The New York punker wallahs who crawled out of CBGB’s and made their name in Europe?as is usual for great US bands. Combining high school hop high jinks with two-minute thrashes built on the faster, louder, Gabba Gabba Hey! philosophy, Johnny, Dee Dee, Joey and Tommy played the dumb card but were smarter than they seemed. They piled on the punk standards: “Beat On The Brat”, “Judy Is A Punk”, “Rockaway Beach”, “Rock’N’Roll High School” et al, and were the last band to extract a decent Phil Spector production?1980’s End Of The Century, their highest-charting LP. Fondly remembered, sadly missed.
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