Bonzo Goes to Bitburg
| Bonzo Goes to Bitburg | |
|---|---|
| Ramones | |
| publication | June 1985 |
| length | 3:57 |
| Genre (s) | punk |
| Author (s) | Joey Ramone , Dee Dee Ramone , Jean Beauvoir |
| Producer (s) | Jean Beauvoir |
| Label | Beggars Banquet Records |
| album | Animal boy |
Bonzo Goes to Bitburg is a song by the American punk rock band Ramones . It was released in June 1985 via Beggars Banquet Records . It is one of the few political songs by the Ramones and deals with the so-called Bitburg controversy surrounding the US President Ronald Reagan .
Origin background
During a visit to Germany by US President Ronald Reagan , he visited the military cemetery in Bitburg on May 5, 1985 . He laid a wreath there and gave a speech at a nearby military base. The plan had already sparked controversy in advance, because 49 members of the Waffen SS were also lying in the cemetery .
In the US punk and hardcore punk scene, Ronald Reagan was a very unpopular politician, especially because of his conservative and authoritarian views. Joey Ramone later remembered the making of the song. As a Jew, he felt himself affected by the president's appearance at the Bitburg military cemetery. It seemed to him that Reagan "just gave a shit about everyone".
“We had watched Reagan going to visit the SS cemetery on TV and were disgusted. We're all good Americans, but Reagan's thing was like forgive and forget. How can you forget six million people being gassed and roasted? "
“We saw Reagan on TV visiting this SS cemetery and we were disgusted. We're all good Americans, but Reagan's thing was forgiving and forgetting. How can you forget that six million people were gassed and burned? "
The phrase “ Bonzo Goes to Bitburg ”, which was the inspiration for the title, was not an invention of the Ramones, but was uttered during the protests against Reagan's visit to the cemetery. It borrows from Reagan's film career and is the name of a chimpanzee in the 1951 comedy Bedtime for Bonzo , in which Ronald Reagan starred. In fact, there was another film that was also the inspiration for the title, Bonzo Goes to College , in which Reagan did not appear.
The songwriter credits include Joey Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone and producer Jean Beauvoir (ex- Plasmatics ). Most connoisseurs assume that Joey Ramone wrote the lion's share of the song, with Mickey Leigh , Joey's brother, ascribing this to Dee Dee Ramone.
The recordings took place in the Intergalactic Studios in New York City . Jean Beauvoir produced the song.
publication
Bonzo Goes to Bitburg was released in June 1985 via Beggars Banquet Records as a 7 "single and 12" maxi LP, exclusively in the UK. The cover initially showed Reagan giving a speech in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and a recording of the military cemetery and soldiers at roll call. In later pressings, the Reagan intake was covered. This measure was justified by the Melody Maker by saying that this happened under pressure from the Moral Majority , the Patriotic League of the Alamo and the SS . The single contained the song Daytime Dilemma (Dangers of Love) already known from the album Too Tough to Die (1984) as B-side . For the maxi LP version, Go Home Ann was used, a song that has not yet been re-released on any album or compilation.
The single contained
- 7 '' version
- A-side: Bonzo Goes to Bitburg
- B-side: Daytime Dilemma (Dangers of Love)
- 12 '' version
- A-side: Bonzo Goes to Bitburg
- B-Side: Go Home Ann / Daytime Dilemma (Dangers of Love)
Sire Records , the American label of the Ramones, refused to release the single. Product manager Suzanne Emils pointed to financial and political reasons. An employee of the mother label Warner Bros. Records, however, said they did not think the song was successful, but it would be on a best-of album to be released for Christmas. The presumably intended Ramones Mania did not appear until four years later. The single version is included there. Before that, a revised version was released under the title My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg) on the 1986 album Animal Boy . The title was adapted and served as marginalization, as Johnny Ramone , an ardent admirer of Reagan, had already disapproved of the song.
A live version was released in 1991 on the Loco Live album. The studio version was also used in the 2003 film School of Rock .
reception
The single reached number 81 on the UK charts and stayed in the charts for two weeks. In the United States, the single was only available as an import, but was played on American college radio.
Because of the song, Joey Ramone was invited to participate in Steven Van Zandt's project Artists United Against Apartheid . Joey sang a line against Reagan's politics on the single Sun City .
In the Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop Critics Poll , Bonzo Goes to Bitburg was rated fifth best single.
Cover versions
- 1991: The Agnews auf Gabba Gabba Hey: A Tribute to the Ramones (Tribute-Sampler)
- 1999: The Huntingtons on File Under Ramones
- 2001: Blanks 77 on Ramones Maniacs (tribute sampler)
- 2004: Dicky Barrett, Lawrence Katz , Marky Ramone and CJ Ramone on Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone (DVD)
- 2005: Wednesday Night Heroes on Move to Press EP
- 2006: Trashlight Vision on Alibis and Ammunition
- 2009: MxPx on On the Cover II
- 2013: Iron Chic on Spooky Action EP
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Jaffee, Larry: Disc Spells Hit Time for Bonzo . In: Mother Jones , November – December 1985, p. 10.
- ↑ a b We're a Happy Family . In: Spin , August 1986, p. 78.
- ^ Franklin, Ben A .: 250 Are Arrested Near White House . In: New York Times , April 23, 1985, p. A20.
- ↑ Sikov, Ed: Laughing hysterically: American screen comedy of the 1950s . Columbia University Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0-231-07983-9 , p. 40.
- ↑ Leigh, Mickey, with Legs McNeil: I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir . Touchstone / Simon & Schuster, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7432-5216-4 , p. 249.
- ↑ Corn, David: RIP Joey Ramone, Singing Protester . In: Albion Monitor . April 23, 2001. Retrieved January 22, 2009.
- ↑ a b Ramones - Bonzo Goes to Bitburg . Vinyl 7 "single, Beggar's Banquet BEG 140, 1985, UK first edition, original pressing in original sleeve, four-color / Euroscale printing
- ↑ Nick Gillespie, Brian Doherty: I Dreamed I Saw Joey Ramone Last Night . In: Reason . August – September 2001. Archived from the original on January 14, 2009. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 22, 2009.
- ↑ Beeber, Steven Lee: The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's: A Secret History of Jewish Punk . Chicago Review Press, 2006, ISBN 978-1-55652-613-8 , p. 121.
- ↑ Beta, Andy: Strange Bedfellows . In: Spin , October 2, 85 , p. 99.
- ↑ Chart sources: UK
- ^ Scott Schinder, Andy Schwartz: Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever , Volume 2. Greenwood, 2008, ISBN 978-0-313-33846-5 , p. 555.
- ^ The 1985 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll . In: Village Voice . RobertChristgau.com. February 18, 1986. Archived from the original on October 13, 2011. Retrieved on November 28, 2010.
