The Ramones are – and will always be – my favorite band. They never broke big here on the west coast or in my peer group, but there was just something special about the quartet from Queens. They had a unique sound, bridging punk with just a touch of 60’s harmonies, fun, silly lyrics, and for a young teen buying his first records en masse, there was already a small catalog to catch up on. Plus, like all new artists one discovers, The Ramones segued me into a fun world of punk and other New York bands.
That said, and music nerd that I am, I’m really digging my Rhino Records 2020 calendar, which is crammed full of almost daily trivia. It just reminded me that The Ramones “End of the Century,” was released 40 years ago today. Though not their finest hour, I still love the record, mainly for sentimental reasons.
“End of the Century” was their Phil Spector-produced effort, a record that was way more pop than punk (including strings, a Ronette’s cover of “Baby I Love You,” and Spector’s trademark wall of sound that infused the band with echo chambers and overdubbing.) Spector had been pursuing them as a project since their “Rocket to Russia,” release (which is one of my desert island records). In a move to try and gain some commercial success, they let Spector come in and do his thing with this, their fifth album.
The album received mixed critical reviews – mostly positive – it was their highest-charting release, sitting in the Billboard top 200 for 14 weeks – but it was definitely not the punk-roots of their first records. And if band lore has it correct, much of the band wasn’t fond of the experiment. (Dee Dee said that Spector at one point held them at gunpoint during some of the recordings. Marky later dispelled that rumor.)
The Ramones dropped the pop sound and returned to a more “Road to Ruins”-type feel for the following release, “Pleasant Dreams,” a year later. “Gabba Gabba Hey,” ya’ll.
Fun, related story: I had just bought my first car (a ’66 Mustang) when “End of the Century” came out. And you know how every town had a special rock station with memorable DJs? Ours was KSJO. The record’s opening track, “Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio,” featured an intro by Sean Donahue, who was a jock at KSJO.
The station was located in San Jose, a pretty far drive for a 16-year-old who wasn’t supposed to drive farther than Santa Cruz. But…my pal Robert Kimball and I figured, “how hard could it be to find the place?” (This was in the stone age of paper maps, pre-GPS and cell phones, when you had to really figure out where you were going). We found KSJO, and when Donahue saw us lurking outside and peering in the window, he invited us in, gave us a tour, and sent us home with stickers.
Super cool guy. Good times.