Record of the week – the debut from Taiwan

The Ramones never ending world tour did not reach Taiwan but the records did. Two of the albums, the debut and End of the Century, was released in Taiwan. But not the official way, as the thai Ramones singles the Taiwan records are counterfeit or pirate records. 

The classic first album was released on Jen Sheng records, the company printed the release date, in Taiwan year, on the label: 1976/06 (65.6 in Taiwan year). 

Jen Sheng released a lot of western music in the 70's but it's hard to find any information about the manufacturer. The sleeve is made of two thin paper sheets in a plastic cover. The front has the same design as the original album but with a JS-logo and a text about the Blitzkrieg Bop-single. The back has the lyrics from the original inner sleeve. In 1977 the company changed name to New Jen Sheng and re-released the album, this time with different labels and a slightly different backside of the cover.

Album: Ramones 

Number: Jen Sheng JS-5101

Year: 1976

Country: Taiwan

Album: Ramones 

Number: New Jen Sheng JS-5101

Year: 1977 (?)

Country: Taiwan

One side of the Ramones

 Here are three records from the very limited section "One-sided Ramones singles"...
First we have the promo 7" Ramones are here … and there. The single have four shortened excerpts from Road to Ruin and a spoken intro and outro with Joey Ramone promoting the album and the UK tour in 1978. The four songs are (note that the last two have slightly different names compared with the album):

Questioningly

Don’t come close 

Sedated

I just wanted something to do

The record was released with a picture sleeve but can also be found in the orange/yellow UK Sire company bag.

Title: Ramones are here … and there

Format: 7"

Number: J Ramone PROMO 1

Year: 1978

Country: UK

The next one-sider is a promotional single from New World pictures with radio spots to promote the Roger Corman-film Rock'n'roll High School. In the background you can hear the Ramones playing the title song. The record contains two radio spots, 30 secons each, and was sent to radiostations in the U.S.

The last one is a flexi disc from Spain. I don't know mutch about this one. It's released by the spanish record company Hispavox in 1981 and includes two songs on one side. It is marked as a promo only. Maybe someone out there knows anything more.

Record of the week – Bonzo goes to Bitburg

"I never wanted the Ramones to be about politics", Johnny Ramone says in his book "Commando". But in 1985 they were. The song Bonzo Goes to Bitburg is about the former U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his trip to West Germany the same year. Reagan was criticized at home because he planned to visit a military cemetery in Bitburg where also 49 members of the Waffen-SS was buried. Criticism before the visit came from several directions, Jewish groups, war veterans and the Congress.
But Reagan did the trip – and Joey Ramone wrote the song along with Dee Dee and producer Jean Beavoir:
"What Reagan did was fucked up. Everybody told him not to go, all his people told him not to go, and he went anyway. How can you fuckin' forgive the Holocaust? How can you say, 'Oh well, it's OK now'. That's crazy", Joey told the East Coast Rocker magazine.
Bonzo was the name of the chimpanzee in the 1951 movie comedy "Bedtime for Bonzo" starring Ronald Reagan. To compare Johnny Ramones favorite president with a chimp made guitarist mad. Strangely, he still agreed to put the song on the album Animal Boy.
"I wouldn't let them put it out with the original title. It appears as My brain is hanging upside down. They couldn't talk about my favorite president like that", he tells in "Commando".
The single was only released in the UK but sold quite well as an import in the U.S. and was played frequently on many American college radio stations. Bonzo goes to Bitburg was ranked fifth best single of 1985 by The Village Voice in New York.
According to Sire records the decision not to release the record in the U.S. was "both financial and political". Too bad, I think Bonzo Goes to Bitburg is one of the best songs the Ramones made ​​after the 70's. And in 1986 the song actually came out in the U.S. but only as the B-side on a DJ-only promo 12".
The song was released by Beggars Banquet in UK as 7" and a 12" and reached number 81 on the charts. There are three versions of the 12" with different labels. The sleeve is the same.

Songs: Bonzo goes to Bitburg/Daytime dilemma (Dangers of love)

Format: 7"

Number: Beggars Banquet BEG 140

Year: 1985

Country: UK

__________________________________________________

Songs: Bonzo goes to Bitburg//Go home Ann/Daytime dilemma (Dangers of love)

Format: 12"

Number: Beggars Banquet BEG 140T

Year: 1985

Country: UK

 Notes: First press

  Notes: second press

 Notes: Third press, from the box "End of the decade".

