We Want The Airwaves – the singles

Mr Programmer

I got my hammer
And I'm gonna
Smash my
Smash my
Radio!

Joey Ramone made ​​a correct analysis when he predicted the death of Rock & Roll on the opening track of the album Pleasant Dreams in 1981, We Want The Airwaves.
The 80's wasn't a good time for true rock music and as usual the single didn't make any success on the radio charts. The single was released in the U.S, UK, Canada, Belgium, Spain and Ireland. There are Picture sleeves for the belgian, the UK and the spanish edition. A funny thing is that the title on the spanish single is misspelled, We Want The Airways! Another interesting thing with this release is the US mono/stereo promo-version. A seller on Ebay sold it as a "translucent" record. I have not noticed it before this but the guy is right, the record is transparent if you are looking at it towards a lamp.
Here are the different pressings of We Want The Airwaves:

Title: We Want The Airwaves//All's Quite On The Eastern Front
Number: Sire SRE49812
Year: 1981
Country: US

Notes: Stock version

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Title: We Want The Airwaves//We Want The Airwaves
Number: Sire SRE49812
Year: 1981
Country: US

Notes: Mono/stereo promo-version on black transparent vinyl. 

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Title: We Want The Airwaves//You Sound Like You're Sick

Number: Sire SIR 4051
Year: 1981
Country: UK

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Title: We Want The Airwaves//All's Quite On The Eastern Front

Number: Sire SRE 49812
Year: 1981
Country: Canada

Notes: White label promo version.

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Title: We Want The Airwaves//All's Quite On The Eastern Front

Number: Sire SRE 49812
Year: 1981
Country: Canada

Notes: Stock version.

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Title: We Want The Airwaves//You Sound Like You're Sick

Number: Sire WB 17.850
Year: 1981
Country: Belgium

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Title: We Want The Airwaves//You Sound Like You're Sick

Number: Sire 45-2131
Year: 1981
Country: Spain

Notes: Title misspelled on sleeve and label, We Want The Airwaves.

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Title: We Want The Airwaves//You Sound Like You're Sick

Number: Sire SIR 4051
Year: 1981
Country: Ireland

How to indentify the canadian pressings

I have been taking a closer look at the canadian pressings of the early Ramones albums because I have seen a lot of different versions. The thing is that canadian WEA had a system in the 70's and 80's where they printed a letter on the label that indicated witch pressing plant that had made the record. This means there could be three or maybe four versions of an album, all released at the same time! For example there are pressings of End of the Century with pressing code C, Q and I.
After some research I have identified the following pressing plants:

Code: C
The Ontario plant Don Mills that was running between 1971 and around 1989. WEA Canada used the label code "C" for this plant.

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Code: Q
Quality Records Ltd. Starting in the late 70's the WEA label code for this plant was "Q".

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Code: I
I can't find any information about the canadian pressing plant that used the code "I". Anybody who knows?

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Code: CR
Records pressed by Cinram at Toronto. This vinyl plant was opened in 1979 and closed at 1991. WEA Canada's label code for this plant was "CR" and "CI".

To make it even more difficult to get the whole picture there are also canadian pressings without the code.
As far as I know all singles on canadian WEA/Sire are pressed at Don Mills and have the "C" on the label. The exception is the Rock'n'Roll High School 45 that don't have any pressing code at all. You can see the singles here. It would be interesting to know if anyone out there have a single with another pressing code.
And if you can help me fill up the list of different canadian album pressings please let me know.
Thanks to ramones.fi for help with pictures!

Record of the week: The japanese Sheena

I got a mail from Alejandro who was missing his favorite picture sleeve here on the blog, the japanese Sheena is a Punk Rocker. I agree, it's killer single!
As always with the japanese singles there are a stock version and a white label promo version. A funny thing with this single is the english lyrics on the back of picture sheet. This is not exactly the words that Joey sings...

With a guitar on

I'm groovin', ready to go

They got it for certain

Cause they goin' for the blues

Content to go-go

But she just couldn't stay

She had to break away

Wonder if she really has it all

Oh yeah, oh yeah

Sheena is a punk rocker...

 White label promo-version.

 Stock version.

Ramones records up for trades

I got two records I'm willing to trade if someone is interested out there. The records are:

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker/Swallow my Pride, the rare original spanish press. Philips 6078 513.
Sleeve: vg++, a bit ring wear, no writing, no seam split. Looks great! Vinyl: vg++, have a sticker on side A label. Maybe it is possible to remove it.

Do You Wanna Dance?/It's a long way back to Germany. Original dutch press. Philips 6078 521. Sleeve: vg. A bit worn with ring wear but a decent copy. Vinyl: vg++, plays perfect.

The records I'm looking for are early Ramones 45's pressed in Australia and New Zealand. If you are interested and think you have anything I might look for, send me a mail! I'm not selling the records, sorry.

One more version of the "Sedated" RSO-single

I have found another pressing of the U.S. version of the RSO-single I Wanna Be Sedated. This means that there are six different pressings of this single – so far.
This latest one have the silver label which indicates that it is a late pressing, RSO changed from brown to label the silver label in 1980, the same year this single was released in the U.S. It is also made of styrene plastic like the other late pressings, not vinyl.

