PUNK VS HEAVY METAL! THE RAMONES MEET BLACK SABBATH

Believe it or not, twice in the late 70s the RAMONES were the opening act for BLACK SABBATH. Before securing their status as headliners, the band were likely to accept any pairing, no matter how ill conceived the booking. One of the shows was even billed as PUNK VS HEAVY METAL, and the RAMONES had to halt their performance and flee the stage amidst a shower of debris after aborted attempts to start I'M AGAINST IT and SURFIN' BIRD. They did not return to complete their set.


Astonishingly, audio has turned up of this show:



RAMONES VS BLACK SABBATH 1







The other recording is even more unruly, especially at the end of PINHEAD and after the completion of the SEARCHERS' ballad NEEDLES & PINS (perhaps they might have skipped this one??) A disgusted JOEY refers to the crowd as 'turkeys' before launching into SURFIN' BIRD.

(The image is actually from another disastrous gig, opening for AEROSMITH at a festival in Toronto.)


Here is the regrettably incomplete audio:



RAMONES VS BLACK SABBATH 2

Here is MARKY recalling the shows (the link requires two steps, or click on the title):


MARKY RAMONE RECALLS RAMONES VS BLACK SABBATH










The band seemed to take the failed crossover performances in stride, and DEEDEE even briefly took to sporting a BLACK SABBATH tshirt (see above). Over time the schism between the exclusive HEAVY METAL and PUNK camps smoothed over, but a vintage photograph used by the OBLIVIANS for the cover of their classic album POPULAR FAVORITES captures the zeitgeist animosity of an older era perfectly...

(Note the fans wearing tshirts similar to DEEDEE's. Ah, those were the days.)






Looking for a photo credit on the DEEDEE pic, if anybody knows, please let me know.



Until then, feel free to check out my track by track RAMONES career overview blog at

RAMONES: HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE


You can follow on FB and tumblr too.






GABBA GABBA HEY

TOM WAITS & THE RAMONES

TOM WAITS and THE RAMONES. Two of my favorites, and some might think unlikely members of a mutual appreciation society- or interpreters of each others' material. However, over the years their common ground has cemented, and borne fruit. For Mr. WAITS' birthday (and convenience) I've gathered up all of their respective covers, and their original versions, Enjoy.




THE RETURN OF JACKIE & JUDY







I DON'T WANNA GROW UP







DANNY SAYS

PONY- CJ RAMONE

 

 

 

The originals:



THE RETURN OF JACKIE AND JUDY








I DON'T WANNA GROW UP







DANNY SAYS

PONY

 

 

 

 

 

How about some live action?


I DON'T WANNA GROW UP live












ALSO!

Feel free to check out my daily track by track RAMONES career overview blog at

RAMONES: HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE



Photo by BRAD ELTERMAN

CHOP HER UP AND I DON'T CARE Redux: TOP 10 RAMONES MOVIE MASHUPS

For more art by SAMY THE KAY click links here or at the end! SAMY THE KAY--ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOUND & SAMY THE KAY--CARTOONIST   Thanks Samy!





The RAMONES loved watching movies. Not only does JOHNNY list his favorite flicks by genre in his autobiography, he also notes his favorite film books and Top Ten ELVIS pictures-- which puts him safely beyond the pale into the orbit of genuine fanatic. The cinema was a significant component of their underlying trash aesthetic, and unsurprisingly they frequently referenced works they admired into their lyrics. In the MTV age their promo clips were unmistakably touched by the flavour of their moviegoing obsessions, with distinct nods in style and clearcut homage details.

In the digital internet age this predictably led to the next step of the public marrying their favourite tracks to homemade video mashups utilizing famous movies. The visual and conceptual strengths of the songs are frequently merged onto the familiar film footage with startling success-- that most of the movies employed fall directly from the group's most beloved realms (cult flicks and b-grade horror flicks) helps considerably. Still, a few curveballs pan out exceedingly well, as our sampling below will bear out...




