The Ramones - Self Titled (w/ guest Jack Fitzsimmons)

Bill and Brian welcome musician (hellstroms.bandcamp.com), podcaster, and our new resident punk avatar Jack Fitzsimmons onto the podcast to talk about the Ramones' self titled debut (1976, Sire). The four kids who went on to change their names and the landscape of music grew up in the hostile environment of Queens, NY where they decided to embrace themselves as outsiders, turned up the volume, and pretended to be rock stars. Jack shares how he first delved into the band and this album while visiting family in Great Britain and meeting the punks from across the pond who idolized the Ramones. Jack helps us understand, from his perspective, what it means to be a punk and part of that culture. Bill, Brian, and Jack discuss the band's intelligence and their dumb image, the strange mixing choices on the album, the emergence of teenager culture, making mix tapes for former high school girlfriends, Dee Dee's troubles and sexuality, the birth of the punk cover, and much more as we talk about the album track by track!