This one is dedicated to our German pal Dirk as I know he's a bit of a Helen Love fan. Formed in Swansea in 1992, Helen Love are fronted by Helen Love - wow! What a coincidence! - and have basically made a career out of being unashamed fans of the Ramones. Song titles like Joey Ramoney, Debbie Loves Joey and Rockaway Beach For Me, Heartbreak Hotel For You kind of give the game away somewhat. In fact, the late Joey Ramone was a fan of Helen Love, singing on their song Punk Boy and introducing a BBC session by the band.
Other famous fans include comedians Dave Gorman and Phill Jupitus, and everyone's favourite Irish punk-pop band Ash. Helen Love are very much a singles band, recording just three albums in 23 years, their most recent being 2013's 'Day-Glo Dreams', but there are three compilations of singles and EPs - 'Radio Hits' 1, 2 and 3.
Today's track is one of those Ramones-referencing numbers and first appeared on the 1994 EP 'Summer Pop Punk Pop' and later the same year on 'Radio Hits 1'. Summery bubblegum pop in March? You betcha! "Blast out the disco on the radio."
As a rule I give a thumbs up to anything that references or acknowledges The Ramones and this is no exception. Great stuff!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff, Robster, thanks!! And yes, I call myself a fan of them, and proudly so! I mean, just listen to their fantastic 'Girl About Town' ... how can anyone NOT love a band who are able to write lyrics like "She got her picture in Rolling Stone/She was third from the left behind Joey Ramone/You couldn't see her face/But I'm sure she looked great anyway" ??
ReplyDeleteIt does take skill to refer to the Ramones that many times in succession. Great fun!
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