Chinese Rock
Encyclopedia
"Chinese Rocks" or "Chinese Rock" is a song written in 1976 by New York City
punk legends Dee Dee Ramone
and Richard Hell
.
Openly discussing heroin addiction, "Chinese Rock" was first recorded by Hell's former band, The Heartbreakers
, and later by Dee Dee's band The Ramones.
, because he told me he was going to write a song better than Lou Reed
's "Heroin
", so I went home and wrote 'Chinese Rocks'," Dee Dee is quoted in Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. "I wrote it by myself, in Debbie Harry
's apartment on First Avenue and First Street."
According to Dee Dee, the song was "about Jerry
, of The Heartbreakers
calling me up to come over and go cop" heroin, a form of which was known in those days as Chinese Rocks. "The line 'My girlfriend's crying in the shower stall' was about Connie, and the shower was at Arturo Vega's loft," where Dee Dee, his girlfriend Connie and Joey Ramone
all lived at one point.
Dee Dee wanted to record the song with the Ramones, but bandmate Johnny Ramone
vetoed it, claiming that the song was too obviously drug-related. Dee Dee then took it to Richard Hell, also with The Heartbreakers at the time. "Dee Dee called me one day and said, 'I wrote a song that the Ramones won't do,'" Hell recalled. "He said, 'It's not finished. How about I come over and show it to you and we can finish it if you like it?'"
According to Hell, "What happened is really clear, and the songwriting credits can all be checked at BMI. The song is by me and Dee Dee, but Dee Dee did 75 percent of it. I mean, all I did was write two verses out of three. Dee Dee wrote the music, the concept was his. He's basically responsible for it. But he brought me the song; he didn't even know Johnny and Jerry, but we were friends and he thought the band was great. And when the Ramones didn't want to do the song he said, 'Look, I've written one verse of this song with the chorus and it's about heroin, how about you write the rest of it and it's yours?'" And that's what he did." Dee Dee similarly recalled, "Richard Hell put that line in, so I gave him some credit."
In either case, the song became one of the band's most popular songs. As Hell states, "After I left the Heartbreakers, they kept playing 'Chinese Rocks' and then ended up recording it" for the band's 1977 debut album, L.A.M.F.
. "And they put all of their names on it, though nothing had changed about the song--they just added their names to it. Johnny Thunders
...had nothing to do with 'Chinese Rocks' at all."
All vinyl pressings L.A.M.F.
including the 1984 L.A.M.F.
Revisted album continued to credit the song to Thunders, Heartbreakers' drummer Jerry Nolan
as well as Ramone and Hell. It was only after the deaths of Thunders and Nolan that the credit was changed. However, both the 1994 and 2002 CD reissues of L.A.M.F. now name the three Ramones as the writers Joey
, Johnny Ramone
and Dee Dee -- but not Hell.
"The credits are false," Dee Dee wrote in 1997. "Johnny Thunders ranked on me for fourteen years, trying to make out like he wrote the song. What a low-life maneuver by those guys!" The online databases for both ASCAP and BMI
, however, credit the song to just Dee Dee Ramone and Hell.
In the Heartbreakers' live performances of the song, Thunders would often change the lyrics to more explicit ones.
, the song is credited to "D.D.Ramone/R.Hell". However, it later appeared on the Ramones' CD rerelease of End of the Century credited to the Ramones as a whole, with no mention of Richard Hell.
The Ramones' version is called "Chinese Rock", with no s on the end. There is another slight lyrical difference between the versions: The Heartbreakers' lyrics begin, "Somebody calls me on the phone / They say hey hey is Dee Dee home", while the Ramones change "Dee Dee" to "Arty", an apparent reference to Arturo Vega, in whose loft the song is set. Vega was a long-time friend of the band and the designer of the Ramones' "presidential seal" logo. However, in live performances after Dee Dee left the band, Joey Ramone sometimes did sing "Dee Dee" instead of "Arty" (as on the Ramones' 1991 live CD Loco Live
).
on his album Sid Sings
, during his brief solo career after the Sex Pistols
broke up. The Insane were also another band to cover it, only in a slightly different style. The Violent Femmes also covered this. Their version was included on the 'Machine' single and features only Gordon Gano
singing and playing an electric piano. Another cover can be found on the release "Keep Laughing
" from mid-80s skate punks RKL/Rich Kids on LSD
.
The band Hanoi Rocks
' name is influenced by the song. When brainstorming band name ideas "Chinese Rocks" was one name that popped up, as the band were influenced by The Heartbreakers
and Ramones
. They decided it was too close to the song, and instead settled on the name Hanoi
Rocks.
In his song "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" from his 2004 album Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, Nick Cave
credits the song to Thunders in the line "And Johnny Thunders was only half alive when he wrote Chinese Rocks."
The Croatia
n punk
band Paraf
recorded its own version of the song on its first single (1979). The song was retitled Rijeka and featured completely new lyrics in Croatian
that had nothing to do with the drug-related topic of the original. It rather presented a young punk's view of his home town
. The song was attributed to the band leader Valter Kocijančić.