1. IGNORANCE IS BLISS
     The apocalyptic, paranoid, late period thrasher is effectively applied to JOHN CARPENTER's dystopian premonition THEY LIVE.

IGNORANCE IS BLISS






2. I WANNA BE SEDATED
     The brilliant clip combining WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY with THE SHINING has unfortunately been removed from youtube, but we can still get an impressive dose of KUBRICK insanity with this surprisingly effective utilization of another of his classics, DR. STRANGELOVE (OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB).

I WANNA BE SEDATED






3. PINHEAD
     Inevitably, PINHEAD is brought back full circle to the creepy cult classic that inspired it, on top of the bizarre curiosity's most unforgettable sequence, no less. Gooble Gobble!!

PINHEAD






4. BEAT ON THE BRAT
     This stunner fuses the anti-rugrat anthem to a trio of violent bat attacks: Two from the gangster genre (THE UNTOUCHABLES & A BRONX TALE), but then an amazing segue into the Baseball Furies battle from the New York gang thriller THE WARRIORS.

BEAT ON THE BRAT






5. CHAINSAW
     Of course who couldn't see this one coming from a mile away, but it's genuinely impressive how well it captures the menace of TOBE HOOPER's maniacal bedrock effort in such a short stretch of time.

CHAINSAW






6. THE CRUSHER
     Now HERE's one that would have been tough to foresee--DEEDEE's wrestling ode plopped on top of SLY STALLONE's absurd Cold War era ROCKY sequel! Hilarious.

THE CRUSHER






7. OUTSIDER
     A tad obvious, but quite well done. Does this movie version of the S.E. HINTON juvie standby have ANY male fans??

OUTSIDER






8. COMMANDO
     I guess it would have been hard to not see this one coming.

COMMANDO






9. PET SEMATARY
     Practically unavoidable, but it is rather puzzling how little of this picture's disturbing footage made it into the official video. That oversight is finally rectified here- and the straight match to the theatrical trailer works eerily well.

PET SEMATARY






10. MERRY XMAS (I DON'T WANNA FIGHT TONIGHT)
     One of the program's most brilliant ideas, this cautionary Yuletide plea for calm is commingled with a dazzling montage of Doomed Couples from the Cinema (mostly drawn from the horror domain). A few in here escape my familiarity-- feel free to message me a full list if you can identify them all!

MERRY XMAS (I DON'T WANNA FIGHT TONIGHT)










BONUS!!
    One more goodie for you. There's only a few moments of the WWII era drama TOMORROW THE WORLD online currently, but likelihood points to this being a probable inspiration for DEEDEE's trademark masterpiece TODAY YOUR LOVE, TOMORROW THE WORLD. (Certainly the German-raised bass player would have found resonance in the potboiler's melodramatic portrayal of an American family struggling to cope with the foreign houseguest youth hiding an explosive, secret past.) Hopefully someone uploads the entire feature soon...

TOMORROW THE WORLD








2014 UPDATE: FULL MOVIE NOW UP! Sound is a bit duff.

TOMORROW THE WORLD 1944








HEY!  HO! You! The amazing illustration leading off this piece was drawn by the supremely talented SAMY THE KAY, whose supercool work often references badass musicians (including, often THE RAMONES). Follow these links to more of his superb concoctions. Thank you for granting me permission, Samy!


TUMBLR! --->> SAMY THE KAY--ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOUND

FACEBOOKK! --->> SAMY THE KAY--ILLUSTRATOR/CARTOONIST







And of course don't forget to check out my daily track by track RAMONES career overview blog at

RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

Links to follow on Tumblr and Facebook can also be found there.

RAMONES CARTOONS!! REDUX

ENJOY, kiddies!  And don't forget to check out my daily track by track RAMONES career overview at:

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RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE: An Overview

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I DON'T WANNA GO DOWN TO THE BASEMENT Demo







I DON'T WANNA GO DOWN TO THE BASEMENT







LISTEN TO MY HEART








COMMANDO








CHAINSAW








JUDY IS A PUNK








DEEDEE








JOHNNY








SPIDER MAN








HAPPY BIRTHDAY








I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP








WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY







I DON'T WANNA WALK AROUND WITH YOU








ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL















Thanx to the animators and posters of these great clips, especially stelos486!! Great work. No ownership implied or suggested.

