Ramones – The Cretin Hop Live (1979)

Ramones – The Cretin Hop Live is an album of the broadcast from the Second Chance Saloon, Michigan, USA, February 1979.

It’s absolutely crazy! Often, when I see that I’ve got a 45-minute album to listen to, I say to myself, ‘I hope it’s good, I hope I’m not wasting my time’ and all sorts of things like that! The same applies if I have to see a film that lasts more than an hour and a half. On the other hand, I’ve just come across this live album by the Ramones that’s almost an hour and eighteen minutes long… and I didn’t even hesitate two minutes before jumping in. And now I’m already writing my review with my headphones on! It’s at times like this that I realize just how much I love certain bands. When I heard that the Stray Cats were playing three hours from my house, I didn’t hesitate to go and buy a ticket the next day.

Ahhhh… and the Ramones… that’s really something! It’s punk… but it makes people happy! Johnny Lydon, the rotten boy, had said that the Ramones weren’t original at all. He must have had it in for them because the quartet had threatened him and forced him to drink a glass of beer… which turned out to be urine. Johnny had been scared. Understandably so: who’d want to find themselves face to face with four angry Ramones?

Even funnier: a Ramones fan calling himself punkvoter has a photo/avatar of Rotten on his profile! Not original at all? Sure, they take a lot from the 60s, but they’ve really created their own sound. All the while paying homage to the 60s. They made people who hated punk love it. They knew how to talk about life’s problems in a crude and simple way and to make fun of it in a humorous, no-holds-barred way.

All these songs go down well! Whether it’s covers like Surfin’ Bird or originals like Chinese Rock, a song written in 1975 by New York punk bassist Dee Dee Ramone with contributions from the excellent Richard Hell. Inspired by Lou Reed and his song Heroin, the song openly details the daily struggles of a drug addict and is based.

What a pleasure to hear Sheena, I Wanna Be Sedated, Pinhead, So You Wanna Dance, Commando and all the others again! “I’m Affected” seems to have a saxophone. And it sounds great. It’s worth noting that Bill Clinton once played it on a tour, hard as that is to believe. The ex-president had tried to seduce young people with his saxophone in order to get votes. A real live band! Yes, because even though I know most of the songs by heart, it’s always great to hear them live, as it breathes new life into the track. The most professional bands know how to change their songs so that they sound different and don’t just give the impression that you’re just listening to the record.

With this album, we never thought anything could stop the Ramones. And maybe we were right! After all, how many people are still listening to them or discovering them? No, the Ramones’ soul is not about to disappear. The biggest regret is not having seen them live. As my girlfriend once put it so well: ‘The saddest thing about the Ramones is that I’ll never be able to tell them how much I love them! And neither can I… unless their souls pass by and read me or see me while I’m still listening to them!