Record of the week – Fin Del Siglo

End Of The Century was supposed to be the big breakthrough for the Ramones. The album was released in many "new" countries, one of them Argentina.
This is the first Ramones record that was released in Argentina. The original press from 1980 was made by the local MH-label under license from Sire. There is a stock version and a white label promo version of the album. The WLP has a big promo-sticker on the back of the sleeve, see scans. All titles on the cover are translated to spanish, End Of The Century is replaced by Fin Del Siglo. The sleeve is laminated only on the frontside.
End Of The Century was rereleased in Argentina in 1984 under Sire/WEA (WEA 80098), once again with a WL promo version. The repress has a white WEA logo in the lower left corner of the sleeve.
Here is the original press:

 Front.

 Back – not laminated.

 Label.

 Innersleeve with lyrics. Spanish titles.

 The promo label.

Promo sticker on the back of the sleeve.

Ramones on Direct Metal Mastering

The final development of the vinyl mastering technology was made in Germany in the 1980's. After that the compact disc swept the vinyl away. This last way of making vinyl records was called DMM, Direct Metal Mastering. Instead of cutting the audio modulation onto lacquer DMM cuts straight into metal (copper).
The advantage of this technique is a sound with more upper frequency levels and less surface noice. But DMM records was not a big success, many felt that the records sounded to harsh. I can't hear any big differences but maybe my sound system isn't good enough...
Anyway, there are at least two albums with the Ramones that are made with the DMM technique, both are made in Germany.
The first one is Brain Drain. Chrysalis released two versions of the album in Germany, one "old school"-pressing and a DMM-version.
There are some differences between the sleeves of the two editions, besides separate catalog numbers. The "old school"-version have glossier sleeve and insert. But the biggest difference is that all the text on the back of the DMM sleeve is white instead of red, see picture below.
The other album that in a normal version and a DMM version in Germany is Loco Live. The worst record Ramones ever released, but that's another story...

Album: Brain Drain

Number: Chrysalis 1C 064-3 21725 1

Year: 1989

Country: Germany.

Notes: Labels marked with DMM. Printed inner sleeve. 

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Album: Brain Drain

Number: Chrysalis 209 998

Year: 1989

Country: Germany.

Notes: Printed inner sleeve. 

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Album: Loco Live

Number: Chrysalis 1C 064-3 21901 1

Year: 1991

Country: Germany.

Notes: Labels marked with DMM. 

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Album: Loco Live

Number: Chrysalis 066 3219011

Year: 1991

Country: Germany.

Notes: "Normal" pressing.

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Record of the week – the dutch Baby I Love You

The dutch edition of the Baby I Love single has a nice sleeve with a pic from the End Of The Century photo session from 1979. According to the credits on the sleeve the photographer is George Bennett. The infamous "Ramones without leather jackets"-photo that ended up on the the front of the album was taken by Mick Rock.
This is how he later on described working with the band:
"They were not a comfortable band to shoot; you could feel the tensions among them. They'd rejected two photo sessions and didn't have much budget left but where desperate. They don't have mutch patience for photographers, their manager, Danny fields, told me".
It was Mick Rocks idea to, for the first time ever, shoot the band for a cover without the jackets. Johnny was strongly against the idea but Dee Dee and Joey voted against him. Marky, not being an original member, didn't have a vote. This caused a big fraction in the band, especially between Johnny and Joey. And probably didn't make the photo session any easier...

Songs: Baby I Love You/High Risk Insurance

Number: Sire WBN 17589

Year: 1980

Country: Holland

The scandinavian pressings – part 2

Ramones played in Sweden in 1980 to promote End Of The Century.

Between 1980 and 1983 Sire released the last two albums pressed in Norway. The next album for the scandinavian market, Subterranean Jungle, was made in Germany but with n©b-marked labels.More about that release here.

This is the complete list of the scandinavian albums in chronological order. Part 2: 1978–1983.

Album: End Of The Century

Number: Sire SRK 6077

Year: 1980.

Country: Norway.

Matrix number, A-side: SRK 6077 A 7 P 81 F 710  B-side: SRK 6077 B 7 P 81 F 710 
Notes: No barcode, printed inner sleeve. Sleeve marked with TEAM TRYKK OSLO. Warner distribution info from other pressings on backcover is overmarked. n©b on labels.

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Album: Pleasant Dreams

Number: Sire SRK 3571

Year: 1981

Country: Norway.

Matrix number, A-side: SRK 3571 A 1 P 80 F 710  B-side: SRK 3571 B 1 P 80 F 710
Notes: No barcode, printed inner sleeve. Sleeve marked with TEAM TRYKK OSLO. Warner distribution info from other pressings on backcover is overmarked. n©b on labels.

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Album: Subterranean Jungle

Number: Sire 92.3800-1

Year: 1983

Country: Germany for the scandinavian market.

Matrix number, A-side: R / S Alsdorf 923800-1 A  B-side: R / S Alsdorf 923800-1 B
Notes: With barcode, printed inner sleeve. Sleeve and labels marked with Made in Germany. n©b on labels.