The song was covered by Jamie Pina, of Chemical People
, on his solo release "...Bad Latino." The song featured Rikk Agnew of the Adolescents on backing vocals.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
punk legends Dee Dee Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone
Dee Dee Ramone was an American songwriter and musician, best known as founding member, bassist and main songwriter of the punk rock band the Ramones....
and Richard Hell
Richard Hell
Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins...
.
Openly discussing heroin addiction, "Chinese Rock" was first recorded by Hell's former band, The Heartbreakers
The Heartbreakers
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, also known as The Heartbreakers, were an American rock & roll band formed in New York in May 1975. The band was part of the first wave of punk rock.-History:...
, and later by Dee Dee's band The Ramones.
Origin
Hell and Dee Dee were in agreement that the song was mainly written by Dee Dee. "The reason I wrote that song was out of spite for Richard HellRichard Hell
Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins...
, because he told me he was going to write a song better than Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
's "Heroin
Heroin (song)
"Heroin" is a song by The Velvet Underground, released on their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. Written by Lou Reed in 1964, the song is one of the band's most celebrated compositions, overtly depicting heroin use and abuse...
", so I went home and wrote 'Chinese Rocks'," Dee Dee is quoted in Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. "I wrote it by myself, in Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
's apartment on First Avenue and First Street."
According to Dee Dee, the song was "about Jerry
Jerry Nolan
Jerry Nolan was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with The New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.-Career:...
, of The Heartbreakers
The Heartbreakers
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, also known as The Heartbreakers, were an American rock & roll band formed in New York in May 1975. The band was part of the first wave of punk rock.-History:...
calling me up to come over and go cop" heroin, a form of which was known in those days as Chinese Rocks. "The line 'My girlfriend's crying in the shower stall' was about Connie, and the shower was at Arturo Vega's loft," where Dee Dee, his girlfriend Connie and Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
all lived at one point.
Dee Dee wanted to record the song with the Ramones, but bandmate Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone
John William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
vetoed it, claiming that the song was too obviously drug-related. Dee Dee then took it to Richard Hell, also with The Heartbreakers at the time. "Dee Dee called me one day and said, 'I wrote a song that the Ramones won't do,'" Hell recalled. "He said, 'It's not finished. How about I come over and show it to you and we can finish it if you like it?'"
According to Hell, "What happened is really clear, and the songwriting credits can all be checked at BMI. The song is by me and Dee Dee, but Dee Dee did 75 percent of it. I mean, all I did was write two verses out of three. Dee Dee wrote the music, the concept was his. He's basically responsible for it. But he brought me the song; he didn't even know Johnny and Jerry, but we were friends and he thought the band was great. And when the Ramones didn't want to do the song he said, 'Look, I've written one verse of this song with the chorus and it's about heroin, how about you write the rest of it and it's yours?'" And that's what he did." Dee Dee similarly recalled, "Richard Hell put that line in, so I gave him some credit."
The Heartbreakers
There were differing recollections about how the song became part of The Heartbreakers' repertoire. Richard Hell said, "I brought it to the next rehearsal, exactly as it was done by the Heartbreakers for all those years. I would sing it because it was a song I brought in." Dee Dee, on the other hand, wrote in his memoir, "When Jerry was over at my place one day, we did some dope and then I played him my song, and he took it with him to a Heartbreakers' rehearsal."In either case, the song became one of the band's most popular songs. As Hell states, "After I left the Heartbreakers, they kept playing 'Chinese Rocks' and then ended up recording it" for the band's 1977 debut album, L.A.M.F.
L.A.M.F.
L.A.M.F. is the only studio album by the American band, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, which included Jerry Nolan, Walter Lure and Billy Rath. The music is a mixture of punk, R&B and rock and roll. The band played a seminal role in the formation of early punk. Thunders and Nolan were...
. "And they put all of their names on it, though nothing had changed about the song--they just added their names to it. Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
...had nothing to do with 'Chinese Rocks' at all."
All vinyl pressings L.A.M.F.
L.A.M.F.
L.A.M.F. is the only studio album by the American band, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, which included Jerry Nolan, Walter Lure and Billy Rath. The music is a mixture of punk, R&B and rock and roll. The band played a seminal role in the formation of early punk. Thunders and Nolan were...
including the 1984 L.A.M.F.
L.A.M.F.
L.A.M.F. is the only studio album by the American band, Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, which included Jerry Nolan, Walter Lure and Billy Rath. The music is a mixture of punk, R&B and rock and roll. The band played a seminal role in the formation of early punk. Thunders and Nolan were...
Revisted album continued to credit the song to Thunders, Heartbreakers' drummer Jerry Nolan
Jerry Nolan
Jerry Nolan was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with The New York Dolls and Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.-Career:...
as well as Ramone and Hell. It was only after the deaths of Thunders and Nolan that the credit was changed. However, both the 1994 and 2002 CD reissues of L.A.M.F. now name the three Ramones as the writers Joey
Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone was an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist in the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.-Early life:Joey Ramone was born Jeffry Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman...
, Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone
John William Cummings , better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones. He was a founding member of the band, and remained a member throughout the band's entire career...
and Dee Dee -- but not Hell.
"The credits are false," Dee Dee wrote in 1997. "Johnny Thunders ranked on me for fourteen years, trying to make out like he wrote the song. What a low-life maneuver by those guys!" The online databases for both ASCAP and BMI
Broadcast Music Incorporated
Broadcast Music, Inc. is one of three United States performing rights organizations, along with ASCAP and SESAC. It collects license fees on behalf of songwriters, composers, and music publishers and distributes them as royalties to those members whose works have been performed...
, however, credit the song to just Dee Dee Ramone and Hell.
In the Heartbreakers' live performances of the song, Thunders would often change the lyrics to more explicit ones.
The Ramones
On the Ramones' original recording of the song on their 1980 album End of the CenturyEnd of the Century
T. Donald Guarisco of Allmusic notes that the "entire album is pretty controversial in the world of Ramones fandom".Dee Dee recalled hearing a song from the album on the radio, perhaps "I'm Affected": "I couldn't believe how awful it sounded. It was horrible. I hated "Baby, I Love You"...
, the song is credited to "D.D.Ramone/R.Hell". However, it later appeared on the Ramones' CD rerelease of End of the Century credited to the Ramones as a whole, with no mention of Richard Hell.
The Ramones' version is called "Chinese Rock", with no s on the end. There is another slight lyrical difference between the versions: The Heartbreakers' lyrics begin, "Somebody calls me on the phone / They say hey hey is Dee Dee home", while the Ramones change "Dee Dee" to "Arty", an apparent reference to Arturo Vega, in whose loft the song is set. Vega was a long-time friend of the band and the designer of the Ramones' "presidential seal" logo. However, in live performances after Dee Dee left the band, Joey Ramone sometimes did sing "Dee Dee" instead of "Arty" (as on the Ramones' 1991 live CD Loco Live
Loco Live
Loco Live is a live album by American punk band the Ramones.There are two different versions of Loco Live available. The 1991 Chrysalis version contains 33 songs, including "Too Tough to Die", "Don't Bust My Chops", "Palisades Park", and "Love Kills"...
).
Other usage
The song was covered by Sid ViciousSid Vicious
Sid Vicious was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols...
on his album Sid Sings
Sid Sings
Sid Sings is the title of punk rocker Sid Vicious's posthumous solo album. It was released on December 15, 1979 and peaked at number 30 on the British album charts.The album features the two singles, "My Way", and "Something Else"...
, during his brief solo career after the Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
broke up. The Insane were also another band to cover it, only in a slightly different style. The Violent Femmes also covered this. Their version was included on the 'Machine' single and features only Gordon Gano
Gordon Gano
Gordon James Gano is an American musician. He is best known for being the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American alternative rock band Violent Femmes.-Early life:...
singing and playing an electric piano. Another cover can be found on the release "Keep Laughing
Keep Laughing
Keep laughing is an album by hardcore punk band Rich Kids on LSD, released in 1985. It was produced and engineered by Phillip Raves at Mystic Studios in Hollywood.-Track listing:...
" from mid-80s skate punks RKL/Rich Kids on LSD
Rich Kids on LSD
Rich Kids on LSD was a Californian hardcore punk band formed in 1982 in Montecito, California, a suburb of Santa Barbara. They were associated with the "Nardcore" scene that evolved out of nearby Oxnard. Their music expanded over the years from West Coast hardcore to a mix of hardcore with rock...
.
The band Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979, whose most successful period came in the early 1980s. The band broke up in 1985 after the death of their drummer, Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley...
' name is influenced by the song. When brainstorming band name ideas "Chinese Rocks" was one name that popped up, as the band were influenced by The Heartbreakers
The Heartbreakers
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, also known as The Heartbreakers, were an American rock & roll band formed in New York in May 1975. The band was part of the first wave of punk rock.-History:...
and Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...
. They decided it was too close to the song, and instead settled on the name Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
Rocks.
In his song "There She Goes, My Beautiful World" from his 2004 album Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
credits the song to Thunders in the line "And Johnny Thunders was only half alive when he wrote Chinese Rocks."
The Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band Paraf
Paraf
Paraf is a punk rock and later post-punk band from Rijeka, Croatia, known as one of the pioneers of punk rock in the former Yugoslavia.- Punk rock years :...
recorded its own version of the song on its first single (1979). The song was retitled Rijeka and featured completely new lyrics in Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
that had nothing to do with the drug-related topic of the original. It rather presented a young punk's view of his home town
Rijeka
Rijeka is the principal seaport and the third largest city in Croatia . It is located on Kvarner Bay, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea and has a population of 128,735 inhabitants...
. The song was attributed to the band leader Valter Kocijančić.
The song was covered by Jamie Pina, of Chemical People
Chemical People
Chemical People were a punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1986. The band toured the US, Canada and Europe and broke up in 1997.-History:...
, on his solo release "...Bad Latino." The song featured Rikk Agnew of the Adolescents on backing vocals.