End of the Century
Studio album by Ramones
Released	February 4, 1980
Recorded	May 1979
Genre	Punk Rock
Length	31:50
Label	Sire Records
Producer(s)	Phil Spector
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B+) link Rhino Records Expanded Release: Image File history File links This image is of a music album or single cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the album or the artist(s) which produced the music in question. ... A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... The Ramones were an American rock band often considered to be the first punk rock group. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sire Records Company is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes . ... Harvey Phillip Spector (born December 26, 1940) is an American record producer of the 1960s and 1970s. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... Robert Christgau (sometimes abbreviated in print to Xgau), born April 18, 1942, is an American essayist, music journalist, and rock critic. ... All Music Guide link
Ramones chronology
It's Alive (1979)	End of the Century (1980)	Pleasant Dreams (1981)

End of the Century is the fifth album by the Ramones. It was produced by the famed Phil Spector and was released on February 4, 1980. This album is generally seen as a departure from the bands' original formula of energetic punk rock, and an attempt at reaching commercial success. The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... The Ramones were an American rock band often considered to be the first punk rock group. ... Its Alive is a live album by punk rock band, The Ramones. ... Pleasant Dreams is the sixth album by the Ramones. ... The Ramones were an American rock band often considered to be the first punk rock group. ... Harvey Phillip Spector (born December 26, 1940) is an American record producer of the 1960s and 1970s. ... February 4 is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Punk rock is an anti-establishment music movement beginning around 1976 (although precursors can be found several years earlier), exemplified and popularised by The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, The Clash and The Damned. ...

After Spector got interested in the band, he offered to produce the next record. Vocalist Joey Ramone was an avid fan of his early work, including many girl groups and Beatles records. The result was a change in direction of the band's sound. As an attempt at a Top 40 record and mainstream acceptance, its songs are more cleanly produced and longer in length, averaging around three minutes. Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), born as Jeffery Hyman, was an American vocalist and songwriter best known for his work in the legendary punk rock group the Ramones. ... A girl group is the equivalent of a boy band, but, as the name implies, featuring a group of female rather than male singers. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

The album peaked #44 on the US Billboard Top 100, and peaked #14 on the UK Billboard charts. Even though its highest charting single was "Danny Says", the more known songs are "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" and Spector's version of "Rock 'n' Roll High School". Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. ... Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio? (or simply, Rock n Roll Radio) was the second single of American punk rock band Ramones from their fifth studio album End of the Century. ... DVD cover Rock n Roll High School is a 1979 film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring The Ramones. ...

Recording

Recording the album was said to be very frustrating for both the band and Spector. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone wrote of Spector's obsessive recording techniques: "Phil would sit in the control room and would listen through the headphones to Marky hit one note on the drum, hour after hour, after hour, after hour."^[1] At another time, Spector forced guitarist Johnny Ramone to play the opening chord to "Rock 'n' Roll High School" hundreds of times. Dee Dee Ramone, 1979 Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin) (September 18, 1952 - June 5, 2002) was an American songwriter and bassist, best remembered as a founding member of punk rock band the Ramones. ... Marc Bell (better known as Marky Ramone, born July 15, 1956, in Brooklyn, New York) was the drummer for the punk rock group The Ramones. ... John Cummings (October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004), better known as Johnny Ramone, was the guitarist for the punk rock group The Ramones. ...

Early in the sessions, Spector reportedly held the Ramones hostage at gunpoint. According to Dee Dee, when Spector took Joey away for a three-hour private meeting somewhere in his cavernous mansion where the album was to be recorded, Dee Dee went looking for them. "The next thing I knew Phil appeared at the top of the staircase, shouting and waving a pistol," Dee Dee later wrote:

"Phil," I challenged him, "I don't know what your fucking problem is, waving that pistol around and all that stuff.... I've had it. I'm going back to the Tropicana."...

"You're not going anywhere, Dee Dee," Phil said.

