Ramones - Are Not An Answer (1987)

You get the impression that Ramones are the sort of band who go into the studio, bang out a few tunes, and release them as an album, and so demos and out-takes of their early years are very hard to find. By 1984 they'd released seven studio albums, and so they could afford to take their time in the recording studio, and even work up a song and record a demo before laying down the finished version. 1984's 'Too Tough To Die' saw the band returning to their roots, and the overall style leaned toward that of punk rock and heavy metal, rather than the pop music which had been a focus of several of the band's recent albums. Previous Ramones' records had featured celebrity producers in an attempt to gain some sort of popularity, but since this didn't yield the results which they were expecting, Sire Records contacted the producers of 1978's 'Road To Ruin', and offered the job to Ed Stasium and ex-band member Tommy Ramone. The album therefore has less production value than previous recordings by the band, resulting in a harsher sound, and not only does it include bassist Dee Dee Ramone performing lead vocals on 'Wart Hog' and 'Endless Vacation', but it also contains the band's only instrumental piece, 'Durango 95'. As well as the 13 tracks that made it onto the album, a number of unreleased demos appeared on the expanded edition of the album in 2002, and if we add in a few non-album b-sides from around the same time we end up with a pretty respectable collection of rare tracks. I've also added in three demos/out-takes from 1981, plus their contribution to the soundtrack of the 1983 film 'Get Crazy', giving a pretty comprehensive overview of the band in the early to mid-80's. There were quite a few more demos with Dee Dee Ramone on vocals, but I decided to concentrate on the classic line-up of the band for this album, sticking to Joey on vocals, alongside Dee Dee and Johnny, and new drummer Richie Ramone. As the group have often been disparagingly called a 'cartoon band', I thought the cover was perfect for this post.      

 
Track listing 

01 I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind (out-take 1981)
02 Kicks To Try (Demo 1981)
03 Stares In This Town (Demo 1981) 
04 Touring (1981 version)
05 Chop Suey (from the soundtrack to the film 'Get Crazy' 1983) 
06 I'm Not An Answer (demo 1984)     
07 Out Of Here (demo 1984)
08 Smash You (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
09 Street Fighting Man (b-side of 'Howling At The Moon' 1984)
10 Sleeping Troubles (demo 1984)
11 I Wasn't Looking For Love (demo 1984)
12 Working It Over (demo 1984)
13 Go Home Ann (b-side of 'Bonzo Goes To Bitburg 12" 1985)
14 (You) Can't Say Anything Nice (b-side of 'Something To Believe' 12" 1986)
15 Life Goes On (b-side of 'Real Good Time' 12" 1987)

Various Artists - T.V. Rocks! (2020)

I was watching the penultimate episode of the latest series of 'The Simpsons' the other day, and at the end we were treated to the end credits played by Weezer, which got me thinking about other T.V. themes that have been covered by rock bands, and there are more than you would think. Some have even been hit singles for The Manic Street Preachers, The Timelords and The Dickies, and in their naive Australia for Silver Studs, and many famous bands like to pay homage to their favourite T.V. shows by covering the theme tune. The James Taylor Quartet jazzed up 'Starsky & Hutch' for their second album following the success of their mini-album of film themes in 1987, and the latest example is a frankly unrecognisable version of 'The Golden Girls' theme 'Thank You For Being A Friend' from St. Vincent. Pantera have shredded 'Mission Impossible', just as Weezer have done with 'The Simpsons', whereas a couple of the best covers are from artists previously unknown to me, Shagpile with a lovely cover of the theme from 'Cheers', and Mateo Oxley with a similar version of the theme from 'Friends'. Also tucked away on here is Sun Kil Moon's take on 'The Partridge Family', 'Laverne & Shirley' from The Squealing Pygmies, 'Welcome Back Kotter' from Swedish hipsters jj, and Husker Du paying tribute to their hometown-based 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'. The theme from 'Batman' has been covered by many rock bands, including The Who, The Jam, Link Wray, REM, and The Ventures, but I've gone with The Flaming Lips' version here, and we round the whole thing off with the track that started this idea, Weezer playing out 'The Simpsons'. Hope you enjoy this little diversion, and now that I've got this out of my system I'll get back to the normal rock stuff. 

Track listing

01 Theme From Starsky & Hutch (The James Taylor Quartet)
02 Making Our Dreams Come True (The Squealing Pygmies)
03 UFO (The Wedding Present)
04 Theme From M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) (Manic Street Preachers)
05 Mission Impossible (Pantera)
06 Thank You For Being A Friend (St. Vincent)
07 Batman Theme (The Flaming Lips)
08 Banana Splits (The Dickies)
09 Where Everybody Knows Your Name (Shagpile)
10 Doctorin' The Tardis (The Timelords AKA The KLF)
11 Love Is All Around (Husker Du)
12 Get Smart Theme (Agent 86) (Agent Orange)
13 C'Mon Get Happy (Sun Kil Moon)
14 Theme To The Persuaders (Jah Wobble)
15 Welcome Back (jj)
16 Happy Days (Silver Studs)
17 I'll Be There For You (Mateo Oxley)
18 Spider Man (Ramones)
19 The Simpsons Theme (Weezer)

