LIVE AT THE ROXY 8/12/76-- Leave Home 16-31

The remaining LEAVE HOME Expanded CD bonus offerings comprise an entire live performance at the ROXY in Hollywood from August of 1976-- indeed, their first major trip away from 'HOME.' It reveals the band honing their early stage attack, and spotlighting a handful of tracks from their upcoming sophomore LP-- at that point still a half year away from being released. The set displays blooming confidence and an already noticably accelerating drive (two selections from this recording, CALIFORNIA SUN and I DON'T WANNA WALK AROUND WITH YOU eventually found their way on to 45 b-sides.) But although undoubtedly capturing a pivotal point triggering the soon-to-explode L.A. punk scene, this very good (but not exceptional) show is bound to compare unfavorably with IT'S ALIVE and other readily available performances featuring the original lineup. With several notable original demos still uncollected, and the added single track SHEENA IS A PUNK ROCKER inexplicably nudged off the program for eventual appearance elsewhere, the wisdom of including this complete show remains debatable. (Certainly, for example, on the IT'S ALIVE dvd collection, a tendency towards cherrypicking from key shows as opposed to using all available tracks would dominate.) Sonically only slightly better than bootleg level quality, this material is perhaps best absorbed as a snapshot of the band at exactly the midway point between their inception and initial peak. For our purposes here-- focusing on recording and composition-- a brief assessment shall suffice.



16. LOUDMOUTH
     The standard opener of their embryonic era kicks off with JOEY's humorous audience greeting, where a polite introduction is contradictorily followed by an immediate admonishment to shut up. A new, powerful musical assurance is plainly tangible.

LOUDMOUTH





17. BEAT ON THE BRAT
     One of IT'S ALIVE's most glaring omissions, the live potential of this debut favorite is happily realized and documented, despite a few shaky moments from TOMMY.

BEAT ON THE BRAT





18. BLITZKRIEG BOP
     Taken at what now seems like an almost sluggish tempo, the single "on SIRE records!" is met with a disconcerting lack of audience participation.

BLITZKRIEG BOP





19. I REMEMBER YOU
      Surprisingly early in the set, the band slows it down a notch. JOEY gives it his all in his featured, crooning highlight.

I REMEMBER YOU





20. GLAD TO SEE YOU GO
     Ample evidence of the wealth of material the band still had on tap for their second release, this effortless go at the still unrecorded GLAD TO SEE YOU GO flies by flawlessly.

GLAD TO SEE YOU GO





21.  CHAINSAW
     The sturdy first lp "love song" proves dependable.

CHAINSAW





22. 53RD & 3RD
     The pathos of DEEDEE's psychodrama are predictably milked, even at this early stage.

53RD & 3RD





23. I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND
     An astoundingly long pause before the group trots out this pleading favorite to all of the "special girls" out there. From here on out though, it's a Blitzkrieg all the way.

I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND





24. HAVANA AFFAIR
     They punch all the way through their "salsa" number with panache. Lamentably, over the years JOEY's inclination to crack non-sequiturs between songs diminished almost completely.

HAVANA AFFAIR





25. LISTEN TO MY HEART
     Precision abounds in these performances, although later--as the live material is grouped into small bursts-- this song will be programmed into a spot which will flaunt the opening guitar figure more impressively.

LISTEN TO MY HEART





26.  CALIFORNIA SUN
     "Hot doggers, hang ten!", then blastoff into one of the band's most rehearsed covers. Along with I DON'T WANNA WALK AROUND WITH YOU, this appeared as the 45 b-side to I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND in America and I REMEMBER YOU in the UK.

CALIFORNIA SUN





27. JUDY IS A PUNK
     The set starts to hurtle towards the end aboard a barrage of debut album crushers, starting with JUDY IS A PUNK, whose odd key protrudes conspicuously.

JUDY IS A PUNK





28. I DON'T WANNA WALK AROUND WITH YOU
     Pauses in between songs fade away, and DEEDEE dominates--thumping relentlessly on bass and grabbing all the glory of the final line of lyric, leaving him almost without breath for the next 1-2-3-4. In German, naturally.

I DON'T WANNA WALK AROUND WITH YOU





29. TODAY YOUR LOVE, TOMORROW THE WORLD
     Only a slightly messy coda mars the set closer, which more than fulfills its role as designated explosive climax.

TODAY YOUR LOVE, TOMORROW THE WORLD





30. NOW I WANNA SNIFF SOME GLUE
     The suddenly measurably increased tempos carry through to the encore, as unexpectedly TOMMY counts things off. Breathtaking.

NOW I WANNA SNIFF SOME GLUE





31.  LET'S DANCE
     What sounds like a shabby edit fails to cover up a rare opening error from perfectionist JOHNNY. Nonetheless, as the RAMONES feverishly finish the show, they have obliterated nearly any notion that their brutal minimalism could not be delivered with dazzling, potent cohesion.

LET'S DANCE

I REMEMBER YOU--Leave Home 3

One of the sweetest of the RAMONES career ironies is that the hard rocking combo's ballads are, with startling consistency, amongst their releases' strongest compositions. That said, LEAVE HOME is something of an anomaly, featuring a duo of ballads ranking not only amongst this LP's weakest tracks, but amongst their least effective overall attempts to produce slower material. (The afterthought appearance of BABYSITTER quickly reverts to top notch quality.)

Clearly superior to side two's WHAT'S YOUR GAME, I REMEMBER YOU enjoys a durable popularity somewhat out of proportion with the recording's actual noteworthiness. Sluggishly and stubbornly hovering around E-B-A, only occasionally swinging up to nearby C on the verse's highest notes, the primitive melody leans more to the underdeveloped than the elemental. Ditto the bare lyric, which strives for but fails to match the transcendental haiku precision of I WANNA BE YOUR BOYFRIEND and the already written but later recorded HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW (one of their finest achievements). Clearly holding the song in some esteem nonetheless, the band kept the tune in the live set for a surprisingly long stretch-- and even nonsensically opted to make the track the leadoff single preceding LEAVE HOME's release in the UK, a questionable strategy which fell flat on its face.

What then accounts for this ballad's deep endearment amongst such a large contingent of the group's followers? The evocative image of nighttime recollection is well served by its vagueness, and the regretful lament does touch upon a universally familiar mindset. The pessimism of  'somehow they never really do' does ring true with hard earned experience, although the logic of this clinching line remains elusive (it's not as if the preceding phrase left any room for debate). Perhaps any such shortcomings are trumped by a compellingly attractive performance from JOEY, clearly struck by the song's starting points in his own life and striving therefore for a heartfelt perfection. And whatever the melody's weaknesses, the band is dead on-- especially effective during the tightened two chord middle sections, augmented with extra overdubbed muted guitar 'clicking.' The dense mix also does well to accentuate the RAMONES' peculiar strengths.

With the passage of time, of course, I REMEMBER YOU's themes of romantic loss and hindsight became more loaded as more fans encountered mortality in their own lives. Then, as tragedy finally felled actual band members, the mysterious ghosts of the song's retrospection gelled more widely into the mourning felt for the RAMONES themselves. (I myself witnessed a stunning performance covering this song in the days following JOEY's death.) And as the cruelty of each year's bereavement accumulates, it seems only more likely that the potent devotion elicited by this humbly virtued also-ran will continue to increase in power.







RAMONES I REMEMBER YOU








Adios, ARTURO.