In 1977 you had disco nearing it’s peak and slick pop going on everywhere…and you also had the Ramones. They bucked the trend of radio at the time. When they were recording the album they first heard the Sex Pistols album.
Rocket to Russia was the album this song was on. They had a bigger budget on this album. Johnny Ramone had just heard the Sex Pistols album and wasn’t happy. He said: “These guys ripped us off and I want to sound better than this.” They recorded most of the album in one take so the rest of the money went toward production.
The album peaked at #49 in the Billboard 100, #36 in Canada, and #60 in the UK in 1977.
Joey Ramone: “‘Cretin Hop’ came from when we were in St. Paul, Minnesota. We went some place to eat and there were just all these cretins all over the place. And there was a Cretin Avenue, where we drove into the city.”
From Songfacts
The Ramones bucked the trends of the ’70s with simplistic rock songs, often about freaks and deviants. It didn’t make them rich, but it appealed to core group of fans that fell in with this culture. This being the disco era, songs like “Cretin Hop” were completely at odds with what was getting airplay. The Ramones were later rewarded for their skewed view and stewardship of their genre when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
Cretin Hop
There’s no stoppin’ the cretins from hoppin’
You gotta keep it beatin’ for all the hoppin’ cretins
Cretin, cretin
I’m gonna go for a whirl with my cretin girl
My feet won’t stop doin’ the Cretin Hop
Cretin, cretin
One-two-three-four, cretins want to hop some more
Four-five-six-seven, all good cretins go to heaven
There’s no stoppin’ the cretins from hoppin’
You gotta keep it beatin’ for all the hoppin’ cretins
Cretin, cretin
I’m gonna go for a whirl with my cretin girl
My feet won’t stop doin’ the Cretin Hop
Cretin, cretin
One-two-three-four, cretins want to hop some more
Four-five-six-seven, all good cretins go to heaven
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