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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'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.
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.
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.
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
"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
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
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!
alle radici del protopunk americano,,,,,,,,,,,,, !!!!! larry martin factory,, stranglers ramones,, television,, patti smith ,, ecc ecc colonne portanti di questa onda musicale negli anni 75 ,,80 85 ,,,,,,,,, anni ruggenti eanni dove tutto era Sex ,drugs , rock,,roll !!!! la regola era quella di poter sopravivere agli eccessi ,,,, !!!! na se kalà re Johnny opou k na se magka
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 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 CZcams'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.
Absolutely incredible
Moo
Absolutely the best version of this song
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.
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.
@@robertherlihy5355 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.
@@robertherlihy5355 what’s his brothers name?
Happy 61st BDay Johnny. I know you're still rockin up there.
Johnny thunders looks so cool in this
RIP Johnny Thunders! A true legend.
Brilliant. So lucky to have seen you live in the 80's. You rocked. This tune included xxx
Now that is some friggin' kick ass R&R!!!
Thunders really rocks.
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 Walter Lure. The last of the great Heartbreakers.
"..,A'hm livin on Chinese Rock, Everything is in the pawn shop!!,..",...How very, very true, but more Afghan Rock in my area man!
July15-birth of a legend...Johnny Thunders
Hearing this again takes me back to a very low time for me, when it was released.
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?
Chinese Rocks is the greatest song ever written
One of the best classic rock songs about drugs
The Greatest fucking punk rock anthem ever!!!!!!!!
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.
Just bow down 2 the man.
This is like looking at an entirely different planet now
The Heartbreakers version is easily the best. The Ramones even thought so.
Long live JOHNNY THUNDERS...
RIP Johnny thunders you legend!
is that johnny tripping at 2:32?? LOL!!! Perfect!!
Happens to the best of us, ha ha ha!
t
Adoro Johnny Thunders.
There She Goes, My Beautiful World by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds brought me here
Johnnyyyyy
R.I.P JOHNNY THUNDERS.
Great song!!
RIP Dee dee ramone and RIP Johnny thunders 2 legends
yeah, we're still playing you down here, johnny.
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.
Mr. Johnny Thunders.
really excellent track !! lots of raw energy happening !!!!
punk rock is the best
Love this! Legends
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...
No one live on chinese rocks for a long time....but it's a trip...
- Dee Dee Ramone wrote Chinese Rocks. Heartbreakers were first to record it.
The best who ever did it. So fucking cool
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.
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.
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.
Class
Johnny was offed by some creeps. Atleast
that's what I believe.
Remember these clips from the doc about the tour...what a tour....while it lasted lol
classic thanks man
haha. thank you for voicing the words in my head.
I feel you. I know a lot of cool stuff about the old days too.
The greatest song ever written about heroin!
deedee ramone wrote it, the heartbreakers are the original recording
pure coolness
ruthless
Loved them all ..so very sad..only David & Sylvain left...
dude..you are wealth of information,"thanks".
Gang war is one of Legend
Man this is good is Dee Dee home?
I'm living on a Chinese rock!!!
Johnny Thunders wsa a fucking god
I met them all many times ..they hung out at the same club as me...the famous speakeasy club.
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
Ain't nobody living on chinese rock. list goes on every day.
Walter’s brother Richie was playing bass with iconic NYC band Sea Monster . Sadly, he too was done in by the Chinese rock😢
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
"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
Yes it did!!....my partner Daniel Secunda co produced it & the album LAMF....
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.
shame he's no longer around, he owes me lots of money. Fuck it it's still great stuff.
This upload is almost as old as CZcams... wow
This upload is a few months older than me lmao
Dee Dee wrote the entire song except the one verse "But, i'm just digging a chinese ditch". That was all that Hell contributed.
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.
rockn roll nena!!!
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"
Artie... meaning Arturo Vega
No ramones sat ots conie for conie grip R.I.P.
johnny thunders is god
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.
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.
good song
RIP Walter Lure
Correct.
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
That's right. The Ramones did not want to sing about heroin use. Love Dee Dee.
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♪
That is fucking awesome!!!
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!
@DressSmartLookHard - The Original Is Johnny Thunders version.They mention Dee Dee in the song.
im livin on a Chinese Rock im fkn bummin
serious effort went in to this video
All about the Thunders/Lure dual.
the replacements song,"johnnys gonna die" is a tribute to johnny thunders,MAY THE SPIRIT IN GENERAL NEVER DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
alle radici del protopunk americano,,,,,,,,,,,,, !!!!! larry martin factory,, stranglers ramones,, television,, patti smith ,, ecc ecc colonne portanti di questa onda musicale negli anni 75 ,,80 85 ,,,,,,,,, anni ruggenti eanni dove tutto era Sex ,drugs , rock,,roll !!!! la regola era quella di poter sopravivere agli eccessi ,,,, !!!! na se kalà re Johnny opou k na se magka
Ugh, now I'm craving Chinese Rocks. If anyone needs me I'll be selling my refrigerator to my local pawnshop.
Andy mc coy wanted the band to be called Chinese Rocks, but Michael Monroe said Hanoi Rocks.
Back when CZcams was punk
this is the original version even though dee dee wrote it. the ramones recorded it later.
Junked up Johnny!
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...