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End of the Century is the fifth studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones, released on February 4, 1980 through Sire Records.

Recording and production

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In February 1977 after attending a Ramones concert in Los Angeles, music producer Phil Spector offered to assist in fabricating Rocket to Russia. The band denied his offer, feeling as though the album would not be the same without Tommy Ramone and Tony Bongiovi producing the album.[1][2] While the band refused his initial offer, they later asked Spector to help with the album because of their lack of popularity and sales. End of the Century would be the first album released without former drummer and producer Tommy.[3] Spector had become infamous through his work with the Beatles as well as solo albums by John Lennon and George Harrison. With these releases, Spector deemed what would become known as the "Wall of Sound," which is dense, layered, and reverberant sound that came across well on AM radio and jukeboxes. These standards are created through instruments performing identical parts in unison, using high-quality overdubbing and echo chambers to aid in the production value.[3][4] The producer was convinced that the Ramones had talent with lyrics and musical structure, so he intended to promote the band through more advanced methods of sound output.[3]

Recording sessions for the album began on May 1, 1979 at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Gold Star Studios had become famous through its history with artists like Eddie Cochran and the Beach Boys.[1] At the Ramones' request, Ed Stasium helped with the album's engineering.[5] During the studio work, Spector's recording methods were opposed those which the Ramones had grown accustomed to from their four previous studio albums—the band had recorded their compositions in the shortest amount of time possible for the lowest feasible budget with a relatively low production value. With End of the Century, the band saw the unprecedented perfectionism of Spector, and had a budget of $200,000 to fully record and produce the album.[6] This is significant because the band's debut album took $6,400 total, and their second album took $10,000.[7][8] End of the Century is the most expensive album in the Ramones' career.[9]

Conflict

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This alternative method of recording caused conflicts to arise during sessions. 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."[10] During the recording of "Rock 'n' Roll High School," Johnny was forced by Spector to repeat his part hundreds of times over the course of several hours. Sire Records owner Seymour Stein relates: "To Johnny, this must have been like the Chinese water torture."[11]

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 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."[12]

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.

— Dee Dee Ramone[12]

Dee Dee claimed to have left the 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,"[13] he wrote in his autobiography. After supposedly hearing that Johnny had returned to New York, Dee Dee wrote that he and drummer Marky Ramone booked 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."[12] Dee Dee's account contradicts much of the band's collective account from the 1982 Trouser Press interview, where the band stated that the only track that Johnny, Dee Dee and Marky did not play on was the cover version of "Baby, I Love You", as the band, save for Joey, had gone home after cutting basic tracks for the rest of the album.[14]

Compositions

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End of the Century was described by the band as an album written solely to gain popularity, resulting in more of a pop punk sound. Joey failed to contribute to the best of his abilities on the album, and recalled: "I think that some of the worst crap I ever wrote went on the album. That was me at my worst."[15] Johnny also felt that the album was far from the band's prime.[16]

"End of the Century was just watered-down Ramones. It's not real Ramones. 'Baby, I Love You'--I didn't on that at all. What am I gonna do--play along with an orchestra? There's no point. End of the Century was trying to get a hit on each song, instead of trying to get a hit on one or two of the songs on the album and trying to make the rest as raunchy as you can. They ain't gonna play the other ten songs, anyway."

— Johnny Ramone[16]

The album opens with "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?", a throwback to the rock music of the 1950's to late 1960's. The lyrics name several famous musicians of this era, including Jerry Lee Lewis, John Lennon, including T. Rex, and also cites The Ed Sullivan Show. Many instuments that were previously rarely—if ever—used in punk rock were featured in the song's score; these instruments include the saxaphone and electronic organ. The lyrics, written by Dee Dee, depict his childhood in Germany where he would secretly listened to rock radio stations at night.[17]

Johnny's part is not heard on the next track, "I'm Affected," as reported by Johnny himself.[18] Joey admitted that he did not favor the song, recalling: "I couldn't believe how awful it sounded. It was horrible."[15] "Danny Says," which is the third track on End of the Century, was a lyrical depiction of what the band constantly went through while touring--soundchecks, autograph sessions, interviews, etc. The title "Danny Says" pertains to the band's tour manager Danny Fields giving the members instructions, schedules, and demands. According to Joey, the ballad was inspired by Lou Reed who had released the songs "Candy Says" and "Caroline Says."[19][20] Joey's brother Mickey Leigh called the song a "masterpiece" and said it "remains one of the most captivatingly beautiful songs I've ever heard."[16]

The next piece, "Chinese Rocks," was written by Dee Dee in 1976 and later revised by Richard Hell. Dee Dee wrote the piece in response to Lou Reed's "Heroin", and attempted to concoct better lyrics which related to drug use and heroin addiction.[21] After Johnny vetoed the song, it was recorded by Hell's band The Heartbreakers before the Ramones, though the bands use slightly different words.[17] The lyrics deal with the daily life of a heroin addict, and the term "Chinese Rocks" is a euphemism for the noise drug heroin.[22] "The Return of Jackie and Judy" is a continuation to one of the band's earlier songs, "Judy is a Punk," which was released on their debut album Ramones. Their were numerous studio guests involved in the song's recording, including Spector's bodyguard, Dan and David Kessel (sons of jazz guitarist Barney Kessel), abd California disc jockey Rodney Bingenheimer.[23]

Side B begins with "Baby I Love You." Joey exclaimed that he "hated" the song, despite it obtaining a level of popularity in Europe.[15] is a cover version or the The Ronettes, and contained a string section arrangement that Leigh deemed "gooey" and that it "sounded right out of Redbone's 'Come and Get Your Love.'" He also confessed that the song "almost made [him] embarrassed."[16] "Rock 'n' Roll High School" originally appeared on the soundtrack to Rock 'n' Roll High School, a film directed by Allan Arkush. The movie depicts a story line in which the Ramones are obsessed over by female high school student Riff Randell along with other pupils attending the school.[24] The album concludes with "High Risk Insurance," which is a reaction to politics of that era.[25]

Reception

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Critical

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Commercial

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  • Unterberger, Richie (2009). White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day. Jawbone Press. ISBN 9781906002220.
  1. ^ a b True 2005, p. 136.
  2. ^ Ramone 2012, ch. 3.
  3. ^ a b c Ramone 2012, ch. 5.
  4. ^ Ribowsky, Mark. He's a Rebel. Cambridge, MA: Perseus, 2007.
  5. ^ Fricke, David (05-2011). "Hit or Bust". Mojo: 78. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ True 2005, p. 145.
  7. ^ Leigh 2009, p. 128.
  8. ^ Porter, p. 75.
  9. ^ Porter 2004, p. 104.
  10. ^ Ramone 2000, p. 132.
  11. ^ Jim Fields (director) Michael Gramaglia (director) (2003-01-19). End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (Motion picture). United States: Rhino Records/Sire Records. {{cite AV media}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); |format= requires |url= (help)
  12. ^ a b c Ramone 2000, p. 131. Cite error: The named reference "ramone 132" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference ramone 131 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ "Ramones Autodiscography". Trouser Press, 06-1982.
  15. ^ a b c McNeil & McCain 2006, p. 336.
  16. ^ a b c d Leigh 2009, p. 201.
  17. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference true 145 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Ramone 2010, ch. 10.
  19. ^ True 2005, p. 145.
  20. ^ Unterberger , p. 247.
  21. ^ McNeil & McCain 2006, p. 214.
  22. ^ Ramone 2000, p. 132.
  23. ^ True 2005, p. 138.
  24. ^ Schinder & Schwartz 2008, p. 552.
  25. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide Reviews". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved Feb 9, 2014.
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