Avengers, which featured Wilsey on bass. Danny Furious, co-founder of that band described the Ramones gig he went to as “the sonic life-changing experience of a lifetime!” Goldberg reviewed the gig he saw with his wife Leslie in the Berkeley Barb and described the essence of the band perfectly:
“The music is loud and raw – Tommy Ramone’s frenzied drumming, the vicious buzz-saw power chording of the guitar and the jack-hammer-like bass. It strikes like a juggernaut storming through the New York streets, literally destroying audio comprehension of everyone in range.” [4.]

Pre-hardcore and speed metal, the Ramones played fast, and even faster live. Tommy has said that “We were the only ones doing that” [2.], accrediting the tempo to Johnny, saying that he saw speed as virtuosity. It obviously made Tommy’s job a challenge, as keeper of the beat, but also affected Joey, who had to slur and miss words just to be able to deliver the vocal lines, with Dee Dee citing using lots of black coffee to boost his energy levels. 

Bizarrely, ‘It’s Alive’ didn’t come out in the USA until the nineties, despite it capturing the band and the zeitgeist at its peak. In his book ‘Poison Heart’, Dee Dee Ramone explains that, in the late 70s, the band “made a far greater impact in England” [3.], partly due to DJ John Peel’s evening radio show and the emerging UK punk movement (note: It is common for our North American cousins to refer to the UK as ‘England’, something which can cause annoyance in the rest of the UK, but let’s give Dee Dee the benefit of the doubt, as the UK punk scene was centred in London). Dee Dee goes on to document the connections made in the UK, the venues the band played being larger than in the US, and the relationships with key characters from the punk movement such as Sid Vicious, Nancy Spungen and the Sex Pistols. This chaos must have had some influence on Dee Dee’s lifestyle, and possibly his substance abuse (!) although New York no doubt also played its part in that. From a UK perspective, NYC is held in high regard in alternative music circles, as home to CBGBs, The New York Dolls, Television, Patti Smith, The Ramones et al, as is the USA generally for punk roots which pre-date the UK chapter, as exhibited by The Stooges, MC5, The Velvet Underground and the aforementioned Dolls. The tough, cool, street look of the Ramones – torn jeans, t-shirts, black leather motorbike jackets and trainers (sneakers in the USA) – was in contrast to the UK punk attire, which was much more flamboyant and expressive, but the brothers style has arguably had more longevity. Successive waves of so-called ‘punk’ and ‘post punk’ movements have risen and fallen since, such is the circular nature of music and society.

None of the original members of the Ramones are still living: Joey passed away in 2001 in New York City, Dee Dee in 2002 in Los Angeles, California, Johnny in 2004 in Los Angeles and Tommy in 2014 in New York City, being the longest-surviving original member of the band. Dee Dee forged a solo career, releasing five albums of material. Tommy became a music producer and contributed to the 2006 LP by Uncle Monk. Two Joey Ramone solo albums were released posthumously. After ‘It’s Alive’, the band went on to record ten further studio albums, from 1980 to 1995, continued touring and released nine more live albums. I had the fortune to be at the Ramones gig on 14th  May 1986 at the Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh, Scotland, when they played a total of 33 songs! (see setlist at the end of this article – Fourteen of those songs were on the ‘It’s Alive’ album) It was a tour to promote their 1986 album ‘Animal Boy’, with Richie Ramone (aka Richard Reinhardt on drums and backing vocals), a time when Dee Dee was still in the band (1, 2, 3, 4….). Although Dee left the band in 1989, he continued to write songs for them, including three for the album ‘Mondo Bizarro’, released in 1992, which included ‘Poison Heart’, one of their best recordings, somewhat autobiographical in nature and the title of Dee Dee’s book, published in 1997.

The four later Ramones members, Marky, Richie, Elvis (aka Clem Burke, drummer from Blondie) and C.J., are still alive at the time of writing. The music of the Ramones lives on, as does the influence they have had on other bands, in recording, performance, fashion and attitude. 1, 2, 3, 4….Gabba Gabba Hey, Gabba Gabba Hey…

‘It’s Alive’
Originally released: April 1979
Label: Sire
Recorded at: The Rainbow Theatre, London, England, 31st December 1977
Produced by: Tommy Ramone and Ed Stasium
Cover art directed by Spencer Drate and John Gillespie 

‘It’s Alive’ personnel:
Joey Ramone – lead vocals
Johnny Ramone – guitar
Dee Dee Ramone – bass, backing vocals
Tommy Ramone – drums

‘It’s Alive’ tracklisting (as original double LP):
Side 1
1. Rockaway Beach
2. Teenage Lobotomy
3. Blitzkrieg Bop
4. I Wanna Be Well
5. Glad To See You Go
6. Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
7. You’re Gonna Kill That Girl

Side 2
8. I Don’t Care
9. Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
10. Havana Affair
11. Commando
12. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
13. Surfin’ Bird
14. Cretin Hop

Side 3
15. Listen To My Heart
16. California Sun
17. I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You
18. Pinhead
19. Do You Wanna Dance?
20. Chain Saw
21. Today Your Love, Tomorrow The World

Side 4
22. Now I Wanna Be A Good Boy
23. Judy Is A Punk
24. Suzy Is A Headbanger
25. Let’s Dance
26. Oh, Oh, I Love Her So
27. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue
28. We’re A Happy Family

Ramones (1976) 3,10, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27
Leave Home (1977) 5, 6, 7, 11, 16, 18, 22, 24, 26
Rocket To Russia (1977) 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 19, 28

References and photographs:
1. Ramones ‘It’s Alive’’ CD (author’s own collection)
2. True, E. (2002). ‘Hey Ho, Let’s Go – The Story Of The Ramones’. London: Omnibus Press.
3. Ramone, D. D. (Colvin, D.), with Kofman, V. (1997). ‘Poison Heart – Surviving The Ramones’. Trowbridge, Wiltshire: Cromwell Press.
4. Goldberg, M. (2022). ‘Wicked Game – The True Story Of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey’. Chicago, USA: Hozac Books. P101
5. Ramones concert setlist, 14th May 1986, Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland: https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/ramones/1986/edinburgh-playhouse-edinburgh-scotland-2bd5d026.html

Ramones concert setlist, 14th May 1986, Playhouse Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland [5.]:

Eat That Rat
Teenage Lobotomy
Psycho Therapy
Blitzkrieg Bop
Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio?
Freak of Nature
Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School
I Wanna Be Sedated
The KKK Took My Baby Away
Crummy Stuff
Loudmouth
Love Kills
Sheena Is a Punk Rocker
Glad to See You Go
I Just Want to Have Something to Do
Too Tough to Die
Mama’s Boy
Animal Boy
Wart Hog
Surfin’ Bird
Cretin Hop
I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You
Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World
Pinhead

Encore:
Chinese Rocks
Somebody Put Something in My Drink
Rockaway Beach

Encore 2:
Do You Wanna Dance?
California Sun
We’re a Happy Family

Encore 3:
Go Mental
Judy Is a Punk