Comments on: Allan Arkush's "Rock'n'Roll High School"

Allan Arkush's "Rock'n'Roll High School"

Egg Shen — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:17:01 -0800

Rock 'N' Roll High School, staring the Ramones, is one of the five greatest American films of all time. Well, five best movie musicals? At the very least, the scene of the band rolling down the high school halls and blaring "Do Ya Wanna Dance" with the teen archetypes (cheerleaders, jocks, geeks, etc.) following, clapping and dancing while brewing up the eventual explosion of the school, could be the most transcendent two minutes of any rock movie. - Eric Davidson, introducing his interview of director Allan Arkush

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:33:55 -0800

When I was a wee lad in the late 70s/early 80s, I had The Movie Channel and a couple parents of the "oh why bother" type. Thusly, I watched RnRHS like a hundred times when I was 6. It was one of my favorite movies, owing partly I think to its somewhat cartoonish (in a good way) nature. You can imagine my surprise years later when I discovered that The Ramones were a real band and not just a live action Banana Splits. I also watched Fantastic Planet several times that year and my third eye has never fully recovered.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:37:58 -0800

the most transcendent two minutes of any rock movie Well, using the "extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience" definition of "transcendent" there's this....

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:40:39 -0800

I submit that just about any two minutes of footage set to that song would be about equally transcendent. Like, paint drying. It's a damn good song is all I'm saying.

By: TheWhiteSkull

TheWhiteSkull — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:42:32 -0800

HEY! HO! LET'S GO!

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:45:22 -0800

I thank the stars I once had the good sense to ~~see~~experience the Ramones live in a small club. Like being on the business end of a buzzsaw for 50 minutes straight. Oh, and The Ramones and P.J. Soles? That's some damned inspired casting.

By: Egg Shen

Egg Shen — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:47:11 -0800

Wikipedia tells me P.J. Soles is 62. But my heart does not believe it.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:47:17 -0800

Great clip but boy The Ramones really couldn't (or wouldn't) lip-sync.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:48:27 -0800

I'll go with "wouldn't". Or, more accurately, didn't give a fuck.

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:50:32 -0800

Dee Dee looked so healthy in that clip. If you consider yourself a Ramones fan and you have not yet watched End of the Century... QUEENS, NY, REPRESENT!!! Says the boy who never goes back and didn't learn to love them till he left, but still...

By: davebush

davebush — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:52:42 -0800

The band that changed my life. Bless 'em. The R&RHS soundtrack was also my intro to Eno. I came for the punk but was fascinated by this odd instrumental, "Energy Fools the Magician". At the time, I had no idea how deeply I'd be diving into ambient waters.

By: Ron Thanagar

Ron Thanagar — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:55:10 -0800

GABBA GABBA WE ACCEPT YOU WE ACCEPT YOU ONE OF US Sorry, it just needed to be said.

By: sfts2

sfts2 — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 15:55:45 -0800

I saw the Ramones 15 times from right on the stage and haven't been the same since. That is all.

By: Dojie

Dojie — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:02:29 -0800

This movie on cable was my introduction to the Ramones. I loved the movie and loved the band but my 8-year-old self had no idea at all who they were or what was going on. It wasn't until a few years later when I finally discovered music that wasn't being played on the classic rock/top 40/oldies/country radio stations of Tulsa that I realized that they were a real band and not just invented for the movie.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:05:10 -0800

Rock 'N' Roll High School yt , staring the Ramones yt , is one of the five greatest American films of all time. Well, five best movie musicals? At the very least, To clarify. Rock 'N' Roll High School, staring the Ramones, is one of the five greatest American films of all time. [unqualified] And those guys do stare.

By: mikelieman

mikelieman — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:20:08 -0800

No discussion of Allan Arkush is complete without mentioning Deathsport, Heartbeeps, and the best film ever made, Get Crazy

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:20:20 -0800

Here's the thing about the Ramones. They have serious cred, even with young kids who have never actually seen them. But, if all you know about them is their records, you really have no idea. The difference between a Ramones record and a live Ramones performance is the widest gulf imaginable. It's almost like two different bands. I try to explain to my kids why that was one of my two or three favorite shows evar, but it's really hard to get it across convincingly. They just think it's awesome that I'm the only dad they know who has been to a Ramones show.

