Rocket to Russia

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Rocket to Russia
Ramones studio album

Publication
(s)

4th November 1977

Label (s) Sire Records SR 6042 (USA, UK)
Philips Records (rest of Europe)

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

Punk , rock

Title (number)

14th

running time

31:55

occupation
  • Ed Stasium - co-producer, electric guitar, choral singing
  • Don Berman - sound assistant
  • John Holmstrom - Illustrations

production

Tony Bongiovi

Studio (s)

Media Sound (recording studio),
Power Station (mixing),
both in Manhattan, New York

chronology
Leave Home (1977) Rocket to Russia Road to Ruin
(1978)
Rocket to Russia (1977)
Rocket to Russia (1977)
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Rocket to Russia
  US 49 11/26/1977 (25 weeks)
  UK 60 December 24, 1977 (2 weeks)
Singles
Sheena is a punk rocker
  US 81 07/02/1977 (13 weeks)
  UK 22nd 05/21/1977 (7 weeks)
Rockaway Beach
  US 66 December 3rd, 1977 (14 weeks)

Rocket to Russia (German "rocket to Russia") is the third studio album by the American punk band Ramones . It was first released in November 1977 on the Sire Records label. On their third album, the Ramones continued the path of minimalist and melodic "three-chord punk rock" they had taken on their two previous albums with humorous to absurd lyrics. With the pieces Rockaway Beach and Sheena is a Punk Rocker , the album contains two of the band's most famous compositions, each of which was also successful as singles . The music magazine Rolling Stone leads Rocket to Russia at number 106 of its list of " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time ".

History of origin

The studio recordings for Rocket to Russia began on August 21, 1977 in the Media Sound Studios in Midtown Manhattan , set up in the rooms of a former Episcopalian church. The Ramones had gained notoriety through extensive tours in the USA and Europe and were convinced that their third album would bring the commercial breakthrough. Quote from drummer and co-producer Tommy Ramone :

“We were on a roll, in high gear, touring and everything. [...] We thought we were gonna make it, that we were on the launching pad. "
(German: "We were coming, at full speed, on tour and everything. [...] We thought that we would make it, that we would be on the launch pad.")

Studio activity

On the first day of the recording work, guitarist Johnny Ramone brought a copy of the hit single by the English punk band Sex Pistols , God Save the Queen, which had been released three months earlier, into the studio, turned to Ed Stasium, who was initially engaged as a sound engineer, and demanded “this Guys stole from us “, the new Ramones album must sound better than the recordings of the Sex Pistols. The Pistols single was listened to in the studio, and Stasium is said to have responded: "No problem" .

During the recording sessions, the Ramones once again followed their tried-and-tested method of working to get the recording process over and done with as discipline as possible in order to save costs. Since the studio rent was $ 150 per hour, the band gave himself for all recordings with the respective first successful recording ( Take ) satisfied. The guitarist, who is considered cost-conscious, said:

“It's best to do it quickly. [...] You don't wanna sit there
and bullshit: it's your money they're spending. "
(German: "It's best to do it quickly. [...] You don't want to sit there and pour bullshit
: it is [after all ] your money that they [the record company] spend.")

The total cost of recording and production for the album was between $ 25,000 and $ 30,000, which is still low by the standards of major record labels; nevertheless, it was significantly higher than the cost of the two previous Ramones albums - Ramones (1976) and Leave Home (1977) - combined.

Contrary to other information on the different packaging of the album, it was - according to the band biographies - mainly Ed Stasium who was busy with Rocket to Russia as a recording producer and who also played and played the second electric guitar on the single Sheena is a Punk Rocker Background vocals contributed to some pieces. Johnny Ramone claimed that Tony Bongiovi, initially engaged as a producer, was not present once during the recording sessions of the album. The final mixing of the recordings ( mastering ) for Rocket to Russia then took place in Bongiovi's newly established Power Station recording studio in Manhattan. Stasium later admitted in interviews that it had been brought out of its own naivete to be mentioned as a producer.

