Rolling Stone Australia — July 2017

1977 EUROPEAN TOUR

¥THE CAREER-DEFININGtwo-year

stretch of shows that followed 1976’s

Hotel Californiasaw the Eagles be-

comeastadiumband.Yetinanera

in which rock shows were growing

bigger and more impersonal, the Ea-

gles’studioperfectionists,DonHen-

leyandGlennFrey,foundawayto

re-create the feel and detail of their

albums onstage, with every harmo-

nyandguitarlickseamlesslyinplace

decades before backing tapes and

Auto-Tunemadethatprocesseasier.

Hits like “Life in the Fast Lane” and

“TakeIttotheLimit”weregivenal-

most impossibly pristine treatment.

The tour itself was chaotic; at one

point, bassist Randy Meisner and

Frey got into a fistfight when Frey

calledMeisnera“pussy”.Butyou

wouldn’t have known it watching

theirsets.“Somecriticsaidweused

to go out onstage and loiter,” Hen-

leysaid.“Ithinkweaccomplisheda

great deal.” DAVID BROWNE

THEEAGLES

THERAMONES

¥THERAMONESARRIVEDin England with something to prove. The punk

revolution had broken out in London in 1977, with the Sex Pistols get-

tingwall-to-wallpressandcausinghavoc.Butnooneinthenascent

U.K.punkscenewasreadyfortheprecision-strikearrivaloftheRa-

mones. In his memoir, Johnny Ramone wrote that at a Pistols show

ontheirfirstnightintowninDecember’77,“JohnnyRottenasked

mewhatIthoughtofthem,andItoldhim...theystunk.”

Threedayslater,theRamonesunleashedafuriousassaultonthe

audience in Glasgow, opening with “Rockaway Beach” and not taking

abreakuntil26songslater.Playingtoapunk-crazedEnglishaudi-

encepushedtheRamonestoplaytheirmostintenseshows.Thetour

wrappedonNewYear’sEveattheRainbowTheatre,their148thshow

of the year. “Probably the best show the Ramones ever did,” said John-

ny. Amazingly, Joey had been singing through incredible pain; he’d

suffered third-degree burns on his neck when a makeshift humidifi-

er exploded on him. Said Ramones co-manager Linda Stein, “[John-

ny] came to me and said... ‘Put me in a wheelchair and get me on a

plane before I go insane.’ ” He wanted to be sedated. ANDY GREENE

1977-78 U.S.TOUR

64 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com July, 2017

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CLASSIC

LIVE

PUNK LPS

The Stooges

Metallic KO

1976

Elvis Costello

and the

Attractions

Live at the El

Mocambo

1978

Minutemen

Ballot Result

1987

Johnny

Ramone,

Liverpool,

May 1977