By: benito.strauss

benito.strauss — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:24:57 -0800

All I can say is that I knew this one woman, who had next to no interest in punk music, really liked me when she was willing to go sit through Rock'n'Roll High School with me. Then again, she did get me into John Coltrane. I consider the trade to have been fair.

By: shecky57

shecky57 — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:25:07 -0800

Seconding Get Crazy. That movie didn't make me wanna be a rock star, it made me want to be a stage manager.

By: Aznable

Aznable — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:28:29 -0800

Rock 'N' Roll High School holds the record in my movie collection for Film Owned on the Most Formats. Laserdisc, DVD, Blu Ray, and (inexplicably) UMD disc for the PSP. One of these days I'm going to track down a VHS copy on eBay just so I can feel like I have a complete set. A framed movie poster also hangs in my kitchen. I guess you could say I'm a fan.

By: obscure simpsons reference

obscure simpsons reference — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:34:28 -0800

Here are several fine young men who I'm sure are gonna go far

By: charlie don't surf

charlie don't surf — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:50:25 -0800

There was a film with The Ramones in it that instantly changed the direction of my life. It wasn't Rock 'n Roll High School. It was The Blank Generation.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:51:34 -0800

"Rock'n'Roll High School" is one of the few flawless things ever made.

By: Atom Eyes

Atom Eyes — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:55:20 -0800

the scene ... could be the most transcendent two minutes of any rock movie Any scene with that much Clint Howard rockin' out is gonna be transcendent.

By: Jubal Kessler

Jubal Kessler — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:00:06 -0800

...Now I guess I'll have to tell 'em That I got no cerebellum Gonna get my Ph.D. I'm a teenage lobotomy

By: jammy

jammy — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:24:05 -0800

Saw them in Providence, RI, in the mid-1980s... some small venue on the East Side. Came out with my shirt torn, my nose bloody, my glasses broke, and pretty much deaf. One of the best nights of my life. All of which is to say: Ramones = punk as fuck!

By: jammy

jammy — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:27:50 -0800

Also: Ramones covers Spider-Man! Because, y'know, of course.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:29:34 -0800

If I were any more excited about this post I'd explode like a laboratory mouse.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:32:02 -0800

It's funny to listen to old music now that the music has pushed the cultural envelopes around. Punk, New Wave, Funk and all the rest now all sound pretty much like harmless enjoyable pop to me. At the time it was all boundary pushing weirdness that just felt so cool and dangerous. I can't imagine what it is like for kids to hear it now without the context it originally inhabited and changed. Sigh. I'm old.

By: Pope Guilty

Pope Guilty — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:34:16 -0800

You know, srb, it's an old and cliche line, but punk's not dead! Maximum Rocknroll, which at this point is I think the oldest still-publishing zine, does a weekly podcast mixing new and old stuff. You can find it right here.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:41:58 -0800

Punk's not dead ( undead undead )

By: pxe2000

pxe2000 — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:47:42 -0800

Mary Woronov needs to play Dr. Frank N. Furter someday.

By: charlie don't surf

charlie don't surf — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 17:55:04 -0800

I went to see The Ramones at the LA Street Scene in 1985. I was living downtown on Traction Avenue and I just walked 3 blocks over and there it all was. But it turned into a riot and The Ramones got cancelled. I recently discovered film of the riot, from behind police lines and unfortunately you can't see the actual riot. Go to about 11:30 and you will see the LAPD Mounted Police carrying 4 foot long riot batons, with the Riot Squad lined up behind them. They are marching up 1st Street and are about to charge across the Civic Center Plaza, where I was in front of the main stage. There was a minor panic when someone started dumping over 55gal drums full of water that were set up as crowd barriers. People started running away from the flowing water, and the LAPD thought it was a riot, so they charged recklessly into the crowd. Then it did turn into a riot. One mounted policeman swung his baton right at my head, I ducked and he smashed in the face of the guy standing right next to me. I decided to get the fuck out of there. I was seriously disappointed that I did not get to see The Ramones but relieved I wasn't trampled by horses. I heard through my clubgoing friends that The Ramones were doing an unannounced gig the next friday, look in the club listings for Ramones spelled backwards. Holy crap, Senomar was playing at the Whiskey A Go Go. I went and it was the only time I ever got to see The Ramones. I actually crashed right into Joey Ramone as he was coming down the stairs to take the stage.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:08:07 -0800

I love the Ramones as much as any pogo-er can but the first thing I think whenever I watch that damn movie is "This is what the beats must have felt when Maynard G. Krebs showed up on American TV screens."

