A Definite Article

The other day, International Pop Overthrow impresario David Bash posted on Facebook: "Give me a band whose name did not contain a 'The,' but who were generally tagged with one anyway." David's first example was (The) Raspberries, and I'll eagerly cop to being one of the seemingly clueless dullards who routinely commit that sin.

Why? Because The Raspberries sounds better to me than just plain Raspberries when we're talkin' about a pop band.

I know I'm wrong. The band took its name not from tarty fruits but from the familiar Aw, raspberries! exclamation heard in old Our Gang short films. Fine. And it's fair to say that the band knows its own name. But c'mon, this group took inspiration from The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Small Faces, and The Who. Notice a common denominator among those names? Yeah, a definite article. The. The Kinks. The Miracles. The Rolling Stones. Paul Revere & the Raiders. The Sex Pistols. The O'Jays. Even The Creation, though I'll accept argument on that last one. To my ears, each of these names seems diminished without a definite article attached. I feel the same way about Raspberries, even though it's incorrect to call 'em "The Raspberries." If loving The is wrong, I don't want to be right.

There have been a number of acts where I've come to accept the fact that The shouldn't be part of the name. The biggest deal of these is Shoes, and I've embraced that band's lack of The for decades now. Talking Heads, too. I've recently made efforts to change my ongoing lexicon for Lyres and Sweet, recognizing that these acts have but one word in their name, not two. I don't care about the razzafrazzin' Eagles. In contrast, there were also bands who started out with a The--The Cream, The Pink Floyd, The Rick Astley--but wisely dropped the definite article early on. I may be kidding about one of those examples. I've been reluctant to relinquish my fondness of the name The Raspberries, but I may get there eventually.

But you know what band whose definite article I refuse to surrender? The Ramones. The Ramones. THE Ramones!



In replies to David Bash's original Facebook post on this subject, Ramones producer Ed Stasium was one of several who mentioned Ramones as an act whose name shouldn't oughtta begin with The.  Ed Stasium knows Ramones way better than I know Ramones. It would be stupid for me to throw my uninformed fanboy viewpoint against the first-hand knowledge of someone who was there, and experienced these things as irrefutable fact. Even if I tried it, he would still be right. I would remain not right.

But...

Well, here's the thing. In live shows, Joey Ramone used to begin every concert by shouting out something like HEY! We're The Ramones, and this one's called "Rockaway Beach!, prompting the prerequisite 1-2-3-4! response from Dee Dee Ramone. The defense rests! Sort of. Ed gave a good-natured cyber-chuckle in reply, and added that Joey used the "the" as a preposition, but that all of the actual LPs and 45s were billed as "Ramones," although he'd certainly seen concert posters advertising "The Ramones." Logic and sense agree that if the band and its inner circle thought it should be just "Ramones," then it should be just "Ramones." My stubborn heart insists it's The Ramones. 1-2-3-4!



It matters, except to the extent that it doesn't. Maybe it's irrelevant whether we call a great group Great Group or The Great Group, as long as we love 'em, as long as we play 'em, and as long as we don't call 'em late for dinner.

Or The Late For Dinner. It could be a formal dinner. We don't really know, do we?

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Our new compilation CD This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 4 is now available from Kool Kat Musik! 29 tracks of irresistible rockin' pop, starring Pop Co-Op, Ray Paul, Circe Link & Christian Nesmith, Vegas With Randolph Featuring Lannie Flowers, The Slapbacks, P. Hux, Irene Peña, Michael Oliver & the Sacred Band Featuring Dave Merritt, The Rubinoos, Stepford Knives, The Grip Weeds, Popdudes, Ronnie Dark, The Flashcubes,Chris von Sneidern, The Bottle Kids, 1.4.5., The Smithereens, Paul Collins' Beat, The Hit Squad, The Rulers, The Legal Matters, Maura & the Bright Lights, Lisa Mychols, and Mr. Encrypto & the Cyphers. You gotta have it, so order it here. A digital download version (minus The Smithereens' track) is also available from Futureman Records.