I wrote this short piece to serve as a coda at the conclusion of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1). It would have appeared as the last individual song discussed in the book, an inner groove at album's end, followed only by a general benediction and an afterword.
But it felt anticlimactic. It served a specific symmetry--the book's first song is an overture about The Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?"--but it didn't enhance the experience. So it's out. It's preserved here for posterity.
An infinite number of songs can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, THIS is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!
THE RAMONES: Blitzkrieg Bop
Written by Ramones [Dee Dee Ramone and Tommy Ramone]
Produced by Craig Leone
Single, Sire Records, 1976
1-2-3-4.
The Ramones set out to be the American Beatles. They succeeded, as long as we don't factor in extraneous things like fame, popularity, record sales, and money. But impact? Immortality? The buzz of irresistible pop perfection? Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're forming in a straight line.
It started here, with a fab four of misfits from Queens aimin' for the toppermost of the poppermost, plausibility be damned. What, The Bay City Rollers were already trying to be the next Beatles? Fine. The Ramones would be a faster and louder version, innately more fascinating, emphatically more American. Imagining a chant like S! A! T-U-R! D-A-Y! NIGHT!! to be a prerequisite for radio success, The Ramones revamped the Rollers approach into their own HEY-HO, LET'S GO! Number one with a bullet? Not even close. Shoot 'em in the back now.
Nonetheless....
Failing to ship and sell the massive volume of hit platters they envisioned, The Ramones kept going anyway. The kids are losing their minds. All revved up and ready to go.
The Ramones. The American Beatles. Yeah, that sounds about right to me.
Let's GO!
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This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
The many fine This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio compilation albums are still available, each full of that rockin' pop sound you crave. A portion of all sales benefit our perpetually cash-strapped community radio project:
Volume 1: download
Volume 3: download
Hey, Carl's writin' a book! The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) will contain 133 essays about 133 tracks, each one of 'em THE greatest record ever made. An infinite number of records can each be the greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Updated initial information can be seen here: THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE! (Volume 1).
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