| features in: Album Chart of 1977 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1970s |
’77 was a big year for the Ramones hombres, with two LPs, “Leave Home” (January) and “Rocket To Russia” (November) cementing their stature as leading lights of the new punk movement. Still there was no major commercial breakthrough, but for those who were keeping an eye on them, your over-the-counter fiver was a safe bet that was guaranteed to deliver a generous payback. The album cover, snapped in the garbage-strewn alley behind CBGB, looks promising, and the content doesn’t disappoint. Opener “Cretin Hop” takes the mickey out the pogoing punks “You gotta keep it beatin’ for the hopping cretins”. Being slagged-off was never so much fun. A quick 1-2-3-4 and we’re off on a seemingly idyllic jolly to “Rockaway Beach”. Apparently “it’s not hard, not far to reach, we can hitch a ride to Rockaway Beach” although the place was later described by the band as “a sewer where miscreants hung”.
Album by album, we’re getting to meet all of the Ramones girl friends; following on from “Judy Is A Punk” and “Suzy Is A Headbanger”, we learn that “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker”. Sheena is a Punk convert from the discotheques. In ’77, there’s a Sheena in every City of the western world. It’s a close call, but of all the girls so far I love Sheena the best. Continuing their penchant for including a cover, there are two of them on “Rocket To Russia” – “Do You Wanna Dance? (Bobby Freeman, 1958) and “Surfin’ Bird” (The Rivingtons, 1962), both typical of the groups love for both the rock n roll and surf eras. “I Wanna Be Well” is a big favourite of mine on side 2, and comes with the immortal line for the disaffected blank generation “My future's bleak, ain't it neat?” Golly gee! Before the end, my heart swells for “Ramona”, what a sweet sweet sound. Ramonesmania was hardly gripping the nation, but at least this one placed in the Top 50 in their homelands – it was progress and it was wholly justified.
The Jukebox Rebel
07–Feb–2009
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [01:55]  Ramones - Cretin Hop (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| A2 | [02:06]  Ramones - Rockaway Beach (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| A3 | [02:47]  Ramones - Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) New Wave |
| A4 | [02:09]  Ramones - Locket Love (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| A5 | [01:38]  Ramones - I Don’t Care (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| A6 | [02:49] Ramones - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| A7 | [02:47]  Ramones - We’re A Happy Family (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| B1 | [02:00]  Ramones - Teenage Lobotomy (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| B2 | [01:52]  Ramones - Do You Wanna Dance? (Bobby Freeman) Punk |
| B3 | [02:28]  Ramones - I Wanna Be Well (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| B4 | [01:57]  Ramones - I Can’t Give You Anything (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| B5 | [02:35]  Ramones - Ramona (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
| B6 | [02:37]  Ramones - Surfin’ Bird (Carl White, Alfred Frazier, John Harris, Turner Wilson) Punk |
| B7 | [02:32] Ramones - Why Is It Always This Way? (John William Cummings, Jeffrey Hyman, Douglas Colvin, Erdélyi Tamás) Punk |
