SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER-- Rocket to Russia 6

 

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The manner in which this project is sequenced brings us to an awkward situation with SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER, one of the RAMONES' greatest and best loved songs. Previous consideration of the CARBONA NOT GLUE quagmire has already mapped out this song's appearance (see CARBONA NOT GLUE), and the wrongheaded programming of the SHEENA 45 mix as an extra on the deluxe edition of the ROCKET TO RUSSIA cd instead of LEAVE HOME (where it clearly would have made more sense) requires that we now evaluate this LP variant, released months later, several entries before we arrive at the original--arguably, the definitive rendition. To maintain some semblance of order, this discussion shall concern itself with SHEENA compositionally, and the upcoming blog for the initial SHEENA single version will concentrate on the performance and production, including a comparison of the two differing mixes.

To briefly recap: JOEY composed SHEENA shortly after the release of LEAVE HOME, and it was, at SIRE's behest, quickly recorded and rushed out as a single. (Ultimately this caused market confusion as the song, and its b-side BABYSITTER, were jumbled around newer pressings of the LP, replacing the supposedly poisonous CARBONA NOT GLUE.) Despite being hurriedly written in an inspirational rush, the song is striking in the perfections of its constructions-- perhaps the only detectable flaw being the torrent of syllables occurring in the second line of verse, as opposed to the perfectly spaced pacing of the first. It's interesting to note that omitting 'au go-go' would have made the phrasing more of a workable match, and maintained the rhyme, but this would have sacrificed the 60's flavor of the scenario being invoked.

One of the RAMONES' most triumphant accomplishments in the doo-wop derived surf music idiom, the melodic progression of SHEENA was presaged by OH OH I LOVE HER SO, and the further developments evident within the subsequent ROCKAWAY BEACH would later culminate into ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL-- debatably, the apex of this experimentation. Unlike ROCKAWAY BEACH, which starts with a few bars in the 4 of the root key, or ROCK 'N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL, which kicks off in its 5, SHEENA commences in its actual pitch: C. Swinging invigoratingly up to G instead of the expected 4 (F) after a few lines, the verse then turns to a repetition of A and the anticipated F before returning to C. After a buildup in 5 ('oh yeah'), the chorus blasts off into a sturdy variation of the standard BLITZKRIEG BOP 1-4-5. This framework of four chords is the very essence of doo-wop, although unsurprisingly, JOHNNY eschews adherence to the minor variation of A which strict genre parameters would dictate. Unlike YOU'RE GONNA KILL THAT GIRL, a more exacting homage to the doo-wop style, SHEENA draws its strength from unique chord selections made inside the limited options.

Another uncommon maneuver awaits as the song enters its middle eight. Hopping up to the 4 (F), it immediately becomes apparent that earlier the verse avoided this change in order to keep the melody of this section distinctive. After moving through typical 1-4-5 devices, a sudden swoop down to A sharp throws a nervy curveball before the return to the verses. Once again, the band's comfort in dexterously moving around their boxlike barre chord patterns had brought them to a subtly unorthodox melodic choice-- one which would be highly unlikely to a guitarist prone to performances within only the standard open chords, but would have made perfect sense in the adventurously rulebreaking playfulness of the early BEATLES. Of course the RAMONES hurtle along at their characteristic velocity through these changes as if little of note is happening, but it would be a mistake to underestimate the cunning underneath the onslaught.

Although JOHN HOLMSTROM's lyric sheet illustration harkens back to the IRISH MCCALLA TV show SHEENA: QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE from the 50s, JOEY's lyric concerns itself with the rite of passage necessitated by the abandonment of the next era's trappings, be they 60's surfboards, or somewhat more ambiguously dated 'discotheques,' for the excitement of the modern 'punk' age. (The 50's are briefly alluded to, in the form of obsolete terminology for drug use, which would end up hurting the 45's fortunes-- more on this in the future SHEENA post.) Of course, the RAMONES themselves were fond of anachronistic nostalgia, and there is something vaguely celebratory about the life our protagonist is leaving behind. This elicits an exhuberant empathy from the listener-- even those with no concrete shared experience with either SHEENA's past or future adventures. It is telling that it would be more than a decade before the group would attempt another completely new name-specific personalization, perhaps conceding that this bullseye was untoppable. For the band had concocted, with this character, the ultimate avatar of their existential and aesthetic struggles. In the near-mythical archetype of SHEENA, the RAMONES and their fans found the very embodiment of joyous reinvention that successive generations of misfits would cherish, and seek to emulate.