By: Daddy-O

Daddy-O — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:12:27 -0800

I saw The Ramones at Randy's Rodeo in San Antonio in the spring of '79. Best show ever.

By: davebush

davebush — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:20:25 -0800

srboisvert - Thanks for that comment. You articulated something I've felt for years. The punk/new wave era struck at exactly the right time for me - my first year of high school. I'm happy I got to experience it, but sad that my daughter will never understand how thrilling it was. Plus - we had to work for our rewards. I'd discover some obscure band's EP via Trouser Press, then hunt for it clawing through countless record store import bins. My daughter? She gets complete live gigs from any band she chooses with a mouse click.

By: bmarkey

bmarkey — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:37:52 -0800

28 songs in 63 minutes

By: charlie don't surf

charlie don't surf — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:48:59 -0800

I can't imagine what it is like for kids to hear it now without the context it originally inhabited and changed. This is when I usually pull out this PDF I made of Melody Maker magazine, December 10, 1977 (warning 68Mb file but really worth it). Go to page 36 and look at the US and UK Top Thirty Singles. This is the context, the crap that people called music that was the only thing ever on the radio, and drove us all so crazy that we were desperate for any alternative: 1. Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue, Crystal Gayle 2. How Deep Is Your Love, Bee Gees 3. You Light Up My Life, Debbie Boone 4. Baby, What A Big Surprise, Chicago I can't stand any more. I'll skip the rest, which includes other alleged music by Dolly Parton, Carpenters, Bay City Rollers, Leif Garrett, etc.

By: skycrashesdown

skycrashesdown — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:55:49 -0800

DO YOUR PARENTS KNOW THAT YOU'RE RAMONES?? But seriously, I watched this movie to the point of memorization in high school. I went as Riff Randall for Halloween. Still love it to death.

By: KingEdRa

KingEdRa — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:02:58 -0800

bmarkey, I was just about to post that link myself. A real treat for both the kids who will never get a chance to hear them live and those of us who did.

By: reverend cuttle

reverend cuttle — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:16:12 -0800

Of course, theres the sequel.

By: Curious Artificer

Curious Artificer — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:35:10 -0800

I don't know if it's covered in the article itself, but it needs to be said that originally, the movie was supposed to star Cheap Trick. Who turned it down. Which is a damn good thing, because it IS a Ramones movie.

By: davebush

davebush — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:39:17 -0800

According to Wikipedia - Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania. If that's true, I'm stunned.

By: Curious Artificer

Curious Artificer — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:46:49 -0800

They never made any real money at it. That's why Johnny literally forced Joey, and Dee Dee, and a couple of other replacement Ramones to tour endlessly in a bus for years and years and years. It was said upthread, but really, watch End of the Century. It's a great, but ultimately very sad, story.

By: AzraelBrown

AzraelBrown — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 20:02:49 -0800

This is one of those movies that I, with my mom working nights and my dad working out of town, I would see staying up really, really late and watching USA's Up All Night, which, due to my only being half awake, being only 12, and not really comprehending what I was seeing, I figured was part of a hallucination memory. I didn't even know, actually, what the Ramones were, and only later after accidentally catching the movie again when I was adult, did I realize that the movie actually had the real-life Ramones in it, and it wasn't something I made up all in my head. I should really watch it again, now another 15 or 20 years since the last time I watched it, since it is apparently on the level of Citizen Kane.

By: mephron

mephron — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 20:18:02 -0800

my first exposure to the Ramones was sneaking into New York City and going to CBGB with some friends. I was 14. it was awesome and amazing and it blew my mind out of my head. I miss them.

