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Q: I was just re-watching the old movie "Rock 'n' Roll High School," which I love, and I started wondering how it came about. Was it just a big promotional tool for The Ramones? Why else would they be in the movie?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

The minute they start talking, it becomes clear that classic first-wave punk band The Ramones did not appear in the 1979 comedy "Rock 'n' Roll High School" to transition into acting. But promoting them wasn't the reason the film was made. In fact, they weren't even the first choice.

"Rock 'n' Roll High School" started with an idea by director and writer Allan Arkush ("Hollywood Boulevard," 1976) to do a movie about high school kids who are obsessed with rock 'n' roll (hence the film's on-the-nose title). He wrote that idea up with help from fellow writer Joe Dante (who would go on to make the 1984 classic "Gremlins"), and then got to work on the details.

The script, heavily reworked by rookie screenwriter Joseph McBride ("This Is Orson Welles," 2015), called for participation by a real-life musical act but didn't specify which.

In an interview with music magazine Consequence of Sound, Arkush said he originally wanted prog-rock pioneer Todd Rundgren, or else the more broadly appealing rock band Cheap Trick. While he was personally a fan of The Ramones, Arkush said he only turned to them third.

Far from being keen to promote themselves, the band was apparently hesitant to participate at first. Marky Ramone, one of the band's founding members, wrote in his autobiography that they were a little annoyed at being dropped into someone else's movie.

He said they weren't convinced until the director told them [spoiler alert] the school gets blown up at the end.

 

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