RAMONES SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER

CARBONA NOT GLUE--Leave Home 5

The expanded CD release of LEAVE HOME continues with a segue that few listeners were now accustomed to. Instead of the ballad b-side BABYSITTER or the single mix of the new single SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER, this running order duplicates the original sequence into this sequel of NOW I WANNA SNIFF SOME GLUE. Undoubtedly the RAMONES track with the single most checkered and confused history on their recordings, CARBONA NOT GLUE opened up a can of worms far out of proportion with the one minute and fifty one second song's actual attributes. Retrospectively, it seems like much ado about very little. Whether or not the manufacturers of the (debatably) abusable cleaning fluid actually instigated legal action against SIRE records--or merely threatened such action-- their panicked response seems cowardly, and more importantly potentially ineffectual. (With a number of albums already sold, could not lawyers representing CARBONA still sue for damages to their reputation even if different editions of LEAVE HOME were produced?) In hindsight, it seems almost comical that this concern had met no consideration until recording was over and copies of the lp were being shipped to stores. The controversy--whatever there really was to it--coincided with SIRE records being sold from ABC to the larger Warner Brothers label, and with some bad press still lingering over inhalant related deaths in England linked to SNIFFIN' GLUE (a fanzine named after the earlier song), perhaps it seemed that the most prudent move would be the removal of the possibly burdensome tune from future pressings.

The resultant confusion surely diluted LEAVE HOME's chances in the marketplace- first doctored with the replacement BABYSITTER in England (though not retitled on the sleeve, further begging the question of tactical effectiveness against litigation), then altered to include their latest single SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER for the initial Warners repackaging in America. A new cover design trumpeted this substitution, but by that time the sophomore effort was running out of steam. Even worse, a strong selling point had been robbed of the future release ROCKET TO RUSSIA, and although their third record outperformed the first two by some margin, speculation how well it may have done with SHEENA as its centerpiece instead is quite valid.

The song itself is a frenetic basher, full of the signature one-fret 'punk' downstroke upswings on the '1' beat (and elsewhere). An early experiment in frantic blocks of riffs moving over a shifting root key, CARBONA NOT GLUE's strengths will later be expanded into the relatively complicated structures of TEENAGE LOBOTOMY, WE'RE A HAPPY FAMILY, and ROAD TO RUIN's faster numbers. Perhaps somewhat cluttered by unnecessary measures of E before the middle and last chorus (if such a thing is possible within such a brief composition), the track hurtles through its paces- arriving quickly at a premature seeming fadeout. (Indeed, upon initial listens, not until the conclusion is it apparent that what seems like a bridge to the chorus is actually the middle 8.) The RAMONES themselves seemed very fond of the piece, tightening up an impressive arrangement of background vocals to embellish an already charged performance.

The lyrics themselves, eye of this supposed censorship storm, actually go to some lengths to make plain the misunderstood humour of NOW I WANNA SNIFF SOME GLUE. The zombified protagonist catalogues an array of exhausted huffable household chemicals before comically turning the blame to television's cathodes. He then ludicrously diagnoses a remorseless, hopleless, final condition brought on by 'shooting glue.' Clearly, the group seems determined to not have the joke missed a second time.

Stubbornly keeping the song in the live set well beyond any exploitable point, the band remained skittish regarding CARBONA years past any truly deserving need, even omitting it from the first archival release of LEAVE HOME as part of the ALL THE STUFF (AND MORE) series in 1990. Still, the RAMONES' affection for their troublesome problem child remained steadfast, and in 1991 the group finally maneuvered to bury a 'hidden' performance of the song deep in the LOCO LIVE cd. The same year they also permitted a 'bootleg' vinyl 45 release on SUB POP records, the only other way to obtain the studio version of this beloved, beleaguered orphan until its belated re-appearance here.



RAMONES CARBONA NOT GLUE