Rock 'N' Roll High School (Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

This soundtrack from one of the best and most underrated rock ’n’ roll movies of all time reflects, with unbridled joy, a time when rock could still drive parents and teachers mad. Of course lots of great Ramones songs are here (including a live medley recorded at The Roxy in L.A.), since the band starred in the 1979 movie. This soundtrack also features killer cuts from Eddie & The Hot Rods (the pub-rock rave-up “Teenage Depression”), Alice Cooper (“School’s Out,” natch!), Brownsville Station (the original “Smokin’ in the Boys Room”), Devo (the spazz classic “Come Back Jonee”), Nick Lowe (the great “So It Goes”), and The Paley Brothers backed by The Ramones (Richie Valens’ “C’mon Let’s Go”). The Ed Stasium–produced version of “Rock ’n’ Roll High School” here features a Phil Spector remix (as opposed to the rerecorded version on The Ramones’ End of the Century album). You also get ’70s pinup actress P.J. Soles (Stripes, Halloween) fronting The Ramones on yet another version of “Rock ’N’ Roll High School,” while Brian Eno’s ambient treatise “Energy Fools the Magician” is the requisite soundtrack curveball.