Ramones – Road to Ruin

Ramones - Road to Ruin (album cover front)

Oh man was that a pathetically long period of non-posting. I’m pretty sure that’s a record, one that I hope will stand for a long time.

Back to our regularly scheduled program… Ramones, Road to Ruin (1978) was a big artistic leap forward for these guys. Some people like to think all their music is the same, but this record alone is proof against that. Overall it’s a more “melodic” album, with even a strummed pretty ditty called “Questioningly,” which is 100% power-chord-free. And oh yeah, there’s also a cover of the ’60s pop hit co-wrote by Sonny Bono, “Needles and Pins.” My favorite though is “Bad Brain.” That song eventually became the namesake of my all-time favorite band, Bad Brains. It’s true, they named themselves after a Ramones song.

One not-so-pleasant memory about Road to Ruin goes back to my teenage years. My friend John (last name removed to protect the guilty) and I went through a brief, and ultimately painful period of spray painting graffiti at places like our high school. John, being a huge Ramones fan at the time, chose to spray the words “Road to Ruin” on one of our outings.

To make a long story short, we were eventually ratted out, interrogated individually, we confessed, and then got suspended for a week I believe. To minimize the cost of removing the paint and just pay some dues, John and I spent some days over the winter break on our hand and knees with wire brushes and paint stripper trying to clean the bricks and concrete we had vandalized. It sucked. The whole thing sucked. I don’t even know why we did it. We were generally trouble-free kids. It’s one of the few things that I’m embarrassed about, and completely regret it. But there is this that makes me smile… John said that when he was getting grilled about it that the vice principal said in a deadpan way, “Looks like this was your road to ruin, John.” As John put it later, it was like something from a closing scene of Dragnet.

Ramones - Road to Ruin (album cover back)

Josef Haydn — Symphony No. 103 and Symphony No. 1

• Artist: Josef Haydn
• Title: Symphony No. 103 and Symphony No. 1
• Year: 1978
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: No one knows
• Acquired: It’s a mystery

With classical recordings I’m never quite sure how to categorize things. Should it be by composer? Orchestra or star musician? The conductor? This record is a performance of Josef Haydn’s “Symphony No. 103” and “Symphony No. 1” by der Münchner Symphoniker, or the Munich Symphony Orchestra to you, Yankee. It’s good. I felt relaxed.

Yesterday I saw an ad on TV for the “Most Relaxing Classical Album in the World…Ever!” For real? How can they be sure? Maybe this Haydn record is the most chill classical album… ever. Did they think about that? I report. You decide.

Van Halen — Van Halen

Van Halen -- Van Halen

• Artist: Van Halen
• Title: Van Halen
• Year: 1978
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 10
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: ? ?
• Keeper: Yes

I’ve always liked Van Halen, but I was too busy trying to be punk rock when their records came out to buy them. I got ’em all now though! My friend Bennie Ingram is above any type of posing and was a huge fan from the get-go. Fortunately, hanging with Bennie (Bobo) kept me clued in.

And when I say “their records” I mean the ones when “Diamond” David Lee Roth was in the band. I know Hagar was in the band even longer but who cares? Not me. Roth is the only front man I can imagine complementing, and competing with, Eddie Van Halen’s guitar work. Both guys are so good at, and so over the top in what they do it’s hard to believe the union lasted as long as it did.

I wish I had been paying closer attention when this record first hit. I remember riding in the car with my dad when “Jamie’s Cryin'” came on and I said “I’ve been hearing a lot of Van Halen lately” and he replied “that’s too bad.” And my dad is a rocker! I should’ve known right then that this was something special, and very different. Every song on here is exciting and totally original sounding, even today.

I had a friend, Bill Rogers, who once said that Eddie Van Halen ruined rock guitar for the next decade because everybody wanted play like him. Of course, who really could? The guy was a total innovator and the song writing matched the technique. The same can be said for Diamond Dave. Insane showmanship, crazy good voice, and really smart and occassionally smart-assed lyrics.

Dave’s famous quip that the reason more critics like(d) Elvis Costello than Van Halen is that more critics look like Costello is pure genius, and of course true. I don’t look like either of them, but if I could choose it would be the high kicking Diamond Dave… for sure. I’m finding it difficult to stop writing about them. Just be glad you’re not in the same room with me right now. Seriously.

The Saints – Eternally Yours

• Artist: The Saints
• Title: Eternally Yours
• Year: 1978
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 8
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1986 ? – I think I got it at Unicorn Records in Portsmouth, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

I got into The Saints a little late. I think I bought this album after I picked up a later record. It’s a promo copy so unfortunately they didn’t get paid for it. But don’t worry Saints, I bought your other stuff too.

It’s hard to explain their sound but punk rock and roll seems fitting. The opening track, “Know Your Product”, has killer horns. For a long time I have believed that maximum rock and roll cannot be achieved without a horn section. No matter how hard you’re rocking, if it ain’t got horns there is room for improvement. This song supports my theory. The whole record is excellent. At first it sounds sort of ordinary, but the involuntary foot tapping and head bobbing “Eternally Yours” provokes tells you it is in fact very special.