Title: I wanna be sedated//The return of Jackie and Judy

Number: RSO 1055

Year: 1980

Country: US
Matrix number: Side A: RS 1055 AS PRC R1  Side A: RS 1055 BS PRC R1

Note: Late press, made of styrene plastic.  Released in a RSO company sleeve.

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Title: I wanna be sedated//The return of Jackie and Judy

Number: RSO 1055

Year: 1980

Country: US
Matrix number: Side A: RS 1055 AS BW-1  Side A: RS 1055 BS BW-1  

Note: Late press, made of styrene plastic.

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Title: I wanna be sedated//IThe return of Jackie and Judy

Number: RSO 1055

Year: 1980

Country: US
Matrix number: Side A: RS 1055 AS BW-1  Side A: RS 1055 BS BW-1  

Note: 2nd press, made of styrene plastic.  Released in a RSO company sleeve.

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Title: I wanna be sedated//The return of Jackie and Judy 

Number: RSO 1055

Year: 1980

Country: US
Matrix number: Side A: RS 1055 AS-CMP-1  Side A: RS 1055 BS-CMP-1  

Note: !st press, vinyl.  Released in a RSO company sleeve.

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Title: I wanna be sedated//I wanna be sedated

Number: RSO 1055 DJ

Year: 1980

Country: US
Matrix number: Side A: RS 1055 AS-CMP-1  Side A: RS 1055 AM-CMP-1  

Note: !st press, DJ copy with stereo/mono versions, vinyl.  Released in a RSO company sleeve.

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Title: I wanna be sedated//I wanna be sedated

Number: RSO 1055

Year: 1980

Country: US
Matrix number: Side A: RS 1055 AS-CT-2  Side A: RS 1055 AM-CT-2 

Note: !st press, white label promo with stereo/mono versions, vinyl. Released in a RSO company sleeve.

Two versions of the spanish Halfway To Sanity

After Pleasant Dreams the local division of Ariola took over the fabrication of Ramones records in Spain. This is the third release on Ariola Eurodisc A.S and there is at least two different pressings of the album. The first issue, referring to the matrix numbers, is marked with the spanish rights society S.G.A.E on the labels. The second version has S.G.A.E together with BIEM, the international license group.
Besides that the labels has a slightly different design the second press is also made of heavier vinyl, the weight is 125 grams compared with 100 grams for the first pressing.
The sleeve and printed inner is the same for both pressings.

Album: Halfway To Sanity

Number: Ariola 5C 208759

Year: 1987.

Country: Spain.

Matrix number, A-side: 5C 208759 A 2N3 DMI  B-side: 5C 208759 B 1N3 DMI
Notes: First press.

Album: Halfway To Sanity

Number: Ariola 5C 208759

Year: 1987 (?).

Country: Spain.

Matrix number, A-side: 5C 208759 A 3N3 DMI  B-side: 5C 208759 B 1N3 DMI
Notes: Second press.

Something to do soon – don't miss this

I got a mail from Tom Trusnovic who is running an amazing project on his blog, "Humming A Sickening Tune". He is writing an essay about every single Ramones song in order! He just got up to Rockaway Beach from Rocket To Russia.
This is how Tom explains his mission on the blog:
"HUMMING A SICKENING TUNE Shall encompass a track by track review of the complete recorded works of THE RAMONES, giving consideration to each song's composition, recording and place in the overall arc of the band's career."
I'm gonna follow this for sure. Keep up the good work!

http://ramoneshummingasickeningtune.blogspot.com/

Record of the week – the japanese Do You Wanna Dance

For some reason this is the japanese Ramones pressing that is hardest to find, especially the white label promo version. It is the first single on Sire, the earlier stuff was released on Philips. Maybe this one was pressed in smaller numbers, I don't really know.
But it is a nice picture sleeve, or picture sheet, as always when it comes to japanese releases.

Songs: Do You Wanna Dance?/It's A Long Way Back To Germany

Number: Sire SFL-2324

Year: 1978

Country: Japan

Matrix number: 6078 521 A  1  1 / 6078 521 A  1  1  (machine stamped)

Watch out for fake DJ sleeve!

When it comes to Ramones records it is fairly easy to recognize and avoid fakes. They are usually poorly made and more to be regarded as unofficial reissues. But there are exceptions. It is particularly difficult when it's hard to find an original to compare to.

A record that have appeared on the market a couple of times in recent years is the Italian pressing of Needles & Pins with the DJ sleeve.

The records are the real stuff but I've long suspected that the DJ sleeves are counterfeit. To be sure I managed to get another italian record with the same type of DJ sleeve. And now I am even more convinced that many of the sleeves that you see for sale are copied, not printed on a real printing press. There is a clear difference between the two sleeves. The colors are different, which could be due to ageing, but it is also a clear difference in the sharpness. And the paper-white parts on the sleeve, the parts with no colors printed, don't look real on the fake sleeve. Look at the pictures and see what I mean.  

I would be very careful before I paid a lot of money for this single. 

Copied sleeve.

The original printed sleeve.