Rocket to Russia is the last studio album by the Ramones that Tommy Ramone was officially involved in as a drummer (his last official recordings as the band's drummer took place during a live performance on New Year's Eve 1977/78 in London, which first appeared in April 1979 the Ramones live album It's Alive ).

Album content and achievements

According to band members and biographers, Rocket to Russia is the Ramones album that contains most of their song "classics" as well as the group's most humorous lyrics. The album features musical and lyrical influences from surf-rock and bubble-gum- pop , including cover versions of two classic surf hits - Do You Wanna Dance? and Surfin 'Bird . The main part of the album (which initially had the working title Ramones Get Well ) is made up of the Ramones' own compositions, the majority of which deal in absurdly humorous ways with topics such as mental disorders and psychiatry (Cretin Hop, Teenage Lobotomy, I Wanna be Well) as well as dysfunctional interpersonal relationships (Locket Love, We're a Happy Family, Why is it Always this Way?) . According to band biographer Dick Porter, "the band fooled their way through a minefield of bad taste" . Unlike the other original compositions, the lyrics of the two most successful single releases from the album, Rockaway Beach and - as one of the most famous pieces by the Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker do not contain any jokes about the aforementioned topics, but instead urban, surfing and beach themes.

In 1977 Rocket to Russia reached number 49 on the Billboard Hot 100 album charts in the United States . In 2001 the album was re-released by Rhino Records in an expanded form - the original recordings were remixed and the new edition also contains alternative versions of some tracks and single B-sides. Two years later, in December 2003, Rocket to Russia was voted 105th of the "500 best albums of all time" by the US music magazine Rolling Stone - after the debut album Ramones , which occupies 33rd place. According to Rolling Stone , fewer than 500,000 units of the album were sold in total by 2003. The magazine Rocket to Russia currently ranks 106th among the “500 best albums of all time”.

Design of the album cover

The front of the cover of the LP and CD editions (the cover of the CD booklet ) shows a photo taken by band manager Danny Fields of the group - as on their debut album - standing with expressionless faces side by side in front of a brick wall represents. The recording was alienated to a black and white sound separation and is provided with a pink band logo and album title.

The editor and graphic artist of the American Punk Magazine , John Holmstrom , created the full-format black and white comic illustration on the back of the record cover as well as the cartoons illustrating the lyrics on the inner sleeve of the LP. The style of the drawings is, in keeping with the humor of the lyrics, influenced by illustrators such as Harvey Kurtzman (founder of MAD magazine) and the cartoonist Tex Avery .

Review / criticism

In the US music magazine Rolling Stone , the critic Steve Pond called the album "one of the essential records of the seventies" , and Robert Christgau of The Village Voice magazine gave Rocket to Russia an "A" rating . Also in Rolling Stone , critic Dave Marsh wrote that the Ramones would offer "the best American rock 'n' roll of the year and possibly the funniest rock album ever recorded ." Colin Keinch's review in ZigZag magazine ranked among the positive reviews with the words that the Ramones album contained " all the right ingredients - excitement, innocence, pulverizing power [and] great songs [...]".

The press reviews in Great Britain were less enthusiastic; so criticized music journalist Nick Kent in the British New Musical Express that the album was “only a little more than the sum of its predecessors” , but admitted that he was biased because of the Sex Pistols album Never Mind the Bollocks, which had been released a few days earlier In his review, colleague Karl Tsigdinos stated rather vaguely, "[...] the only thing that matters when listening to a Ramones record is the record itself. "

In his posthumous autobiography Commando , band guitarist Johnny Ramone gives Rocket to Russia the top grade A + as the only Ramones album and describes it as "the best Ramones album, with the classics on it" .

