Dee Dee wrote every element of this song except the line "But I'm Just Digging A Chinese Ditch"........Richard Hell contributed that one line.............. Long Live Dee Dee Ramone!
@@VFella Bc It's reference to Arturo Vega..His loft was on 2nd ave and it's infamous place in punk rock history. Lots well-known musicians and artists slept partied, or played house parties there...Example, Ramones, Blonde, Dolls, Talking Heads, Dead Boys, Andy Warhol, etc
I was clueless that it was about doing smack, I thought it was about fucking a Chinese chick, you learn a lot reading the comments. Maybe TMI now because I liked the version about fucking a Chinese chick better. LOL. BTW Wikipedia page says it was co written by Dee Dee Ramone and Hell and mostly by Dee Dee. I saw the Ramones in an outdoor concert in Central Park NYC around 1980 and man where they wasted.
Walter died? Fuck. Worked with him and his brother 1985-87 ish. He got a royalty check for like 3 bucks from Australia or something, he thought it was funny as hell.
The song was written by Richard Hell and Dee dee ramone, Although Johnny thunders sings it,dee gave the song to the heartbreakers because The rest of the ramones didn't want to sing about drugs, But the ramones actually started to like the song so covered it on the end of the century album.
For 22 years I thought I had imagined Johnny. Here he is, not quite as great as he was when I was 18, but real none the less. Chinese Rock, changed my life almost as much as 'Stranger in a strange land'.!
I went "Dancin' With Mr.D" for nine freaking glorious years on the lower east side and got out alive. And my soul is all the better because of it. And you know what? I wouldn't change a thing. The highs were way high, and the lows were beyond words. You know what I call that? LIVING, that's what. The relationships, friendships, and bonding I took from the social scene down there was freaking incredible. Didn't kill me, babe. I'm all the better because of it. I'm a soulFUL. Knowledge=Power. NYC.
@REDLADY 1982 Interesting thought. But it seems doubtful. After all, these are not people who lived in secluded places. They lived largely in New York City, and how would they get exposed to something that did not affect the literally millions of others in their vicinity? They ate food other New Yorkers ate, smoked cigs other New Yorkers smoked, even used drugs other New Yorkers used....and I have never heard of a Lukemia outbreak localized in NYC.
good video comp! Johnny had the gold... but he also drew a lot of leeches trying to get something out of him... got to see him and meet him in 85 or 86... glad I did. His solo acoustic album is worth seeking out...
I think you're kind of right about that, Kikyo, I read some passage about them in "England's dreaming" also, I, too, had this video the punk rock movie purchased it in 1994 at Tower Records. Stupidly, I lent it to someone and never saw it back again.
Alan Lloyd you do know that this isn't the ramones?? This is the Johnny thunders version, Dee dee ramone and Richard hell wrote Chinese rocks, But Johnny didn't want the ramones to record it as it was about drugs, So dee dee gave it To Johnny thunders and the heartbreakers, It was the heartbreakers that first recorded and released the song in 1977 but the ramones actually started to Really like Chinese rocks So covered it on the end of the century album.
See, but that's where I disagree. Yes, 75 was the explosion, and at 76 it was a trend everyone wanted to copy. But before this, NY Dolls, Richard Hell, Patti Smith, The Stooges and other were belting their stuff from 73-75 ( Richard Hell was already wearing safety pins & the like). At lower levels, Punk was a huge bunch of garage bands not recording anything. You can still argue from 75-77 that there were authentic bands but past 77, I would agree most were poseurs following the fashion.
it was tommy ramone who said that chinese rocks was NOT a ramones song and refused to do it because he said the ramones were NOT about drugs, but then of course i guess dee dee must have felt like thunders stole chinese rocks. nevertheless whose song it was, it was and is a fucking great song. and to the guy below who thinks this isn't good music, seriously, if you don't get it, you don't get it, don't knock it til you've tried it.
