Ramones
"Baby I Love You"

Entered Top 20: 16 February 1980
Chart peak: 8
Catalogue: Sire SIR 4031

Biography

New York quartet consisting of Joey Ramone (born Jeffrey Hyman, 19 May 1952, lead vocals), Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin, b. 18 September 1952, bass), Johnny Ramone (John Cummings, b.8 October 1951, guitar) and Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi, b.29 January 1952, drums) were one of the groups that defined the punk era, though their hit single was uncharacteristic of the group's sound. Their fast and fun approach to music, performance and recording was demonstrated by their 1976 debut LP "The Ramones", cut for major label Sire but on a minor-label budget of just $6,400. By the time of their first UK tour in May 1977, the Ramones were being hailed as standardbearers of the punk movement, and off the back of the tour they enjoyed their first UK top 40 entry with "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" (no22). It was shortly after this that the semi-retired Phil Spector revealed himself as an apparently unlikely fan of the group, and sowed the seeds for future collaboration.

The first fruits of this link-up appeared in 1979 in the form of "Rock'n'Roll High School", a movie soundtrack which featured Ramones recordings remixed by Spector. By this time, Tommy had been replaced by Marky Ramone (b. Marc Bell), who was also to feature on the next "proper" Ramones LP, "End Of The Century". Produced by Spector and hated by the band, the album nevertheless spawned their biggest hit in "Baby I Love You", the song being a cover of the Spector-produced 1964 hit for the Ronettes. The follow-up was "Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio" which reached no. 54.

The Ramones continued to play live and on record until the late 1990s.

Available on...

The Ramones - "End Of The Century" (CD reissue)

Web links

To be added.