He leveled his gun at my heart and then motioned for me and the rest of the band to get back in the piano room.... He only holstered his pistol when he felt secure that his bodyguards could take over. Then he sat down at his black concert piano and made us listen to him play and sing "Baby, I Love You" until well after 4:30 in the morning.^[2]

Dee Dee claimed to have left the recording sessions without recording anything. "We had been working for at least fourteen or fifteen hours a day for thirteen days straight and we still hadn't recorded one note of music," he wrote in his autobiography. After supposedly hearing that Johnny had returned to New York, Dee Dee wrote that he and drummer book a flight and returned home as well. "To this day, I still have no idea how they made the album End of the Century, or who actually played bass on it."^[3] Baby, I Love You was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector. ...

"In the end the album cost like $700,000 to make because Phil just kept remixing and remixing," Joey Ramone recalled. "Finally Seymour [Stein] just told him, 'Look, Phil...' you know, that he wanted it as it was, because Phil, he was just never satisfied. He wanted to remix the whole record all over again.... It was crazy."^[4]

Reaction

T. Donald Guarisco of All Music Guide notes that the "entire album is pretty controversial in the world of Ramones fandom".^[5] This album is generally considered the turning point of the sound, continuing into the lesser-known Ramones records of the '80s. The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ...

Dee Dee recalled hearing a song from the album on the radio, perhaps "I'm Affected": "I couldn't believe how awful it sounded. It was horrible. I hated "Baby, I Love You". I think that some of the worst crap I ever wrote went on that album."^[6]

On the hand, Kurt Loder, reviewing the album for Rolling Stone, called it "Phil Spector's finest and most mature effort in years": Kurt Loder (born May 5, 1945 in New Jersey) is an American journalist, writer, and author. ...

He's created a setting that's rich and vibrant and surging with power, but it's the Ramones who are spotlighted, not their producer.... Throughout the album, Spector has set off Joey's deceptively skillful singing in a clear and often moving manner that may have even the Ramones' most ardent admirers shaking their heads in awe.^[7]

Songs

"Danny Says" was written by singer Joey Ramone about the emptiness of life on the road touring, and is one of their better known and more delicate ballads.^[8] The "Danny" alluded to in the title is the Ramones' manager, Danny Fields. It was covered by the Foo Fighters on Gabba Gabba Metal (A Metal Tribute to the Ramones) and Tom Waits on the second disc of his Orphans collection. Danny Fields is mostly known for his influence and contribution to punk rock music via management. ... Foo Fighters are a rock group formed by musician Dave Grohl in 1995. ... Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. ...

"The Return of Jackie and Judy" is a follow-up to their well- known early song, "Judy Is a Punk", appearing on the band's debut album. The song elaborates on the two character's lives.

Legacy

In 2003, a documentary on the Ramones was released under the title End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones.

Track listing

1. "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" – 3:50 (Joey Ramone)
2. "I'm Affected" – 2:51 (Joey Ramone)
3. "Danny Says" – 3:06 (Joey Ramone)
4. "Chinese Rock" – 2:28 (Dee Dee Ramone)
5. "The Return of Jackie and Judy" – 3:12 (The Ramones)
6. "Let's Go" – 2:31 (Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Ramone)
7. "Baby, I Love You" – 3:47 (Phil Spector, Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich)
8. "I Can't Make It on Time" – 2:32 (The Ramones)
9. "This Ain't Havana" – 2:18 (Dee Dee Ramone)
10. "Rock 'n' Roll High School" – 2:38 (Joey Ramone)
11. "All the Way" – 2:29 (The Ramones)
12. "High Risk Insurance" – 2:08 (The Ramones)

