The Ramones' Ramones (33 1/3) [Paperback]

Nicholas Rombes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2005 | Series: 33 1/3 (Book 20)

Thirty-Three and a Third is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the past 40 years. Over 50,000 copies have been sold! “Passionate, obsessive, and smart.” —Nylon “…an inspired new series of short books about beloved works of vinyl.” —Details Nicholas Rombes is an English professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, where he teaches and writes about film, music, and pop culture. His writing has appeared in a range of journals and magazines, including Exquisite Corpse (edited by Andrei Codrescu) and McSweeney’s. He is also the editor of the forthcoming book Post-Punk Cinema. Description What could be more punk rock than a band that never changed, a band that for decades punched out three-minute powerhouses in the style that made them famous? The Ramones’ repetition and attitude inspired a genre, and Ramones set its tone. Nicholas Rombes examines punk history, with the recording of Ramones at its core, in this inspiring and thoroughly researched justification of his obsession with the album. Excerpt: When I sat down to write about the album’s opening song, “Blitzkreig Bop,” my first line was “This is the best opening song to any rock album.” Then I decided that sounded too creepily fanatic and more than a little disingenuous, since I haven't heard every rock album ever made, and I took it out. But then I went downstairs to the turntable and played it and midway through ran back upstairs and put the line back in even before the screensaver clicked in. Here’s why: “Blitzkrieg Bop” succeeds not only as a song in its own right, but also as a promise kept. The songs that follow live up to the speed, humor, menace, absurdity, and mystery of that first song, whose opening lines “Hey ho, let's go” offer not so much a warning as an invitation to the listener, an invitation and a threat that the song isn’t a fluke or a one-off, but that it sets the stage for an entire album that will be fast and loud.>

Editorial Reviews

Review

A short, richly layered book...both fun to read and filled with meaning. -- About.com, 2005

Filled with history and analysis, making for an entertainingly dense and highfalutin' read... -- Detroit Metro Times, 2005

Like the album it discusses, the book is a short, sweet and intense ride. -- Drastic Plastic Press, 2006

About the Author

Nicholas Rombes is a professor of English at the University of Detroit Mercy. His books include Ramones (Continuum), New Punk Cinema, and the forthcoming Cinema in the Digital Age. He has written for Exquisite Corpse, McSweeney's online, and CTheory.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (February 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826416713
• ISBN-13: 978-0826416711
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #94,569 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars 1-2-3-Poor, December 8, 2009

By 

Bill M. Fuller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ramones' Ramones (33 1/3) (Paperback)

There are so many wonderful books in the 33 1/3 series. This isn't one of them. Crushingly repetitive, this essay about the 70s punk scene offers little beyond name-dropping, back-patting and self-indulgence. To paraphase a quote from the book: "There's nothing going in, there's nothing coming out." Oh, and did I mention that maybe 20 percent of the book is actually about the songs on the Ramones' debut album. You'll find out just as much about Lester Bangs. May as well put him on the cover. Just rancid.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad read but little is about the album, September 4, 2006

By 

Paul Clarkson (Walnut Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ramones' Ramones (33 1/3) (Paperback)

Barely a third of the book's 106 pages are devoted to an in-depth discussion of the Ramones' debut album, "Ramones." The rest of the book is devoted to the early history of the punk movement in the US (and New York City in particular) and a fairly academic discussion of what the term "punk" meant in the mid-70's versus what it came to mean later.

This book is an interesting read, but I'm giving it a 3-star rating because, unlike many other titles in the 33 1/3 series, it is NOT primarily focused on the album it is devoted to.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blitzkrieg Pop: Ramones by Nicholas Rombes, September 12, 2006

By 

Damien (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ramones' Ramones (33 1/3) (Paperback)

Ramones by Nicholas Rombes is an excellent book for many reasons. Perhaps least of which is that I not only learned something about the Ramones debut, Ramones, but about the origins of punk rock itself. My interest in punk began with my first encounter as a third-grader back in 1987 when a friend and I made a hand-held tape recording of my older brother's of Dead Kennedys's Plastic Surgery Disasters record. That formative experience largely helped shaped what punk has meant to me since then. But, reading Ramones by Nicholas Rombes has provided me a critical history about the four kids from Forrest Hills, Queens whose first album became a flashpoint for punk rock and ultimately has deepened my understanding of what punk is.

The historical, economical, and cultural background Rombes provides puts the Ramones first album in perspective. The Ramones were not a group of flag-burning anarchists nor did they conform to some romanticized, neo-Marxist concept of the people's musicians. No, Rombes explains, the Ramones, who grew up in suburban New York City listening to Elvis Presley, watching B-movies, and reading comic books, actually wanted to make the pop music of 1970s radio better. To improve it, the Ramones spent considerable money, time, and creative effort to faithfully record their first record. Their approach to music was not at all chaotic or destructive as punk rock clichés might suggest. Rombes compellingly argues that contemporary understandings of punk generally misunderstand the origins of punk by extending contemporary ideas concerns backward in time to the mid 1970s. This is an insightful perspective that I never quite would have had if I had not read this book by Nicholas Rombes.

Ramones very well might be probably the first and last academic book on punk music that I will read and rightly so because most anything else would be a disappointment. Ramones by Nicholas Rombes is neither unnecessarily intellectual nor naïve about its subject. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in contemporary music because chances are if you've heard it on the radio, then it's indebted to the Ramones.