Ramones poster by HUNT EMERSON.

RAMONES CARTOONS!!

RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE: An Overview will be taking a short break as my band THE HICKOIDS wraps up SXSW in Austin & goes on a short European tour with THE GRANNIES from San Francisco. Til then, here's Saturday Morning fare to keep you kiddies occupied over your sugarcoated breakfast cereal.


I DON'T WANNA GO DOWN TO THE BASEMENT

LISTEN TO MY HEART

COMMANDO

CHAINSAW

JUDY IS A PUNK

DEEDEE

JOHNNY

SPIDER MAN

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

 I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP

Thanx to the animators and posters of these great clips, especially stelos486!! Great work. No ownership implied or suggested.

RAMONES' IT'S ALIVE--FUELED BY ELTON JOHN??!! w/ EXTRA CLIPS!

RAMONES-- IT'S ALIVE: FUELED BY ELTON JOHN???!!


IT’S ALIVE by THE RAMONES. My favorite band. My favorite record. Their best ever performance. Much to my surprise, we might have ELTON JOHN to thank in part. We’ll let Ramones producer ED STASIUM take it from here…

“I recorded six or seven gigs but we chose the Rainbow show because it was a great gig all around….When they did the It’s Alive recording at the Rainbow Theater in London on New Year’s Eve in ‘77, Elton john came to the party dressed all crazed out in his gay Nazi biker drag uniform. He had a German eagle SS pendant and a pound of cocaine in his hip pocket and was giving everybody bumps of coke from this thing he had around his neck. He actually held the thing as I snorted it….I thought ‘Holy Toledo, I’m snorting cocaine with Elton John!’”
—-excerpt from MONTE MELNICK’s book ON THE ROAD WITH THE RAMONES. It is wonderful. Go buy ten copies. Photos by DANNY FIELDS.



POSTSCRIPT:
One of the things that made the DVD release of IT'S ALIVE so enthralling was that it was the final culmination of an excruciatingly drawn out tease. Brief clips from the London show had trickled out on various RAMONES video releases over the years, and anticipation built to a fever as work on the IT'S ALIVE dvd commenced and was completed.

Just one problem- IT'S ALIVE omitted the tracks which had previously appeared! I've gathered them up here for convenience. Obviously the quality is not up to the stunning restoration apparent on the dvd, but they are thrilling nonetheless,  Enjoy!


ROCKAWAY BEACH








SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER







ALSO!

Check out my daily track by track RAMONES career overview blog at

RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

My new daily track by track blog RAMONES career overview.

Check out and follow at

RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

THE RAMONES' OTHER DEBUT ALBUM

 

 

 

The Brothers are absolutely my favorite band, and I often refer to the first album as THE 14 COMMANDMENTS. The nature of its odd (practically ANTI-) production has become a central part of the mystique- thin, dry, trebly, practically no outside instrument embellishment or solos, brutal stereo separation of the bass & guitar, little 'protection' for Joey's (and others') vokes. Its primitivism is often cited as an ideal match to the band's aesthetic approach.

In fact even the meager cost of recording (six grand or so) is often touted as evidence of their simple precision. (I know, doesn't seem too meager to me either. They mean meager compared to the cost of  Fleetwood Mac producing TUSK.)

These notions, however, are obliterated upon hearing the cheap demos recorded by manager Marty Thau & the band in 1975. Crunchy and charged, these recordings make the six grand spent on THE RAMONES seem like a dubious extravagance, and in retrospect later several members noted the earlier tries' superior sound and feel to the subsequent 'real' recordings. A majority of the debut record's tracks were tried out, as well as a few that made it to LEAVE HOME (and even LATER!) and a couple of awesome tunes which went unreleased for years.

