Song · The Ramones
“Teenage Lobotomy” by The Ramones
From the album Rocket to Russia (1977)
“Teenage Lobotomy” by The Ramones appears on 12 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1989 and 2022. It was first released in 1977 on the album Rocket to Russia. Its best result is #206 on The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #3,177 alternative song of all time.
Watch
Video from YouTube (Ramones - Topic). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Teenage Lobotomy" is Rocket to Russia's cartoon horror show, the Ramones' 1977 album at its most gleefully demented. The song follows a teenager who ends up lobotomized after too much DDT has left brain damage behind, and it tallies up the consequences with a straight face and a snotty sneer. Joey Ramone sings it over Johnny Ramone's buzzsaw guitar, Dee Dee Ramone's bass and Tommy Ramone's drums.
For all the dumb-on-purpose subject matter, it's one of the band's more ambitious pieces, with melodies that twist further than anything else on the record; engineer Ed Stasium called it a "mini-Ramones Symphony". Tony Bongiovi and Tommy Ramone produced it, and it became one of the band's best-loved songs, later turning up as downloadable content for Rock Band.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 363 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) | 500 |
| 1991 | 385 | WOXY 97X | WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) | 500 |
| 1999 | 1015 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 2002 | 1941 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1030 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 206 | 107.7 The End | The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) | 500 |
| 2005 | 887 | 99X | 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) | 1000 |
| 2007 | 1929 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) | 2008 |
| 2008 | 1902 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) | 2009 |
| 2009 | 1932 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) | 2010 |
| 2010 | 1982 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) | 2011 |
| 2022 | 393 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Teenage Lobotomy" by The Ramones.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.