"ditto" i have seen them twice myself,with bob in the early eighties and without bob later on,bob was true to form.{rip}.may the legion of the MATS. live on
Don't wanna boist anybody's bubble the song was written by Richard Hell, Dee Dee Ramone. As for Deborah Harry's apt., that's a new one on me and I've been around for a fuckin' while. There are legends in early punk, post-punk that make Greek mythology seem like todays noise, I mean news. First performed CBGB's by Richard Hell (bass), J. Thunders ("lead" guitar), Walter Lure (guitar), and Jerry Nolan (drums). Each group credits it to themselves with the exception of Hell who doesn't give a shit, though it is properly credited to Hell/Ramone. there is a fairly good performance by the Heartbreakers in early '75 with Richard Hell on vox/bass. It's somewhere on this youtube thing. That's what I already knows... 40 fuckin' years ago. Fuck time flew by and you know fuckin' what? Chinese rocks is the reason why
Simon Tarka " I wrote that song to spite Richard Hell, because I said that I would write a better "Heroin" by Lou Reed song. I went home and wrote "Chinese Rocks". I did it myself, in Debbie Harry's apartment between First Avenue and First Street. Always wrote my songs repeating the verses and choruses, as in "53rd & 3rd". Always the same and so simply to repeat "My girlfriend's crying in the shower stall". I went and showed it to Richard Hell, and he said something, put that line that says, "It's hot as a bitch, I Shoulda Been rich, I Shoulda Been digging a Chinese ditch", so I gave him some credit. The people are like that; there was this competition between us, you know He put me in that position loves to discuss I do not say than done, but always had to be the coolest and actually never was, you know..? of all those who have touched my song-from Lee Childers Johnny Thunders and Richard Hellman none never respected me a lot as a composer. you know? " Dee Dee Ramone - Portrait of a Punk. By Dee Dee as told to Legs McNeil.
+Yorch Ramone David Johansen said that the guitar riff to Chinese Rocks was one that Johnny Thunders came up with when working on their second album, but it never got developed because they went with Chatterbox instead!, So it's only the lyrics that were written by Dee Dee, or Hell or both of them, as the music had been written a couple of years earlier.
+Dave Rave It's confirmed in Please Kill Me that Dee Dee wrote the song and took it to Joey, but Joey rejected it 'cause The Ramones didn't sing about heroin. He took it to Thunders second, and Thunders loved it.
Tema compuesto por el gran Dee Dee Ramone,tambien incluido en el album End Of The Century,pero yo me quedo con esta version de los Heartbreakers,en mi modesta opinion insuperable
I've got this from the horse's mouth: The Heartbreakers tried to STEAL this song from Thje Ramones, they tried to call it their own. So The Ramones decided to record it on End Of The Century, partly because of this, partly because the kids asked for the song.
Stefan Åhbeck , no. Dee dee was friends with the Heartbreakers. Namely Richard Hell. They bonded over a mutual love of dope. Dee Dee and Hell collaborated on the song and he presented it to Johnny. Johnny was not a fan of the drug reference presented or dope in general. So dee dee took it to Hell and gave it to him and the heartbreakers. When hell left, they recorded it and attempted to make it theirs. Eventually the Ramones recorded it. Leading to the cluster fuck of song credits listed.
There's a Hell-era Heartbreakers version of the song (see Hell's "Time" compilation), with Hell singing, which includes this black humour added verse!... "When they checked me in at dawn I heard they thought my pulse was gone I found that I was happy to die And Chinese Rocks is the reason why." If only those R&R junkies had switched to poppy (opium) tea for ye olde junk effect, they'd all still be here, happier and richer, with fewer regrets!
@Jeff Baker he is referring to a professional skateboarder who had used this song in one of his videos. The company that released the video is called Baker
Yeah Johnny & Joey didn't like songs about drugs...finally did it on End of the Century But Dee Dee said they never really had the right "feel" for the song...
dee dee and richard hell wrote it, but the heartbreakers recorded it first because johnny ramone did not like the idea of doing a heroin song. personally i dig the imagery of my girlfriend crying in the shower stall and the plaster falling off the walls. such decadence!
I think what you saying about punk becoming a fashion is true past '75 but from 73-75 (period of Dolls, Stooges and beginnings of Ramones) punk was no trend - it was largely underground.
Dee Dee wrote every element of this song except the line "But I'm Just Digging A Chinese Ditch"........Richard Hell contributed that one line.............. Long Live Dee Dee Ramone!
Dee Dee wrote it. That's why they sing, "Hey is Dee Dee home?" Dee Dee was a very prolific songwriter and the coolest Ramone.
The version by the Ramones said "Hey, heym is Arty home". No idea who Arty is, though.
Artie was their dealer. Mine too
@@VFella I think it's Arturo Vega...
@@RICHSMIX maybe but I think they are talking about Arturo Vega
@@VFella Bc It's reference to Arturo Vega..His loft was on 2nd ave and it's infamous place in punk rock history. Lots well-known musicians and artists slept partied, or played house parties there...Example, Ramones, Blonde, Dolls, Talking Heads, Dead Boys, Andy Warhol, etc
Wow posted in the first year of UA-cam's existence, thats impressive.