The pieces of music on the album (selection)

  • Cretin Hop is addressed to the fans of the Ramones who danced at concerts by the band Pogo .
  • Rockaway Beach was written by bassist Dee Dee Ramone , inspired by the music of the Beach Boys and similar surf rock bands. The autobiographical piece is about Rockaway Beach , a district and beach section on the Atlantic coast in the south of the New York borough of Queens , where he would like to spend his time. Tommy and Joey Ramone confirmed in interviews that the bass player frequented this beach. Released as a single in November 1977, Rockaway Beach became the Ramones' most successful single in the US during their career and reached number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart .
  • I Don't Care is a three-chord and minimal text composition that was originally recorded as a demo recording for Ramones ' first album . It's also one of the very first pieces the group ever wrote.
  • Sheena is a Punk Rocker was written by lead singer Joey Ramone . The lyrics are about a teenage outsider who doesn't go to discos like other teenagers because she is a "punk rocker" . Like Rockaway Beach , Sheena is a Punk Rocker is one of the most popular and well-known songs of the Ramones. It was - after Judy is a Punk from the band's debut album - one of the first pieces of music to have the genre-defining term “punk” in its title. In the USA, the single reached number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100 , in European charts, according to biographies, much higher - but not named there - positions. The US music magazine Rolling Stone lists Sheena is a Punk Rocker at number 461 in its list of the " 500 best songs of all time ".
  • We're a Happy Family is a caricature of the living conditions of American middle-class families and takes their dysfunctional family relationships into the absurd and grotesque. The lyrics of the song consists of the portrayal of family life in the form of a list, "Daddy" is lying and is homosexual , the baby is suffering from chills ( "the chills") and eats flies, and "Mommy" is tablettenabhängig. The first-person narrator pretends to be friends with the US President and the Pope ; everyone makes a fortune selling "daddys" illegal drugs ("dope") .
  • Teenage Lobotomy ridiculed in the lyrics that temporarily popular in the 20th century brain surgical operation lobotomy and caricatures the brain and personality damaging consequences of this controversial surgery (Text Quote: "Gonna get my Ph.D. , I'm a teenage lobotomy." - in German : "I'll get 'my doctor [title] in philosophy - I'm a teenage lobotomy" ). Producer Ed Stasium declared the piece his favorite song he had ever recorded with the Ramones, praised the musical strengths of the composition - intro, harmony change and rhythm of the guitar part - and called Teenage Lobotomy a "mini Ramones symphony".
  • Do You Wanna Dance? was written and published by Bobby Freeman in 1958 and is one of the most frequently interpreted music titles, among others by the Beach Boys (1965), Del Shannon (1965), The Mamas and the Papas (1966), Johnny Rivers (1966), Kim Carnes (1971), Bette Midler (1972), John Lennon (1975), Dave Edmunds (1985) and David Lindley & El Rayo-X (1988).
  • Surfin 'Bird is the cover version of a song from 1964 by The Trashmen , on Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow the band The Rivingtons back

Track list

All compositions are by the Ramones, unless otherwise stated.

First edition of the album from 1977

  1. Cretin Hop - 1:56
  2. Rockaway Beach (Dee Dee Ramone) - 2:06
  3. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (Joey Ramone) - 2:49
  4. Locket Love - 2:11
  5. I Don't Care (Joey Ramone) - 1:39
  6. Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (Joey Ramone) - 2:49
  7. We're a Happy Family - 2:31
  8. Teenage Lobotomy - 2:01
  9. Do You Wanna Dance? (Bobby Freeman) - 1:55
  10. I Wanna Be Well - 2:28
  11. I Can't Give You Anything - 2:01
  12. Ramona - 2:37
  13. Surfin 'Bird (Carl White / Alfred Frazier / John Harris / Turner Wilson) - 2:37
  14. Why Is It Always This Way? - 2:15

Total running time: 31:55 minutes

Title of the extended new edition from 2001

  1. Needles and Pins ( Sonny Bono / Jack Nitzsche ) - 2:24
  2. Slug (demo) (Joey Ramone) - 2:23
  3. It's a Long Way Back to Germany (UK B-side) - 2:22
  4. I Don't Care (single version) - 1:40
  5. Sheena Is a Punk Rocker (single version) - 2:48

Single releases

United States

  • Sheena is a Punk Rocker / I Don't Care (1977, Sire SRE-1006)
  • Rockaway Beach / Locket Love (1977, Sire SRE-1008)
  • Do You Wanna Dance? / Babysitter (March 1978, Sire SRE-1017)