Do You Remember Rock n Roll Radio? (or simply, Rock n Roll Radio) was the second single of American punk rock band Ramones from their fifth studio album End of the Century. ... Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), born as Jeffery Hyman, was an American vocalist and songwriter best known for his work in the legendary punk rock group the Ramones. ... Chinese Rocks or Chinese Rock is a song about heroin written early in the careers of New York City punk legends Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell, circa 1976. ... Dee Dee Ramone, 1979 Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin) (September 18, 1952 - June 5, 2002) was an American songwriter and bassist, best remembered as a founding member of punk rock band the Ramones. ... The Ramones (L-R, Johnny, Tommy, Joey, Dee Dee) on the cover of their debut self-titled album (1976), cementing their place at the dawn of the punk movement. ... Harvey Phillip Spector (born December 26, 1940) is an American record producer of the 1960s and 1970s. ... DVD cover Rock n Roll High School is a 1979 film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring The Ramones. ...

Re-release bonus tracks

The album was remastered and released by Rhino Records in August 2002 with the following bonus tracks:

13. "I Want You Around (Soundtrack Version)" – 3:05
14. "Danny Says (Demo)" – 2:19
15. "I'm Affected (Demo)" – 2:47
16. "Please Don't Leave (Demo)" – 2:22 [1]
17. "All the Way (Demo)" – 2:31
18. "Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio? (Demo)" – 3:43
    • "End of the Century Radio Promo" – 0:59 (This is a hidden track, as it is not on the track listing.)

    References

    • Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk.
    • Dee Dee Ramone, Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones.

    Notes

    1. ^ Ramone, p. 132.
    2. ^ Ramone, p. 131.
    3. ^ Ramone, 132.
    4. ^ McNeil and McCain, p. 363.
    5. ^ Chinese Rock. All Music Guide. URL accessed March 13, 2006.
    6. ^ McNeil and McCain, p. 363.
    7. ^ "The Ramones: End of the Century", Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone, March 20, 1980.
    8. ^ "The Ramones: End of the Century", Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone, March 20, 1980.

