Release date of CD: January 20, 2000 and January 27, 2000 (Corazong Records and Other Peoples Music)
Release date of LP: March 14, 2002 (Woimasointu Records). You can order LP by E-mail: info (a) woimasointu.com
1) LINE-UP AND TRACKLIST: HERE.
2) INFORMATION OF CD VERSIONS: HERE.
3) INFORMATION OF LP VERSION (AND HOW TO BUY IT): HERE.
4) INTERVIEW COMMENTS BY CHRIS SPEDDING: HERE.
5) HOP AROUND REVIEW: HERE.
Dee Dee Ramone's fourth solo album is produced by Chris Spedding. Spedding plays guitars and keyboards on it also. Dee Dee started recording this Hop Around solo album at Signal To Noise in Toronto from 25th or 26th September 1998 (and the mixed-down finished on the 15th October, 1998).
I did with Spedding interview to my 2nd book Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone. Part of that interview you can also read below here.
LINE-UP:
Dee Dee Ramone: guitar and main vocals.
Barbara Ramone (Zampini): bass and vocals.
Billy Rogers: drums.
Chris Spedding: mellotron, acetone organ and guitar.
Additional musicians: Jon Drew (drums in I'm Horrible), Gordie Lewis (guitar in Born To Lose and Chinese Rocks) and Roger Mayne (guitar in Nothin').
TRACKLIST:
So on the Europe versions (CD and LP) has the Chinese Rocks and on the USA version has the Born To Lose.
1. I Don't Wanna Die In The Basement
2. Mental Patient
3. Now I Wanna Be Sedated
4. Rock & Roll Vacation in L.A.
5. Get Out Of This House
6. 38th and 8th
7. Nothin'
8. Hop Around
9. What About Me?
10. I Saw A Skull Instead of My Face
11. I Wanna You
12. Master Plan
13. Born To Lose (Canada/USA) / Chinese Rocks (Europe)
14. Hurtin' Kind
15. I'm Horrible
(16. Be My Baby only on LP)
CD RELEASE:CD has 12 originals and three covers including the Ugly Duckling's 60's garage punk classic Nothin', featuring The Ugly Ducklings Roger Mayne on lead guitar, and Johnny Thunders' 70's punk anthem Born To Lose featuring Teenage Head guitarist Gordie Lewis. Gordie Lewis also plays in Chinese Rocks that is written by Dee Dee Ramone and Richard Hell for Johnny Thunders, who liked the song so much that he decided to put his own name under it. Ramones recorded song to End Of The Century album (1980). Hurtin' Kind is song originally by The Bittersweets.
Born To Lose is track number 13 in Canada/USA release. Chinese Rocks in track number 13 in European releases (CD and LP). Born To Lose is only available in Europe on the Corazong Records sampler From The Heart and Hop Around / Born To Lose 7' single release by Finnish label Woimasointu Records. Single version of Born To Lose is a bit different to USA version. Single version was released at the same time with Hop Around LP.
Read Hop Around review
LP RELEASE:
LP was released by Hannu Jokinen's label Woimasointu Records (Finland) on March 14, 2002 and it has 16 songs (CD has 15). Only LP has bonus song Be My Baby.
LP contains different versions of songs Rock & Roll Vacation in L.A. and Hop Around than what versions are on CD. Also cover is different.
300 numbered copies are on red vinyl. And for the quality seekers there is also pressing on 220 gram heavy weight black vinyl. There is 500 copies on black vinyl. Ask more details: info (at) woimasointu.com
At the same time with LP release Woimasointu put out 7' single Born To Lose / Hop Around and it has Hop Around that is similar to version on CD. 300 copies of the single on white vinyl, 300 copies on blue and rest on black. You can order LP and single by E-mail: info (a) woimasointu.com
7' cover have pictures taken by me (Jari-Pekka Laitio-Ramone), from my touring with Dee Dee Ramone, Barbara Zampini and Chase Manhattan in Scandinavia in 2000. Read more of tour here.
About distribution of CD: UK distribution by Grapevine/Universal, Canada through OPM/EMI, Eire by RMG/Sony, Benelux through Arcade/CNR, Scandiavian countries through MNW/Kommunikation and USA through Virgin or Revolver.
INTERVIEW COMMENTS BY CHRIS SPEDDING:
Chris Spedding produced Dee Dee Ramone's album Hop Around. Also man did produce Greatest & Latest (2000). Spedding also played on both records. I did with Spedding interview to my 2nd book Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone (2004). Here are few parts of it.
Jari-Pekka Laitio-Ramone: When did you meet with Dee Dee for the first time and how did the projects you worked on with him come about?
Chris Spedding: I met him in Toronto, Canada, when I was hired by the OPM record company (Other People's Music) to produce his album. We both enjoyed working together on the first album Hop Around, but Dee Dee was disappointed with the record company (OPM) delaying it's release and then not promoting it properly. He wanted to re-record everything again and put it out on a different label. He asked me to produce the new one. At this time, he and Barbara moved to Los Angeles near where I was living in Santa Monica. I dissuaded him from re-recording the songs from the previous album and we recorded what was to become our last album together, Greatest & Latest.
Jari-Pekka Laitio-Ramone: Can you describe a little bit of the production style that worked best for Dee Dee?
Chris Spedding: All a producer does is to get the artist's music down on tape as well as possible, and to the artist.s satisfaction. With Dee Dee this meant working quickly because Dee Dee uses a lot of energy in the studio and got bored quickly. Because of this I think we were well suited.
Rest of interview you can find from Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone (2004).
HOP AROUND REVIEW BY SURFIN' BIRD:
On this record Dee Dee Ramone plays guitar and sings lead vocals. Dee Dee's wife Barbara Ramone plays bass and sings lead vocals on a few of the tracks. Most of these songs sound a lot like typical Ramones songs (some of them even have similar titles to Ramones songs). If the Ramones had stayed around a few years longer, I think they could have used some of these songs for their albums (the way on Adios Amigos, the Ramones took Makin' Monsters For My Friends from Dee Dee's solo album I Hate Freaks Like You, and they also took the Crusher from Dee Dee's solo album Dee Dee King).
There are some killer tunes on this album. Now I Wanna Be Sedated is an angry, fun punk song about living in a mental institution, which actually does not sound like the Ramones classic of a similar name. I Don't Wanna Die In The Basement sounds as if it could have easily fit in on an early Ramones record. The title words are the only lyrics on booklet. This record also has another studio version of the Ramones classic Chinese Rocks, but this is much faster, and more punk than the version on the Ramones album End of The Century.
Hop Around and Rock & Roll Vacation in LA are two songs sung by Barbara, which were also on the Ramainz live record, but here they have some extra intsruments being played in the background. What About Me? is a song Dee Dee also played on a 7" record in 1993, called Dee Dee Ramone & the Chinese Dragons; the production is better here. They cover a kind of slow song called Hurtin' Kind, written by the Bittersweets; it is sung by Barbara, and it is not really a Ramones-type song, but it is very good. Nothin' is also a cover, but played and sung in a way that makes it sound like any other song off the record, sounds as if it could have been written by Dee Dee.
I Saw A Skull Instead Of My Face and Master Plan, both sound like heavy metal songs, and really are not very good. Overall this is a great record, and Dee Dee proves that twenty-five years after starting the Ramones, he can still write and perform great punk rock songs.
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