Rock 'n' Roll High School - 2002 Remaster

The Ramones wrote this song for the movie Rock 'N' Roll High School, which is about a student who leads a rock rebellion against the school administration. In the film, the student, Riff Randell (played by P. J. Soles), writes the song in her songwriting class (somehow this school she found so stifling offered a songwriting class and a means for her to work up a professional demo) and plays it to her classmates during gym class. Determined to get the song to her favorite band, the Ramones, she is thwarted by the principal and stages a protest in retaliation, taking over the school with her fellow students. In the final scene, she leads the students out of the school in apparent surrender, but then introduces the Ramones, who have joined them to perform the song. While they play, Riff hits the plunger and blows up the building as the horrified teachers look on. The film is campy in the tradition of Animal House, and it captured the punk attitude of rebellion with a heaping of humor. It was released independently, so it was never big at the box office, but Rock 'N' Roll High School earned an excellent review from the influential movie critics Siskel & Ebert, and quickly gained a cult following.

Rock 'N' Roll High School director Allan Arkush was a big Ramones fan, and pushed to make them the band in the movie. When he met with the band's manager, Danny Fields, Arkush pitched him the story of the band playing while the school blows up. Fields was sold.

The song is a throwback to '50s and '60s hits about goofing off with girls and cars: The "fun, fun" harmonies are very Beach Boys, and the lyrics evoke at least two early '60s tunes: "Cruisin' around in my G.T.O." - Ronny & the Daytonas sang about the Pontiac G.T.O. on their 1964 song "G.T.O." "I don't care about history" - In his 1960 song "Wonderful World," Sam Cooke's opening line is, "Don't know much about history." Much of the Ramones brand of punk rock was influenced by early rock and roll.