Solstice Tidings: An Alternative Christmas Album (2019)

If, like me, you've heard the same dozen Christmas songs over and over on the radio and in the shops over the past few weeks, then here's an album to take the edge off the festive period. They're still Christmas/Winter-themed songs, but by some of my favourite bands (most of them already have a post on the site), and the majority are in the alternative genre, with just a couple of more mainstream acts, but with songs that tend not to make it to the ubiquitous Christmas compilation albums. Low issued one of the best ever Christmas albums in 2010, and I was tempted to include the up-beat 'Just Like Christmas', but instead I went for a lesser-known song from it, although do check out the whole thing as it's a classic. Cheap Trick, Ramones, The Flaming Lips, Sparks and AC/DC give us a cynical or left-field viewpoint of the holiday, while the offerings from Squeeze, Smashing Pumpkins and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are surprisingly restrained. Galaxie 500's take on Yoko One's 'Listen, The Snow Is Falling' is simply breath-taking, and I've also included songs by two of my favourite current singer/songwriters, with  'Goodbye England (Covered In Snow)' from Laura Marling and 'Winter Song' from Billie Marten. I hope that this hour-long collection of little-heard Christmas songs adds some joy to your holiday. 

Track listing

01 Christmas Christmas - Cheap Trick
02 A Christmas Song - Jethro Tull
03 Christmas Was Better In The 80's - The Futureheads
04 Listen, The Snow Is Falling - Galaxie 500
05 Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) - Ramones
06 Christmas Time - The Smashing Pumpkins
07 If You Were Born Today (Song For Little Baby Jesus) - Low
08 All I Want For Christmas - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
09 Christmas All Over Again - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
10 Winter Song - Billie Marten
11 Christmas At The Zoo - The Flaming Lips
12 Father Christmas - The Kinks
13 Home For Christmas - Kate Bush
14 Thank God It's Not Christmas - Sparks
15 Christmas Day - Squeeze
16 (We Wish You) A Protein Christmas - The Fall
17 There Ain't No Santa Claus On The Evening Stage - Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
18 Mistress For Christmas - AC/DC
19 Goodbye England (Covered In Snow) - Laura Marling

Ramones - Rock 'n' Roll High School (1980)

I've loved the Ramones from the first time that I heard them on the John Peel show way back in 1976, and still have their first three vinyl albums in my collection, as well as the fourth on CD, picked up much later when I wanted to rekindle the relationship. I skipped the live album and then moved on to 'End Of The Century', and that was roughly when the love affair ended. I was prepared to give it a try, but having Phil Spector as the producer was something that I'd have to get past in order to enjoy the record. However, one listen to 'Baby, I Love You', with its syrupy strings and too-laid-back Joey vocal, was enough to put me off, and I never really gave it much credence after that. Stories abound of the tense working conditions between the band and the producer, as the Ramones weren’t used to the pop perfectionism of a producer like Spector, and he was a notorious taskmaster when it came to his artists, often requiring take after take of a song to make sure it was perfect. Prior to him coming on board, the band had only worked with their friend Ed Stasium, or their former drummer/manager Tommy Ramone, and they could knock out an album in a couple of weeks. Spector reputedly made Johnny play the same chord on 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' for hours on end, and then spent 12 solid hours sitting there and listening to the same chord over and over again. He also allegedly pulled a gun on the band in the studio, and after a week of dealing with Spector's antics, Johnny decided to go back to New York, effectively ending the Ramones, or at least the sessions for 'End of the Century'. 
The album eventually limped out in 1980, but is never talked about with the reverence that their early work commands. When it was re-issued in a deluxe edition in 2002 it included some bonus tracks, in the form of demos of some of the songs from the finished record. These were obviously much more in the style of their earlier performances, being more raw and ramshackled, and so I decided to use them to put together an album with as little Spector on it as I could. Where we have demos of the songs I've used those, and I've replaced 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' and 'I Want You Around' with the 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' film soundtrack versions, while 'Baby, I Love You' has gone completely, to be replaced by the out-take 'Please Don't Leave'. For the other songs I've had to stick with the original album versions, but with a bit of low-end bass taken off, and in the context of this reimagining of the record they fit in pretty well. If, like me, you felt the band were on the verge of selling out with 'End Of The Century' then see if this changes your mind.

Track listing

01 Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio (demo)
02 I'm Affected (demo)
03 Danny Says (demo)
04 Chinese Rock (album version)
05 The Return Of Jack And Judy (album version)
06 Let's Go (album version)
07 I Want You Around (soundtrack version)
08 I Can't Make It On Time (album version)
09 This Ain't Havana (album version)
10 Rock 'n' Roll High School (soundtrack version)
11 All The Way (demo)
12 Please Don't Leave (demo)
13 High Risk Insurance (album version)