Great Britain

  • Rockaway Beach / Teenage Lobotomy / Beat on the Brat (November 1977, Sire 6078 611)
  • Do You Wanna Dance? / It's a long way back to Germany / Cretin Hop (March 1978, Sire 6078 615)

literature

  • Hey Ho Let's Go - The Story Of The Ramones by Everett True. Omnibus Press, London / New York 2002. ISBN 0-7119-9108-1 (English)
  • On the Road with the Ramones by Monte Melnick, Frank Meyer. Sanctuary Publishing Ltd., London 2003. ISBN 1-86074-514-8 (English)
  • Ramones - The Complete Twisted History by Dick Porter. Plexus Publishing Ltd., London 2004. ISBN 0-85965-326-9 (English)
  • Ramones - An American Band by Jim Bessman with the Ramones. St. Martin's Press, New York 1993, ISBN 0-312-09369-1 (English)

swell

  1. ↑ a b The Ramones in the UK charts (officialcharts.com)
  2. ↑ a b US singles: Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006. Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 / US albums: The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7
  3. ↑ a b True: The Story of the Ramones , p. 94
  4. ↑ From an interview by music journalist David Fricke with Tommy Ramone, quoted from True, p. 95
  5. ↑ "These guys ripped us off and I want to sound better than this." - Johnny Ramone, quoted and translated from True, p. 100
  6. ↑ From an interview in the music magazine Mojo with Ed Stasium; quoted and translated from True, p. 100
  7. ↑ a b Porter: Ramones - The Complete Twisted History , p. 82
  8. ↑ a b c d e True: The Story of the Ramones , p. 95
  9. ^ Johnny Ramone, quoted in True, p. 95
  10. ↑ From an interview in Trouser Press magazine with Johnny Ramone in 1982; according to True, p. 95
  11. ↑ “Rocket to Russia. I feel this album has the most classic Ramones songs. " Johnny Ramone, quoted in True, p. 204
  12. ↑ a b True: The Story of the Ramones , p. 96
  13. ↑ a b c d Bessman: Ramones - an American Band , p. 86
  14. ↑ “ The band lampooned their way through a minefield of bad taste […]” - Translated and quoted from Porter, p. 84
  15. ^ Porter: Ramones - The Complete Twisted History , p. 86
  16. ↑ a b 105: Rocket to Russia. Rolling Stone Magazine, November 1, 2003, archived from the original April 6, 2006 ; accessed on October 9, 2019 .
  17. ↑ 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: Ramones, 'Rocket to Russia'. Rolling Stone Magazine, May 24, 2012, accessed April 16, 2014 .
  18. ↑ Porter: Ramones - The Complete Twisted History , p. 85
  19. ↑ Translated and quoted from Bessman, p 85
  20. ↑ a b Translated and abbreviated quoted from Porter, p. 86
  21. ↑ Various statements from press reviews (abridged), quoted and translated from True, p. 99
  22. ↑ "This was the best Ramones album, with the classics on it." - Johnny Ramone, quoted from Commando: the autobiography of Johnny Ramone, p. 153. Abrams Image, New York 2012. ISBN 978-0-8109-9660-1
  23. ↑ a b True: The Story of the Ramones , p. 97
  24. ↑ a b Bessman: Ramones - An American Band , p. 84
  25. ↑ 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: Ramones, 'Sheena Is a Punk Rocker'. Rolling Stone Magazine, May 26, 2011, accessed April 16, 2014 .
  26. ↑ Ramones: We're a Happy Family, lyrics in the booklet accompanying the Japanese CD edition of the album, Sire Records / Warner Bros. Records, Inc., WPCP-3143
  27. ↑ From the lyrics of Teenage Lobotomy, author: Ramones. Quoted from the booklet accompanying the Japanese CD edition of the album, Sire Records / Warner Bros. Records, Inc., WPCP-3143
  28. ↑ From an interview by David Fricke with Ed Stasium in the booklet for the compilation album Ramones Anthology , quoted from True, p. 96

Web links

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on September 21, 2009 .