In 1977 the airwaves were ruled by that accursed dance music known as disco—and what wasn’t four-on-the-floor with a hi-hat upbeat was white breadish soft rock. It was not a great time for popular music.
In reaction to the beats and the bland came the fresh sounds of punk rock. Punkers like the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and a young Elvis Costello burst onto the scene like a breath of fresh, feverish, often angry air. Helping to lead the punk revolution was a group of faux brothers calling themselves the Ramones. The Ramones were a collection of four die-hard rock and rollers from Queens who adopted the same last name—lead singer Joey, guitarist Johnny, bassist Dee Dee, and drummer Tommy Ramone. They first got together in 1974, playing a fast and furious brand of three-chord rock and roll (most of their songs were under two minutes long), with surprisingly melodic pop melodies on top of an unrelentingly energetic beat. It was kind of like a bad boys version of bubblegum music, the Archies by way of Marlon Brando in The Wild One—on speed.
The Ramones were mainly a live band who sold some albums, although they did release several singles over the course of their career. One of those singles, released in May of 1977, is today’s classic song of the day, “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.” Their first single to hit the charts, “Sheena” made it all the way to #81 on the Billboard Hot 100. (It scored higher in England, reaching #22 on the UK charts.)
By the way, the Sheena in the song’s title was the comic book character Sheena of the Jungle. Songwriter Joey Ramone supposed that the primal sounds of punk music would appeal to a savage jungle girl first exposed to civilization. He was probably right.
Whatever the inspiration, “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” is two minutes and forty-nine seconds of pure pop fury. It’s imminently hummable, sounding a little like a California surfing tune on street drugs. I find it irresistible and the perfect antidote to the over-produced, sleep-inducing sounds of KC and the Sunshine Band, the Bee Gees, and Fleetwood Mac.
The Ramones stayed together through the mid-1990s, albeit with a continual shuffling of band members, all adopting the Ramone surname. All four original members are now deceased; Joey died in 2001, Dee Dee in 2002, Johnny in 2004, and and Tommy in 2014. They were a force of nature, as you can see in today’s daily bonus video of the day, the Ramones playing “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” live at New York’s CBGB nightclub in 1977. Yeah!