    Ramones
    Joey Ramone • Johnny Ramone • Dee Dee Ramone • Marky Ramone • Tommy Ramone • C.J. Ramone • Richie Ramone • Elvis Ramone • Billy Rogers • now. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Ramones were an American rock band often considered to be the first punk rock group. ... Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), born as Jeffery Hyman, was an American vocalist and songwriter best known for his work in the legendary punk rock group the Ramones. ... John Cummings (October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004), better known as Johnny Ramone, was the guitarist for the punk rock group The Ramones. ... Dee Dee Ramone, 1979 Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin) (September 18, 1952 - June 5, 2002) was an American songwriter and bassist, best remembered as a founding member of punk rock band the Ramones. ... Marc Bell (better known as Marky Ramone, born July 15, 1956, in Brooklyn, New York) was the drummer for the punk rock group The Ramones. ... Drummer Tommy Ramone (born Thomas Erdelyi January 29, 1952 in Budapest, Hungary) grew up in Queens, one of the boroughs of New York City. ... Christopher John Ward (born October 8, 1965), better known as C.J. Ramone, was the bassist for The Ramones from 1989 to 1996. ... Richard Reinhardt () (born August 11, 1957) is an American drummer best known for his work with the punk rock group the Ramones. ... Clem Burke (born Clement Burke, November 24, 1955, in New York City) is the percussionist for the band Blondie. ... Billy Rogers is a rock drummer who played briefly for the Ramones in 1983. ...
    Discography
    Studio albums: Ramones (1976) • Leave Home (1977) • Rocket to Russia (1977) • Road to Ruin (1978) • End of the Century (1980) • Pleasant Dreams (1981) • Subterranean Jungle (1983) • Too Tough to Die (1984) • Animal Boy (1986) • Halfway to Sanity (1987) • Brain Drain (1989) • Mondo Bizarro (1992) • Acid Eaters (1993) • ¡Adios Amigos! (1995) The Ramones were an American rock band often considered to be the first punk rock group. ... A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... The Ramones is the band of the same titles first album, released in May of 1976 (see 1976 in music). ... Leave Home is the Ramones second album. ... Rocket to Russia is the third album by American Punk group The Ramones, released in 1977. ... Road To Ruin is the fourth album by the Ramones. ... Pleasant Dreams is the sixth album by the Ramones. ... Subterranean Jungle is an album by punk band the Ramones. ... Too Tough to Die is the 8th album by The Ramones, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music. ... Animal Boy is an album by the Ramones. ... Halfway to Sanity is an album by Ramones. ... Brain Drain is a 1989 album by the Ramones (see 1989 in music). ... Mondo Bizarro is an album by the punk rock group The Ramones, released in 1992 (see 1992 in music). ... Acid Eaters is an album by punk rock group The Ramones. ... ¡Adios Amigos! is the Ramones last album. ...
    Live albums: It's Alive (1979) • Loco Live (1991) • Greatest Hits Live (1996) • We're Outta Here (1997) • You Don't Come Close (2001) • NYC 1978 (2003) A live album is a musical recording containing recorded concert performances. ... Its Alive is a live album by punk rock band, The Ramones. ... Ramones 1991 live album that has apparently (at least) two versions. ... Greatest Hits Live is a live album by the punk rock band the Ramones. ... Were Outta Here is a live album by the Ramones released in November of 1997. ... You Dont Come Close is a live album by the Ramones, recorded in 1978, and released in 2001. ... NYC 1978 was a live album by the Ramones. ...
    Compilations: Ramones Mania (1988) • All The Stuff (And More!) Volume 1 (1990) • All The Stuff (And More!) Volume 2 (1990) • Hey Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology (1999) • Ramones Mania Vol. 2 (2000) • Masters of Rock: Ramones (2001) • Best of the Chrysalis Years (2002) • Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits (2002) • The Chrysalis Years (2002) • The Best of The Ramones (2004) • Weird Tales of the Ramones (2005) • Greatest Hits (2006) A compilation album is a musical album featuring songs or tunes with some common characteristics. ... The first Ramones Compilation. ... All the Stuff (And More!) Volume 1 features all the tracks from Ramones and Leave Home (but not Carbona Not Glue), plus: I Dont Wanna Be Learned/I Dont Wanna Be Tamed and I Cant Be – Early demos, previously unreleased. ... Best of the Chrysalis Years is a compilation album made up of tracks from the Ramones five albums on Chrysalis Records,Brain Drain, Mondo Bizarro, Acid Eaters, ¡Adios Amigos!, and Loco Live. ... The Chrysalis Years, is a three-disc compilation that attempts to summarize Ramones career. ... The Best of The Ramones is a re-release of the 2002 Ramones compilation album, Best of the Chrysalis Years, but with a new, title, cover, and tracklisting. ... Weird Tales of the Ramones was released on August 16th,2005. ... Blitzkrieg Bop Beat On The Brat Judy Is A Punk I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Sheena Is a Punk Rocker Pinhead Commando Rockaway Beach WeRe A Happy Family Cretin Hop Teenage Lobotomy I Wanna Be Sedated I Just Want To Have Something To Do RockNRoll High School...
    Tribute Albums: Ramones (1992) • We're a Happy Family (2003) A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of a specific artists songs. ... This album is Screeching Weasel covering the first album by The Ramones in its entireity. ... Were A Happy Family is a tribute album by variouis artists as a tribute to the Ramones. ...
    Films: Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) • Lifestyles of the Ramones (1990) • Ramones - Around the World (1993) • We're Outta Here (1997) • End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003) • Ramones: Raw (2004) Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... DVD cover Rock n Roll High School is a 1979 film produced by Roger Corman, directed by Allan Arkush, and featuring The Ramones. ... Lifestyles Of The Ramones A video made by The Ramones featuring interviews and music videos. ... Were Outta Here is a live album by the Ramones released in November of 1997. ...
    This box: view • talk • edit