Confusing copy of Pleasant Dreams

This is a confusing one. According to the sleeve this copy of Pleasant Dreams is made in Germany. The labels says "Made in USA" but they are marked with "STEMRA", the rights society in Belgium and Holland.
Actually this a version of the german second pressing of Pleasant Dreams on Sire/WEA that was manufactured for the market in Belgium and Holland. The sleeve is the same as the german edition, the labels are different.
Even if this was the second press in Germany (the first one was released under Sire/Ariola) I consider the STEMRA-version to be the first press in Belgium an Holland. It was the pressing that was sold in the countries in 1981 as you can see on the backside of this Belgian single from the album, We Want The Airwaves:

Album: Pleasant Dreams

Number: Sire/WEA 56 923

Year: 1981

Country: Pressed in Germany for Holland and Belgium.

Matrix number: R/S Alsdorf 56 923A //  R/S Alsdorf 56 923B.
Notes: No barcode, no printed inner sleeve. Same sleeve as the german edition. Incorrectly marked with "Made in U.S.A" on label.

Album: Pleasant Dreams

Number: Sire/WEA 56 923

Year: 1981

Country: Germany.

Matrix number: R/S Alsdorf 56 923A //  R/S Alsdorf 56 923B.
Notes: No barcode, no printed inner sleeve. Marked with GEMA for the german market.

Record of the week – the japanese Rockaway Beach!

Rockaway Beach from 1977 was the Ramones highest-charting single ever, reaching number 66 on the Bilboard Hot 100. In Japan the single wasn't released until 1978 but with totally unique picture sleeve, one of my absolute favorites.
The single was the last japanese edition on Philips records, the next single from Rocket To Russia, Do you wanna dance?, was released on Sire. For some reason it's much easier to find the white label promo version compared with the blue stock copy.
Here it is, one of the greatest songs ever with maybe the greatest picture sleeve ever. If you don't agree, let me know which is your favorite Ramones sleeve!

The backside of the sleeve sheet.

Stock version.

White label promo.

Ramones – the scandinavian pressings part 1

Marky, Dee Dee, Johnny, Joey – and a Volvo PV.

When I started collecting records back in the early 80's I was always looking for the US pressings of the albums. I did not give much for local scandinavian releases, you could find them everywhere.
But Sweden and Norway is a small market and today it's often easier to find a decent copy of the first US press compared with the version pressed in Norway or Sweden.
Another problem is to identify the scandinavian releases. The Ramones records pressed here have almost never any country of manufacture marked on the labels or on the sleeves. This is how you know it is a scandinavian issue:
1. The labels are always marked with n©b, the scandinavian rights society.
2. The sleeves are marked with TEAM TRYKK, a printing plant in Oslo, Norway, or SIB-TRYCK, a printer outside Stockholm in Sweden.
3. The matrix number often ends with 710 which stands for Norway. You can also se the printing year in the matrix number.
4. There is no sign of Warner on the records between 1978 and 1981. The Warner logo and "Distributed by Warner" is deleted from the sleeves (except Road To Ruin).
All albums up until Animal Boy was released in Scandinavia, some of them have a first press on Philips and a second press on Sire. In addition to the albums, two singles was released in Norway. You find everything about them here and here. Most of the records was made in Norway and the first scandinavian release was Leave Home followed by the split LP with Tom Petty. Read more about that one here.

This is the complete list of the scandinavian albums in chronological order. Part 1: 1970–1979

Album: Leave Home

Number: Philips 6370 809

Year: 1977

Country: Norway.

Matrix number, A-side: 6370 809  A 9 P 77 710  B-side: 370 809  A 9 P 77 710
Notes: No barcode, no printed inner sleeve. Sleeve marked with TEAM TRYKK. Re-released in Norway 1978 under Sire as SR 6031.

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Album: Rocket To Russia

Number: Philips 6370 816

Year: 1978

Country: Norway.

Matrix number, A-side: 6370 816  A 4 P 78 710  B-side: 6370 816  B 4 P 78 710
Notes: No barcode, no printed inner sleeve. Sleeve marked with TEAM TRYKK. Re-released in Norway later the same year under Sire as SR 6042.

This is the second press with Sire labels.

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Album: Road To Ruin

Number: Sire SRK 6063

Year: 1978

Country: Norway.

Matrix number, A-side: SRK 6063 A 8 P 78 710  B-side: SRK 6063 B 8 P 78 710
Notes: No barcode, has printed inner sleeve with lyrics marked with the number 6135. Sleeve has the TEAM TRYKK logo. This is the only album that still has the original Warner marking left.

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Album: Ramones

Number: Sire SR 6020

Year: 1978

Country: Norway.

Matrix number, A-side: SR 6020 A 9 P 78 FE 710  B-side: SR 6020 B9 P 78 FE 710
Notes: No barcode, no TEAM TRYKK logo. But it has a printed inner sleeve with lyrics marked with the number 6141 which indicates that this one was released after Road To Ruin. Before 1978 the dutch pressing of the debut album was sold in Scandinavia.

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Album: It's Alive

Number: Sire RAM LIVE

Year: 1979

Country: Norway.

Matrix number: RAM LIVE 1 4 P 79 FE 710 //  RAM LIVE 2 4 P 79 FE 710 // RAM LIVE 3 4 P 79 FE 710 // RAM LIVE 4 4 P 79 FE 710
Notes: No barcode, sleeve marked with TEAM TRYKK. Same sleeve-design as the other european versions.