I was clueless that it was about doing smack, I thought it was about fucking a Chinese chick, you learn a lot reading the comments. Maybe TMI now because I liked the version about fucking a Chinese chick better. LOL. BTW Wikipedia page says it was co written by Dee Dee Ramone and Hell and mostly by Dee Dee. I saw the Ramones in an outdoor concert in Central Park NYC around 1980 and man where they wasted.
Brilliant. So lucky to have seen you live in the 80's. You rocked. This tune included xxx
RIP WALDO, Walter Lure ..Gone today but never will be forgotten !!!
Walter died? Fuck. Worked with him and his brother 1985-87 ish. He got a royalty check for like 3 bucks from Australia or something, he thought it was funny as hell.
@@Galaxy7-556 yeah yeah never met him but there's 50 min. Interview with him he was a great coil funny lad another big loss
Rest in Powder
☠️💣☠️
Seriously? ? Wow. I thought missing Johnny was bad.
@@Galaxy7-556 what’s his brothers name?
Happy 61st BDay Johnny. I know you're still rockin up there.
The song was written by Richard Hell and Dee dee ramone, Although Johnny thunders sings it,dee gave the song to the heartbreakers because The rest of the ramones didn't want to sing about drugs, But the ramones actually started to like the song so covered it on the end of the century album.
Absolutely the best version of this song
For 22 years I thought I had imagined Johnny. Here he is, not quite as great as he was when I was 18, but real none the less. Chinese Rock, changed my life almost as much as 'Stranger in a strange land'.!
RIP Johnny Thunders! A true legend.
July15-birth of a legend...Johnny Thunders
Now that is some friggin' kick ass R&R!!!
Johnny thunders looks so cool in this
RIP Walter Lure. The last of the great Heartbreakers.
Thunders really rocks.
I went "Dancin' With Mr.D" for nine freaking glorious years on the lower east side and got out alive. And my soul is all the better because of it. And you know what? I wouldn't change a thing. The highs were way high, and the lows were beyond words. You know what I call that? LIVING, that's what. The relationships, friendships, and bonding I took from the social scene down there was freaking incredible. Didn't kill me, babe. I'm all the better because of it. I'm a soulFUL. Knowledge=Power. NYC.
So, what's new?
Hearing this again takes me back to a very low time for me, when it was released.
RIP Dee Dee, Chinese Rock finally has him :(
He had advanced lukemia. He chose Heroin as being kinder then chemo therapy. I think he was right.
@@mariasmith2198 he was a great guy great to talk to
Unlike Johnny Thunders
@@muskratskull I believe it.
@REDLADY 1982 Interesting thought. But it seems doubtful. After all, these are not people who lived in secluded places. They lived largely in New York City, and how would they get exposed to something that did not affect the literally millions of others in their vicinity? They ate food other New Yorkers ate, smoked cigs other New Yorkers smoked, even used drugs other New Yorkers used....and I have never heard of a Lukemia outbreak localized in NYC.
"..,A'hm livin on Chinese Rock, Everything is in the pawn shop!!,..",...How very, very true, but more Afghan Rock in my area man!
is that johnny tripping at 2:32?? LOL!!! Perfect!!
Happens to the best of us, ha ha ha!
t
Chinese Rocks is the greatest song ever written
Great song!!
This upload is almost as old as UA-cam... wow
This upload is a few months older than me lmao
One of the best classic rock songs about drugs
good video comp! Johnny had the gold... but he also drew a lot of leeches trying to get something out of him... got to see him and meet him in 85 or 86... glad I did. His solo acoustic album is worth seeking out...
Johnnyyyyy
Long live JOHNNY THUNDERS...
The Greatest fucking punk rock anthem ever!!!!!!!!
Just bow down 2 the man.
Adoro Johnny Thunders.
really excellent track !! lots of raw energy happening !!!!
RIP Johnny thunders you legend!
I think you're kind of right about that, Kikyo, I read some passage about them in "England's dreaming" also, I, too, had this video the punk rock movie purchased it in 1994 at Tower Records. Stupidly, I lent it to someone and never saw it back again.
yeah, we're still playing you down here, johnny.
The Heartbreakers version is easily the best. The Ramones even thought so.
Love this! Legends
Remember these clips from the doc about the tour...what a tour....while it lasted lol
Class
R.I.P JOHNNY THUNDERS.
There She Goes, My Beautiful World by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds brought me here
The best who ever did it. So fucking cool
- Dee Dee Ramone wrote Chinese Rocks. Heartbreakers were first to record it.