With most of these tracks so readily available via youtubin' I thought it might be fun to assemble them here, duplicating the original track order as closely as possible. A few iconic tracks don't appear (Beat on the Brat), but much of the flow has been maintained. Threw on some other extras at the end too. ENJOY!



1. BLITZKRIEG BOP--Even at this early stage, they seemingly arrive fully, perfectly formed. Breathtaking.






2. I DON'T CARE--The only one of these demos held back for ROCKET TO RUSSIA, their 3rd. Many of these tracks feature far more more relaxed and expressive vocals from Joey, and this is a good example.






3. JUDY IS A PUNK--The heavier, but simultaneously somehow more bubblegummy sound they would later overtly attempt on their 2nd LEAVE HOME is evident all over these tracks.





4. I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND--They give it a go in C before trying it in D (see 16) and then ending up in E on the record. Shoulda left it where it was.





5.CHAINSAW--No buzzsaw intro, but KILLER!





6. NOW I WANNA SNIFF SOME GLUE--Extra fancy guitar pickin' from Johnny!





7. I DON'T WANNA GO DOWN TO THE BASEMENT--I'd be hard pressed to not call this superior to the album version.

8. LOUDMOUTH--A bit tentative perhaps, but great clarity on DeeDee's bass.





9.YOU SHOULD NEVER HAVE OPENED THAT DOOR--Neither HAVANA AFFAIR nor LISTEN TO MY HEART were attempted, but here's a good stab at what ended up being one of LEAVE HOME's less well mixed tracks. They struggle briefly with the oddly timed intro.






10. I CAN'T BE--The other gem which, along with LEARNED/TAMED never made it on to any of the bros' records. The central riff to CHINESE ROCK makes an early appearance, and DIG the cool montage of vintage Bob Gruen and Danny Fields pix from period music mags!





11. 53RD AND 3RD--GREAT vokes from DeeDee throughout, and the fat mix shows Tommy's drumming to great advantage. Great tom sound and eccentric hihat pulloffs.




 

12. YOU'RE GONNA KILL THAT GIRL--LET'S DANCE was not attempted, but this similarly early 60s flavored original was, so it'll take it's place. Bass heavy, but a fun alternative to the LEAVE HOME version, which is voke heavy, amongst other problems. Still strong enough to coax SIRE to offer a single contract to the band for this song, an offer they rejected, holding out for an lp deal.

13. I DON'T WANNA WALK AROUND WITH YOU--One of this collection's strongest finds, an unbelievably awesome sonic barrage.



 

 

14. TODAY YOUR LOVE, TOMORROW THE WORLD--Our alternate '14 commandments' comes to a powerful end, uncensored lyrics and all.

15. JUDY IS A PUNK--Another poppier attempt.






16. I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND--This time trying it in D, somewhat more polished.






17. WHAT'S YOUR GAME--This was the only Marty Thau demo that didn't fit too well into the construct of what I was aiming for, so I've saved it for here near the end. 

 

 18. I DON'T WANNA BE LEARNED/ I DON'T WANNA BE TAMED--Finally,this embryonic classic- a song which distills their primitive power down to it's purest essence. Until DURANGO 95 came along, much later, that is.







 

 

I'd like to thank all of the youtube posters of this precious material. I know some of these links might not work on phones, but several of the clips were too cool to not get the nod.

Special thanx to Mullin for massive nerdbox support.



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HERE'S  LINKS TO MY RAMONES REVIEWS-- A TRACK BY TRACK RAMONES CAREER OVERVIEW!! 

 

NOW ON YOUTUBE: 

YOUTUBE HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE

FOLLOW ON FB:

FB HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE
 

ORIGINAL BLOG: 

RAMONES--HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE: An Overview

 
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Here's two RAMONES related sites I like:

BLITZKRIEG'S PSYCHOTHERAPY BOP

RAMONES WORLD WIDE GROUP HEY HO LET'S GO




Here's a link to MY tumblr--TRUCKSTOP'S TRUCKSTOP