Record of the week – Les lycée des cancres!

When the movie soundtrack to Rock'n'roll High School was released in France the record company didn't use the original movie-poster drawing on the cover as the rest of the world did.
Both the LP and the single have a different artwork on the cover, unique to France.
Here they are! First the single.

Songs: Rock'n'roll High School/Danny says
Number: Sire 2 C008-64253

Year: 1980

Album: Le Lycée des cancres
Number: Sire 2 C068-62922

Year: 1980

Ramones made it in Portugal

In 1977 Jose Manuel Fortunato bought a pressing plant in Portugal for $ 100.000. It only had two manual presses and four employees. Three years later, Fortunato had 30 employees and new machines. A major reason for the success was the Ramones.
The company, Companhia de Musica Nova, started with printing and distributing records in Portugal from U.S. and brittish labels such as Sire and Stiff.
"We were were having great success with the international repertoire. When one of the leaders of the company heard the Ramones for the first time he said" No way! ", But after a little while the Ramones were selling really well, not just on the street but also to wholesalers", said António Sérgio, who was responsible for the licensee releases, to a Portuguese journalist in 1995.
Many records was sold outside Portugal, in Sweden in the mid 80's it was possible to find lots of cheap Rocket to Russia and Road to ruin pressed in Portugal in the large supermarkets.
Nova released all the Ramones albums until Pleasant Dreams 1981. I have not been able to find out when the first album was released in Portugal, but my guess is 1978. The company began in 1977 and in 1979 they released the LP Música Moderna with the Portuguese post-punk band Corpo Diplomático which was possible because of the success of selling Ramones records. The Portuguese version has the same number as the second U.S. press, so it's unlikely that the record was released before 1978.
Along with the End of the Century Nova released two singles, Baby I love you and Do you remember rock'n'roll radio. They are the only Ramones-singles pressed in Portugal.

This is the the records pressed in Portugal:
Albums:
Ramones                    Sire Nova SR 6020 NP  1978?     
Leave Home               Sire Nova SR 6031 NP  1978?    With a fold out lyrics sheet
Rocket to Russia        Sire Nova SR 6042 NP  1978?    With a fold out lyrics sheet
Road to Ruin             Sire Nova SR 6063 NP  1978
It's alive                     Sire Nova SRK2 6074    1779
End of the Century   Sire Nova SR 6077 NP  1980
Pleasant Dreams      Sire Nova SRK 3571      1981

Singles:
Songs: Baby I love you/High Risk Insurance
Number: Sire Nova SRE 49182 NP

Year: 1980

Country: Portugal

Note: Released together with the local radio station Rock em Stock.

Songs: Do you remember Rock'n'roll Radio?/I want you around

Number: Sire Nova SIR 4037 NP

Year: 1980

Country: Portugal

Record of the week – well-packed Boyfriend

Here is a copy of the first US single that came in a picture sleeve – I wanna be your boyfriend. This one is still in a sealed record store display. I don't know if singles generally was sold this way in the US in the 70's or if there was a particular chain of stores that did this. I have also seen a copy of Sheena is a punk rocker packed the same way. The price tag is still there, 95 cents...

Title: I wanna be your boyfriend//California Sun/I don't wanna walk around with you

Number: Sire SA-734

Year: 1976

Country: US

The german "Promo only'"

There are at least three Ramones-related "promo only" releases in Germany.
The first one is a LP from 1978 promoting the bands on Sire, The new sound are on Sire records. Ramones have two tracks, Sheena is a punk rocker and Do you wanna dance? The other bands are The Rezillos, The Flamin' Groovies, Richard Hell and the Voidoids and The Dead Boys.
The record has a flip up-sleeve with pictures of the bands along with a the history behind Sire records, all in german. And PROMOTION COPY - Not for sale printed on the back.

Title: The new sounds are on Sire records

Number: Sire/Ariola 26 439 XT

Year: 1978

Country: Germany
Note: Promo only

The second promo came in 1987 and is a bad looking single to promote Halfway to Sanity and the tour the same year. On the back of the sleeve the record company explains that the european tour unfortunately has been partially cancelled because "the drummer Richie Ramone left the band without any explanations" and that "Clem Burke (Elvis Ramone) had to replace him temporarily". This must be the only time Elvis Ramone is mentioned on a official Ramones record sleeve!

Title: I wanna live/Bye bye baby

Number: Upfront 6.14958

Year: 1987

Country: Germany 

Note: Promo only

The last german promo is once again a single to promote a new record, this time Brain Drain, and the german tour in 1989.
It's the only time ever I believe in miracles was released as a single. All screwed up on the flip.
The record is marked with "Unverkaufliche Promotion-single" (Promotion not for sale).