No one live on chinese rocks for a long time....but it's a trip...
ruthless
dude..you are wealth of information,"thanks".
pure coolness
Mr. Johnny Thunders.
Loved them all ..so very sad..only David & Sylvain left...
This is like looking at an entirely different planet now
RIP Dee dee ramone and RIP Johnny thunders 2 legends
I uised to hang out at the speakeasy club ion london and these guys practicly lived there.. we had some mad times with them jamming.
haha. thank you for voicing the words in my head.
rockn roll nena!!!
punk rock is the best
Yes it did!!....my partner Daniel Secunda co produced it & the album LAMF....
I'm living on a Chinese rock!!!
I met them all many times ..they hung out at the same club as me...the famous speakeasy club.
For me, this is a stand out song in the ramones catalogue. While I like almost all their songs, this one is somehow a bit more catchy and cool
Alan Lloyd you do know that this isn't the ramones?? This is the Johnny thunders version, Dee dee ramone and Richard hell wrote Chinese rocks, But Johnny didn't want the ramones to record it as it was about drugs, So dee dee gave it To Johnny thunders and the heartbreakers, It was the heartbreakers that first recorded and released the song in 1977 but the ramones actually started to Really like Chinese rocks So covered it on the end of the century album.
See, but that's where I disagree. Yes, 75 was the explosion, and at 76 it was a trend everyone wanted to copy. But before this, NY Dolls, Richard Hell, Patti Smith, The Stooges and other were belting their stuff from 73-75 ( Richard Hell was already wearing safety pins & the like). At lower levels, Punk was a huge bunch of garage bands not recording anything. You can still argue from 75-77 that there were authentic bands but past 77, I would agree most were poseurs following the fashion.
I feel you. I know a lot of cool stuff about the old days too.
it was tommy ramone who said that chinese rocks was NOT a ramones song and refused to do it because he said the ramones were NOT about drugs, but then of course i guess dee dee must have felt like thunders stole chinese rocks.
nevertheless whose song it was, it was and is a fucking great song. and to the guy below who thinks this isn't good music, seriously, if you don't get it, you don't get it, don't knock it til you've tried it.
ジョニーサンダースのラリッてんだかやる気ないんだか、何かよく分からないところが大好きです！この曲凄い好きなんだけど、元々はD.Dラモーンの曲だったような・・・。日本人だったらマンウィズアミッション辺りがカバーしてくれないかな♪
"ditto" i have seen them twice myself,with bob in the early eighties and without bob later on,bob was true to form.{rip}.may the legion of the MATS. live on
This song was written by Dee Dee in Debbie Harrry's appartment, but you already knows..
Don't wanna boist anybody's bubble the song was written by Richard Hell, Dee Dee Ramone. As for Deborah Harry's apt., that's a new one on me and I've been around for a fuckin' while. There are legends in early punk, post-punk that make Greek mythology seem like todays noise, I mean news. First performed CBGB's by Richard Hell (bass), J. Thunders ("lead" guitar), Walter Lure (guitar), and Jerry Nolan (drums). Each group credits it to themselves with the exception of Hell who doesn't give a shit, though it is properly credited to Hell/Ramone. there is a fairly good performance by the Heartbreakers in early '75 with Richard Hell on vox/bass. It's somewhere on this youtube thing. That's what I already knows... 40 fuckin' years ago. Fuck time flew by and you know fuckin' what? Chinese rocks is the reason why
Simon Tarka " I wrote that song to spite Richard Hell, because I said that I would write a better "Heroin" by Lou Reed song. I went home and wrote "Chinese Rocks". I did it myself, in Debbie Harry's apartment between First Avenue and First Street. Always wrote my songs repeating the verses and choruses, as in "53rd & 3rd". Always the same and so simply to repeat "My girlfriend's crying in the shower stall".
I went and showed it to Richard Hell, and he said something, put that line that says, "It's hot as a bitch, I Shoulda Been rich, I Shoulda Been digging a Chinese ditch", so I gave him some credit. The people are like that; there was this competition between us, you know He put me in that position loves to discuss I do not say than done, but always had to be the coolest and actually never was, you know..? of all those who have touched my song-from Lee Childers Johnny Thunders and Richard Hellman none never respected me a lot as a composer. you know? "
Dee Dee Ramone - Portrait of a Punk. By Dee Dee as told to Legs McNeil.
+Yorch Ramone David Johansen said that the guitar riff to Chinese Rocks was one that Johnny Thunders came up with when working on their second album, but it never got developed because they went with Chatterbox instead!, So it's only the lyrics that were written by Dee Dee, or Hell or both of them, as the music had been written a couple of years earlier.
