"Rockaway Beach" is a song by the American punk rock band the Ramones from their 1977 album Rocket to Russia. The song was written by bassist Dee Dee Ramone in the style of the Beach Boys and early surf rock bands. The song is about Rockaway Beach, Queens, where Dee Dee liked to spend time. Guitarist Johnny Ramone claimed that Dee Dee was "the only real beachgoer" in the group.[citation needed] Released in 1977, it was the Ramones' highest-charting single in their career, peaking at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. In June, 2013, the song was used in a radio ad campaign sponsored by Queens Economic Development Corporation to promote recovery from Hurricane Sandy by drawing New Yorkers back to Rockaway Beach.[1] [2][3] [4] [5] [6]
Cover versions[edit][]
"Rockaway Beach" has been covered by Swedish rock band Sahara Hotnights, American punk rock band The Queers (who covered the entire Rocket to Russia album in 1994 on Rocket to Russia), American punk rock band The Huntingtons (who covered a number of other Ramones songs on Rocket to Ramonia), Morrissey collaborator and former Polecat, Boz Boorer, Canadian rock band Deja Voodoo (also in Finnish), German punk band Die Toten Hosen on its "Alles wird vorübergehen" single, and Spanish rock band Siniestro Total (in Spanish, under the title "Rock en Samil", a popular beach near the group's hometown Vigo in Galicia).