__________________________________________________

Songs: Something to believe in/My brain is hanging upside down (Bonzo goes to Bitburg)

Format: 12"

Number: Sire PRO-A-2510

Year: 1986

Country: US

The irish Ramones singles

On the 24th of September 1978 the Ramones played theit first show in Dublin at the Phibsboro State Cinema. 16 month earlier, in may 1977, the first Ramones record was released in Ireland, Sheena is a punk rocker. 

After that four more singles came out in Ireland. No one was released with a picture sleeve. All the Philips releases came in a irish version of the Phonogram company sleeve, except possibly the first single that I also have seen in a purple Philips-sleeve. The last single, We want the airwaves, came in the UK Sire company sleeve. There is no country printed on the label on that one but you can see the (P) instead a P in a ring, that's typical for irish releases.

Here they are – the complete irish single discography:

Songs: Sheena is a punk rocker//Commando/I don't care

Number: Philips RAM 001

Year: May 1977

Country: Ireland

Songs: Swallow my pride//Pinhead/Let's dance

Number: Philips 6078 607

Year: July 1977

Country: Ireland

Songs: Rockaway Beach//Teenage Lobotomy/Beat on the brat

Number: Philips 6078 611

Year: Dec 1977

Country: Ireland

Songs: Do you wanna dance?//It's a long way back to Germany/Cretin Hop

Number: Philips 6078 615

Year: March 1978

Country: Ireland

Songs: We want the airwaves/IYou sound like you're sick

Number: Sire 4051

Year: 1981

Country: Ireland

Record of the week – the spanish Sheena

This is a classic, one of the most sought after picture sleeves, the spanish Sheena is a punk rocker. In 1977 The record label in Spain released the brand new album Leave Home and backed it up with this single.
As you can read here, the Spanish went their own way and included both Sheena and Carbona not glue on the album. Here they did it again, the single have Swallow my pride on the B-side instead of the usual I don't care.
A great single that is rather difficult to find in nice condition. No promo-version exist as far as I know.

Songs: Sheena is a punk rocker/Swallow my pride
Number: Philips 60 78 513
Year: 1977
Country: Spain

Ramones for free in Holland & Brazil

In 1980 WEA in the Netherlands had a drive to promote a couple of new releases, among them the Ramones Phil Spector-produced album End of the century. When you bought the albums you got a promotion-EP for free with samples of 20 songs from eight different bands. The two Ramones songs are Rock'n'roll High School and Baby I love you.The New New Rock-EP has a fold out sleeve with information about the bands in dutch.
The albums in the campaign had a sticker that told the buyer: Ask for free promotional single – New New Rock – Limited edition, as you can see on the Pretenders first LP

Songs: Rock'n'roll High School/Baby I love you + 18 other outtakes from different bands
Number: WEA NR-80
Year: 1980
Country: Holland

By the same time WEA released a similar EP in Brazil called New Wave – O rock dos anos 80. This one has eight tracks, one of them is Ramones Baby I love you. The brazilian version also has a fold out sleeve but with information in portuguese.
These records are not the most essential in a Ramones collection but, as long as I know, it's the only time the Ramones have been on a single pressed in Brazil.

Songs: Rock'n'roll High School + 7 other outtakes from different bands
Number: WEA PRO 11.025
Year: 1980
Country: Brazil

Record of the week – Glad to see you go

"You gotta go go go go goodbye 
Glad to see you go go go go goodbye 
Goodbye!"
The opening track on Leave Home is Dee Dee's song about his then-girlfriend Connie. There are a lot of crazy stories about Dee Dee and Connie and finally the madness ended up in a classic Ramones track, Glad to see you go. It was released as a single in one country only – Italy.
And as if that wasn't good enough the single also has the song Babysitter as an extra track on the A-side, unreleased on any LP in Italy by the time.
Unlike all other countries outside the Uk and U.S. in the pre-Warner era (1976-1977) the Italian releases came out on the Sire label instead of Philips. I guess it has to do with the fact that RCA was the distributor in Italy instead of Phonogram.
The sleeve-designer did his or her best to put Ramones in the middle of the British punk-explosion with a big razor blade on the cover. I don't think the band had anything to do with that...
Never the less, a great picture sleeve, two great songs and the first italian Ramones single.

Songs: Glad to see you go/Babysitter//California Sun/I don't wanna walk around with you (live)
Number: Sire SAA 734
Year: 1977
Country: Italy
Notes: Stock version with yellow labels and a white label promo-version