+Dave Rave It's confirmed in Please Kill Me that Dee Dee wrote the song and took it to Joey, but Joey rejected it 'cause The Ramones didn't sing about heroin. He took it to Thunders second, and Thunders loved it.
Noneayer Business Dee Dee took it to Johnny not Joey. Johnny doesn't like songs about drugs
The greatest song ever written about heroin!
deedee ramone wrote it, the heartbreakers are the original recording
Tema compuesto por el gran Dee Dee Ramone,tambien incluido en el album End Of The Century,pero yo me quedo con esta version de los Heartbreakers,en mi modesta opinion insuperable
Richard Hell contribuyó en un par de líneas
I've got this from the horse's mouth: The Heartbreakers tried to STEAL this song from Thje Ramones, they tried to call it their own. So The Ramones decided to record it on End Of The Century, partly because of this, partly because the kids asked for the song.
Stefan Åhbeck , no. Dee dee was friends with the Heartbreakers. Namely Richard Hell. They bonded over a mutual love of dope. Dee Dee and Hell collaborated on the song and he presented it to Johnny. Johnny was not a fan of the drug reference presented or dope in general. So dee dee took it to Hell and gave it to him and the heartbreakers. When hell left, they recorded it and attempted to make it theirs. Eventually the Ramones recorded it. Leading to the cluster fuck of song credits listed.
There's a Hell-era Heartbreakers version of the song (see Hell's "Time" compilation), with Hell singing, which includes this black humour added verse!...
"When they checked me in at dawn
I heard they thought my pulse was gone
I found that I was happy to die
And Chinese Rocks is the reason why."
If only those R&R junkies had switched to poppy (opium) tea for ye olde junk effect, they'd all still be here, happier and richer, with fewer regrets!
Weird take.
Jim Greco.....
R Project baker
@Jeff Baker he is referring to a professional skateboarder who had used this song in one of his videos. The company that released the video is called Baker
classic thanks man
Johnny was offed by some creeps. Atleast
that's what I believe.
Ain't nobody living on chinese rock. list goes on every day.
shame he's no longer around, he owes me lots of money. Fuck it it's still great stuff.
Man this is good is Dee Dee home?
Jonny ...
Baby im born to lose, you said.Thats all.
R.i.P Jonny Thunder.
Sorry original was "Born too loose" (playing with words). Ask Henri Paul Tortosa, he played with JT for years.
Dee Dee wrote the entire song except the one verse "But, i'm just digging a chinese ditch". That was all that Hell contributed.
serious effort went in to this video
Walter’s brother Richie was playing bass with iconic NYC band Sea Monster . Sadly, he too was done in by the Chinese rock😢
Gang war is one of Legend
I like how his version goes "Hey is Dee Dee home" and the Ramones goes "Is johnny home"
on End of the Century, I think the Ramones sing "is Arnie home"
No ramones sat ots conie for conie grip R.I.P.
@DressSmartLookHard - The Original Is Johnny Thunders version.They mention Dee Dee in the song.
good song
Johnny Thunders wsa a fucking god
That's right. The Ramones did not want to sing about heroin use. Love Dee Dee.
the replacements song,"johnnys gonna die" is a tribute to johnny thunders,MAY THE SPIRIT IN GENERAL NEVER DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is fucking awesome!!!
Yeah Johnny & Joey didn't like songs about drugs...finally did it on End of the Century
But Dee Dee said they never really had the right "feel" for the song...
Correct.
dee dee and richard hell wrote it, but the heartbreakers recorded it first because johnny ramone did not like the idea of doing a heroin song. personally i dig the imagery of my girlfriend crying in the shower stall and the plaster falling off the walls. such decadence!
Sad really what happened to Johnny Thunders, He was so talented but that's what you get for living on A Chinese rock.
He had lukemia. It was that or chemo therapy.
Maria Smith Johnny Thunders Died Of Drugs! Not Cancer! Johnny died of drugs.
this is the original version even though dee dee wrote it. the ramones recorded it later.
Andy mc coy wanted the band to be called Chinese Rocks, but Michael Monroe said Hanoi Rocks.
Nope...wrong Dee Dee said they could do it...not record it & change the lyrics... :)
johnny thunders is god
All about the Thunders/Lure dual.
I think what you saying about punk becoming a fashion is true past '75 but from 73-75 (period of Dolls, Stooges and beginnings of Ramones) punk was no trend - it was largely underground.
RIP Walter Lure
im livin on a Chinese Rock im fkn bummin
written by dee dee (and Hell both of NYdolls fame) and first played by Thunders.