Title: I beliebe in miracles/All screwed up

Number: Chrysalis 112792

Year: 1989

Country: Germany 

Note: Promo only

Record of the week – She's the one and Sheena

This is a nice one. The german issue of She's the one from the Road to ruin-album came in a great picture sleeve. Sire/Ariola was re-releasing the first three albums under the parole "The highest energy in rock!" in Germany at the time and the single was backed up with the studio-version of Sheena is a punk rocker.
The sleeve is made of thin paper, it's quite difficult to find a copies without seam split. That goes for all german singles from the 70's and the 80's.

Title: She's the one/Sheena is a punk rocker

Number: Sire/Ariola 100 394-100

Year: 1978

Country: Germany

Fake singles part three – Italian Baby I love you

This is a tricky one. In 1980 RCA in Italy released a split single with Ramones Baby I love you on one side (Sire rec) and the Italian band Decibel with the song Contessa on the other (Spaghetti rec). The disc was made for jukeboxes. So far so good. But after some years the single turned up with a picture sleeve, or rather a picture sheet.
The sleeve was marketed as a "radio promo" from SPER Radio Network.
It's is most likely that this is a fake – as well as a number of other singles with similar Circuito SPER sleeves. This is why most collectors think so:
* The sleeve sheet looks homemade. Amateurish and clipped together with random pictures and logos.
* Even if the discs are worn and scratched the covers are in near mint condition. They do not appear to be related to the records.
According to a well-known collector, there is no doubt that the single is false: "Stay away from it - famous fake sleeve!" He told me.
A seller from Italy has a different opinion: "The ps for Baby I love was pressed by the italian juke box 7" company for SPER Radio Network, I do not know how to consider it, we can call it a semi-official release! But many counterfeit copies of this ps exists".
Maybe someone from Italy knows more about the mysterious SPER Network. Until that I consider this as an official release – with a fake sleeve.

Other SPER-singles with the same "Disco successo"-mark.

The "real" italian Baby I love you jukebox single. 

Great collection sold on Ebay!

I guess most of you out there have noticed that a big Ramones-collection with 200+ singles was out on on Ebay last week. It ended today, sunday, and went for GBP 2 219. If you read this and are the winner, congratulations! And if you are going to sell any of the records please let me know.
ramonesonvinyl@gmail.com 

Record of the week – too ugly for the Ramones?

When Liberation Records would release the single Pet Sematary in Australia it did not go very well. Someone from the U.S. reacted on the design of the cover and it got withdrawn.
Somehow I can understand the reaction...
According to a printer who worked at the plant at the time the sleeves ended up in the trash.
Instead the single was sold in a CBS company bag.
But some of the original sleeves survived. Here it is – the sleeve that was too ugly for the Ramones.

UPDATE: I havn't noticed it before but the fact that the writing credits on the back of the sleeve are wrong must have been a big reason why this sleeve got withdrawn. Dee Dee wrote Pet Sematary and Charles Barris wrote Palisades Park...

Title: Pet Sematary/Palisades Park

Number: Liberation Records 102100 7

Year: 1989

Country: Australia

This is how the single was sold, in a company sleeve. I have also 

seen the single in a blue version of this sleeve.

The great Swallow my pride

Swallow my pride is one of my favorite tracks from Leave Home and one of the best slow songs the Ramones ever released, if you ask me. Joey wrote the song after the commercial failure of the first album. In Mickey Leights book I sleept with Joey Ramone Joey tells the story behind the song:
"I wrote a song called 'Swallow my pride'. It was about signing with Sire. Tommy always used the expression 'You gotta swallow your pride', and we did when we signed to Sire".
It was released as a single in july 1977. The US version has a great picture sleeve, the UK issue has an ok picture sleeve, the rest came in company sleeves.
Here they are:

Title:Swallow my pride/Pinhead

Number: Sire SA-738

Year: 1977

Country: US

Title:Swallow my pride (stereo)/Swallow my pride (mono)

Number: Sire SA-738

Year: 1977

Country: US

Note: Has the same PS as the stock version.

Title: Swallow my pride //Pinhead/Let's dance (live)

Number: Philips 6078 607

Year: 1977

Country: Ireland

Note: Sold in a irish version of the Phonogram company sleeve.

Some copies have a big centre hole.

Title:Swallow my pride//Pinhead/Let's dance (live)

Number: Sire 6078 607

Year: 1977

Country: UK

Title: Swallow my pride //Pinhead

Number: Philips 6078 512

Year: 1977

Country: Australia

Note: Sold in a australian version of the Phonogram company sleeve.

Ramones - and a safety pin

Here's an exeption from the "only about vinyl"-rule on this blog. Mr Smith sent me pictures of this badge that was sold on Ramones concerts somewhere between 1977 and 1980. Anyone who knows more?