The Ramones’ first album was a salvo, but their second didn’t do much more than repeat the formula. To be honest, “Rocket to Russia” (their third) doesn’t exactly kick down barriers either, but it sounds great, especially when compared to its predecessors.

The Ramones were not about diversity. By staying virtually the same, the band was defining an image, and it started to catch on. The downtown music scene in New York City felt like the center of the universe in 1977, with the Ramones leading the way. They defined the sound and image for punk rock, and to anybody who saw them play at CBGB, it seemed obvious that they were poised for fame.

“Rocket to Russia” sounded so good because the band had a decent budget this time around, and they spent most of it on production for a record intended to be their break into the mainstream. Reaching #49 on the pop album charts is certainly respectable, but the band expected more and was bitterly disappointed with the net result. The album didn’t get played in most markets, and its appeal remained regional. Why was there so much resistance?

The Ramones may have been funny, but they did not want to be a joke. They took themselves seriously as a band, so it was upsetting to see all the brouhaha surrounding the Sex Pistols.  The American punk scene was much less exploitative or derivative than the British variety, but the antics of the Sex Pistols made for great copy, and since impressions matter more than facts, the Ramones found themselves reverse-bowdlerized by false impressions of punk culture.

They made the best record of their career, but radio wouldn’t play it because the Ramones shared the stigma created by Sid Vicious. One minute, the Ramones seemed poised for stardom, but that fleeting moment vanished in a tidal wave of negative press that portrayed the entire punk rock genre as a brainless and violent ‘de-evolution’ of human culture. Inadvertently, the Ramones walked right into the trap, singing with abandon about “Teenage Lobotomy” and a dance called the “Cretin Hop.” The die was cast, and there was nothing the band could do about it.

As a commercial genre, punk rock was dead before it even started. At the beginning of 1977, it seemed that labels would sign any band capable of pasting a gig flyer on a wall. By the end of that year, those same labels were desperately trying to whitewash the harsh edges of the scene, rendering it ‘safer’ for public consumption. Bands that could change stood at the vanguard of the ‘new wave’ movement. Those that couldn’t were left behind, and the Ramones stood as figureheads of a scene that had been torn out from under them.

“Rockaway Beach” and “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” are punk anthems for a nation that held punk in contempt. Tommy Ramone, the drummer and the member most responsible for the band’s production style, grew disillusioned and announced that he decided to quit. The band would soldier on, but they would never again make a record as pure and uncompromised as “Rocket to Russia”.

Featured Tracks:

Cretin Hop

Rockaway Beach

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Locket Love

I Don't Care

Sheena Is a Punk Rocker

We're a Happy Family

Teenage Lobotomy

Do You Wanna Dance?

I Wanna Be Well

I Can't Give You Anything

Ramona

Surfin' Bird

Why Is It Always This Way?

November 1977 - Billboard Charted #49