Rambo Rat
1990 · Shakin' Street YEAH-HUP 010 · Portsmouth, New Hampshire
- Artist
- The Queers
- Title
- Rambo Rat
- Release
- Grow Up
- Year
- 1990
- Label
- Shakin' Street # YEAH-HUP 010
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
- Genre
- Punk · Punk
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Punk Rock group formed in 1982 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA, founded by Joe King (vocals, guitar), Scott Gildersleeve (bass, drums, 1982-84), and Wimpy Rutherford (drums, vocals, 1982). The group has had a somewhat revolving line-up, aside from Joe King, the only constant member. Recorded between 1986–1988, this was their first album, having only released several EPs and singles in the early 80s. The song "Rambo Rat" (Shakin' Street Records # YEAH-HUP 10) is another track heavily influenced by Vietnam War films, like many punk post-war songs on this list, in this case, as suggested in the title, "Rambo" - a reference to First Blood (1982) and Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), films which concentrated on the US soldier as hero and the Vietnamese, Chinese, and Russians as villains. This reflected the Reagan-era nationalism and the need to overcome the Vietnam Syndrome, seeking to reshape the image and memory of the Vietnam War. Ronald Reagan spoke about this on 18 August 1980: "for too long, we have lived with the Vietnam Syndrome...We dishonor the memory of 50,000 young Americans who died...They deserve our gratitude, our respect, and our continuing concern". (2) Many war…
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
About the artist
American punk band formed 1981 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. [Source: Wikipedia]
Themes
Apocalypse Now · Drugs · Film · Gook · Guns · Heroin · Rambo · Vet · Vietnam Syndrome · Anti-Asian Racism