Between 1993 and 2000, a series of Ramones covers albums were released by Selfless Records (later Clearview Records), an independent record label based in Garland, Texas specializing in punk rock, on which bands influenced by seminal punk group the Ramones performed cover versions of entire Ramones albums. Under the Selfless label, Screeching Weasel, the Queers, and the Vindictives respectively covered the first three Ramones albums: Ramones (1976), Rocket to Russia (1977), and Leave Home (1977). Selfless then became Clearview Records and continued the series, with Boris the Sprinkler, the Parasites, the Mr. T Experience, the Beatnik Termites, and the McRackins respectively covering End of the Century (1980), It's Alive (1979), Road to Ruin (1978), Pleasant Dreams (1981), and Too Tough to Die (1984).
Each entry in the series was issued as a limited edition LP record, with 1,400 copies pressed in the standard black, 300 on colored discs, and an additional 300 with an alternate screen printed cover intended for the band to sell on tour. Some of the albums were later re-released on compact disc by Clearview or other labels.
Albums
Screeching Weasel – Ramones
The series began when Selfless Records head Todd Greene contacted Chicago-based band Screeching Weasel while they were celebrating the completion of recording sessions for their album Wiggle, asking if they would record their favorite Ramones album for his label. "It was a completely stupid idea," wrote singer Ben Weasel several years later, "so of course we did it. My favorite Ramones album is actually Leave Home, but we all agreed we could do a halfway decent job with their first album." They recorded the album with recording engineer Mass Giorgini at his Sonic Iguana Studios in Lafayette, Indiana, working from midnight on October 17, 1992 until 2:00 AM the following day, with the band members acting as record producers. "We recorded it at Sonic Iguana in something silly like fifteen hours", wrote Weasel, "and mixed it to sound like the first Ramones album (bass outta one speaker, guitar outta the other). It was stupid, but a lot of fun and it marks the only Screeching Weasel album on which [Dan] Vapid sang lead on a song ('Let's Dance')." The cover photograph mimics the Ramones cover, with the band members (guitarist John Jughead Pierson, drummer Dan Panic, Weasel, and bassist Vapid) pictured in black and white against a brick wall, wearing torn blue jeans, black leather jackets, and Ramones T-shirts.
Screeching Weasel later included four tracks from the album—"Judy Is a Punk", "Chain Saw", "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", and "Havana Affair"—on their 1995 compilation album Kill the Musicians. In 1998 they paired the entire album with their 1996 EP Formula 27 as the compilation Beat Is on the Brat.
The Queers – Rocket to Russia
North Hampton, New Hampshire-based band the Queers were the next to record an album in the series, covering 1977's Rocket to Russia. Their version was recorded at Flat Iron Studios in Chicago in 1994 with Ben Weasel as producer. According to singer and guitarist "Joe Queer" King and bassist Chris "B-Face" Barnard, it was recorded in a single day with no rehearsals. They later criticized other bands who spent more time rehearsing and recording their entries in the series, saying "You can't improve on the Ramones, they were the greatest punk rock band the world will ever know." The Queers' usual drummer, Hugh O'Neill, was on a forced leave of absence from the band; earlier that year, they had staged an intervention in order to convince him to stop using heroin. This accounted for his absence from Rocket to Russia and their following album, 1994's Beat Off. For Rocket to Russia they were joined by drummer Jay Adelberg. By April of that year Screeching Weasel drummer Dan Panic and bassist Dan Vapid had joined the Queers, and the band played as openers for the Ramones at a show in Hampton Beach, which Vapid later called the most pivotal moment of his time with the Queers.