MOST TRIBUTED SONG “Blitzkrieg Bop”: Twenty-five different bands have covered the first song on the first Ramones album, apparently figuring it was all downhill from there.

BEST TRIBUTES FOR PEOPLE WHO LOVE THE RAMONES BUT LOATHE THE SOUND OF THE HUMAN VOICE Ramonetures: Ramones played Ventures style!

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. style! Pan for Punks: A Steelpan Tribute to the Ramones: Ramones played Trinidad style! Guitar Tribute to the Ramones: Ramones played, um, guitar style! Gabba Gabba Karaoke: Karaoke to the Ramones: Fine on its own, but you just know somebody’s gonna start singing and ruin everything.

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Ramones played Muzak

WHILE THEY RECORDED ONLY 14 STUDIO ALBUMS IN THEIR 22-YEAR CAREER,

THE RAMONES HAVE INSPIRED A JAW-DROPPING 48 (AT LEAST!) FULL-LENGTH

TRIBUTE RECORDS. WITH APRIL MARKING THE ANNIVERSARY OF BOTH THE

BAND’S 1976 DEBUT AND THE 2001 DEATH OF SINGER JOEY, WE PAY HOMAGE

TO PUNK’S FOUNDING FATHERS BY CRITIQUING EVERYBODY ELSE’S HOMAGES.

LEAST PLEASANT REINVENTIONS
Glue Sniffin’ Shocker! A Ramones
Tribute? by Reload: Ramones played
Kraftwerk style! But with an annoying
wiggly effect on the vocals.
Gabber Gabber Hey! A Loud and Fast
Accelerated Tribute to the Ramones:
Ramones played techno-metal style!
Bossa n’ Ramones: The Electro-Bossa
and E-Mambo Songbook of the Ramones:
Ramones played “Girl From Ipanema”
style! But with no regard for how the songs
actually go!

The MC (JaCke T) 4 Johnny, Joey, Marky, and Dee Dee

FEWEST RAMONES COVERS Main Man: A Tribute to Dee Dee Ramone! Life’s a Gas! A Tribute to Joey Ramone! Neither album contains even a single Ramones song, but they’re chock-full of heartfelt originals such as “Joey Went Home (Where the Good Boys Go),” “Heaven Needed a Lead Singer,” and “Dee Dee King of Rock”—not to mention “I Want to Cut My Hair Like Marky Ramone,” which would be even more heartfelt if one of the discs were actually dedicated to Marky Ramone.

BEST TRIBUTES FOR THE YOUNG AND
THE RESTLESS
Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of
the Ramones: Because what better songs
to play at bedtime than “Beat on the Brat”
and “I Wanna Be Sedated”?
Brats on the Beat: Ramones for Kids:
Infamously violent punkers Blag Dahlia
(Dwarves), Jack Grisham (TSOL), and Nick
Oliveri (ex–Queens of the Stone Age) sing
lead on sugarcoated covers, accompanied
by giggling children.

MOST DISAPPOINTING TRIBUTE

Ramones EP, by Operation Ivy:

GE T T Y IMAGES

62 APRIL 2009 / BREAKFAST SERVED ALL DAY AT SPIN.COM