THE BARGAIN BUY: The Ramones; Anthology (Warners)

This is easy: any album which makes it into the Essential Elsewhere list is obviously recommended (for one reason or another, the list is absurdly diverse).

But this one gets through on sheer firepower and pop value alone.

Smarter than they looked and smarter than they sounded, the Ramones were the Bay City Rollers/Monkees of bratty NYC punk and they kept it simple, straight-ahead and glue sniffin' fun.

They created irresistable pop with dark subtexts and they didn't much around. In and out in about two minutes.

This 58 song double disc with excellent liner notes has been around for years but if for some reason it isn't in your collection then that is an oversight to be rectified immediately.

Have a look here to find out why.

Oh, and another reason why.

It is because at JB Hi-Fi stores (here) for only $19.

And that is a short, sharp, shock and awe(some) blast of a Bargain Buy. 

There is an interview with Dee Dee Ramone at Elsewhere here.