By: Ghostride The Whip

Ghostride The Whip — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 20:18:58 -0800

Metafilter: Does Your Mother Know You're Ramones? Man, this movie was my introduction to punk rock as a concept and got me hanging out with the punk kids and...well, let's just say it's kind of weird that a movie I caught on USA Today or Comedy Central when I was staying up way too late was life-changing, but I totally see where the path of my life (or at least my musical taste) was shaped by Rock N Roll High School. I caught them in '96 when they were on the Lollapalooza bill, so I know I was a late-arriving scrub, but they were fantastic. I always admired CJ because he managed to play the whole set with at least one middle finger extended while staying (relatively) on the beat.

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:33:55 -0800

I love the Ramones, and I get where you are coming from but "How Deep is Your Love" is one of the single greatest songs ever written. I can imagine that it must have been suffocating to deal with back in the monoculture of 1978, but that song removed from baggage and cultural context is a god damn cathedral.

By: chapps

chapps — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:34:06 -0800

during Expo86 in Vancouver, the independent artist show featuring Vancouver band Slow was shut down, resulting in parading punk kids yelling "Expo Injustice!" This continued until CBC's live newscast from the Expo site was shut down. They cut right to the late night movie, and, you guessed it, the scheduled feature was Rock'n'Roll Highschool. I enjoyed that particular newscast.

By: she's not there

she's not there — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 00:42:13 -0800

Wikipedia tells me P.J. Soles is 62. But my heart does not believe it. You say that like 62 "old" or something, which is just nonsense. I mean, I'm 58 and I'm not old, right? Right?

By: Mezentian

Mezentian — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:01:57 -0800

Of course, theres the sequel. Oh. Look, I'm no huge Ramones fan (I like them and all), and I've only watched R&RHS a few times in my life, but I really don't think Corey Feldman & The Eradicators could really replace The Ramones. I cannot imagine this film being anything other than awful.

By: Gotanda

Gotanda — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 01:52:53 -0800

One of the few good things about being a high school kid in Connecticut in the 80's was that the Ramones would swing through like clockwork: Toad's, The Agora, even saw them at UCONN once, maybe the El N Gee Club too, I think. Of course, my folks hated the music and the condition I came back from the shows in, but my opera-loving, former classical-music-usher dad *loved* Rock 'n' Roll High School. He just thought it was a "hoot", as they say. It was one of the few movies--not opera--he recorded on VHS. We'd sit and watch it together-my younger sister too-when we got together around the holidays. Aww.

By: idiopath

idiopath — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 05:26:59 -0800

"People started running away from the flowing water, and the LAPD thought it was a riot, so they charged recklessly into the crowd." That's called a Police Riot.

By: Mezentian

Mezentian — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 05:43:29 -0800

It will take me days to get White Riot out of my head now.

By: Cookiebastard

Cookiebastard — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:32:19 -0800

RAMONES THE WHO ROLLING STONES TED NUGENT LED ZEPPELIN JETHRO TULL FOREIGNER PETER FRAMPTON KANSAS DONNY AND MARIE DEBBIE BOONE PAT BOONE MUZAK

By: whuppy

whuppy — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 07:39:33 -0800

The Ramones were my Grateful Dead.

By: Ruthless Bunny

Ruthless Bunny — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 09:39:35 -0800

I have a sad Ramones story. I had tickets to a bar in Phoenix to see them. I was 17, my friends were also 17, but one girl with us was a tiny 14 year-old. None of us were carded getting in, except for Tiny. Like an ass, I did the nice thing and sat out in the car with her instead of going inside to watch the show. How did a responsible young lady, such as myself, EVER get into the Ramones? On the upside, I did meet them at the Record Store earlier in the day and got my disc autographed. Nice kids, but I miss Joey most of all.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:21:59 -0800

An absolute classic. Looks like the entire movie is on YouTube. If you haven't seen it yet...don't delay!

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:23:59 -0800

ALSO: PJ was indeed hot - but Kate was far hotter.

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 09:39:00 -0800

Oh, Dee Dee Ramone, where have you gone? In misery all day long To shoot some dope right in to your arm...

By: philip-random

philip-random — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:42:53 -0800

Cookiebastard, that's an interesting list though I take issue with Jethro Tull being only level above Foreigner, yet Foreigner being six levels removed from muzak. Needs some work there. And where's Grand Funk?