Drawn from previous posts, this is not part of my book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1).
An infinite number of tracks can each be THE greatest record ever made, as long as they take turns. Today, this is THE GREATEST RECORD EVER MADE!
Power pop. Bomp! magazine said so.
One snowy winter evening in the late 1970s, I bought one of the greatest fun-in-the sun tunes of all time. "Rockaway Beach" represents the only instance where I can tell you without question the precise date when I bought a specific record: January 17th, 1978. My 18th birthday. Home from college for winter break. My parents took me to Beefsteak Mining Company at Penn Can Mall in North Syracuse for a birthday dinner. After the meal, a quick stop at Gerber Music netted a gift for myself: The 45 of "Rockaway Beach," the latest single by my new favorite band, the Ramones.
In 1978, the legal drinking age was 18. That evening of 1/17/78, I planned to go out with friends and execute my newly-earned status as NOT! a minor with a beer or three. Or seven. Ah, but it was January in Syracuse, NY. The snow began to fall. And then it fell heavily. Wiser teen heads prevailed. The ritual I'm-18-and-I-like-it! partying was postponed to another night. I wasn't thrilled with that turn of events, but a nightclub was too hard, too far to reach.
As the snow fell in the darkness of the suburbs, I had a new single by my new favorite band. I hadn't heard it yet, but my full-on embrace of the Ramones' previous single "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" meant I was predisposed to adore "Rockaway Beach." And it did not disappoint.
Like "Sheena" before it, "Rockaway Beach" is punk made pop, the Beach Boys if the Beach Boys played faster and louder, Dee Dee Ramone's introductory 1-2-3-4! no less Fab than the template provided by Paul McCartney's 1-2-3-FAW! count-in to the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" less than fifteen years before. The Ramones. The American Beatles? I wasn't quite ready to declare that when I was just 18 (if you know what I mean), but I was edging toward it. I would celebrate the notion in short order. Let others blast out the disco on the radio. The sun is out. And I want...more.
In between my acquisitions of "Sheena" and "Rockaway Beach," I wrote my first-ever attempt at rock journalism. My work was flawed, but it was a start. Just after that, I saw my first-ever live rock 'n' roll club show, as the Flashcubes (and then Bomp! magazine) introduced me to the name of the music I'd always loved most: Power pop. A couple of decades later, during an email exchange with Bomp!'s own Greg Shaw, Shaw told me he couldn't support any definition of power pop that didn't include "Rockaway Beach." A couple more decades later, I got to sing "Rockaway Beach" at a release party for my book about the Ramones. Like Flashcubes bassist Gary Frenay wrote in his song "Syracuse Summer," seasons change and you live extremes.
But ain't no snowfall ever gonna cover my sunny dreams. Chewin' out a rhythm on my bubblegum. I've been eighteen for a long time now. Surf's up.
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My new book of short stories Guitars Vs. Rayguns!! Short Stories And Other White Lies is out now, and you can get autographed copies of the new book and my previous book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) directly from me. You can still get my previous previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here.
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, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here
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