Watch Dave Grohl salute the Ramones with raucous Blitzkrieg Bop cover

(Image credit: Foo Fighters YouTube)

Season two of Dave Grohl’s Hanukkah Sessions are underway, and having launched the 2021 series with a black metal-inspired mauling of Lisa Loeb’s Stay (I Missed You), the Foo Fighters’ leader and his trusted sideman, super-producer Greg Kurstin, have turned their loving gaze to New York’s punk rock godfathers the Ramones, and delivered a tasty version of the evergreen Blitzkrieg Bop.

The Grohl-penned text accompanying the clip on YouTube reads: “Once upon a time, two nice Jewish boys from Queens named Jeffery Hyman and Thomas Erdelyi changed the world forever with their music….. as Joey and Tommy Ramone! GABBAI GABBAI HEY! Ladies and gentlemen….It’s the Ramones!”

For those unfamiliar with the back story here, in 2020 Grohl chose to celebrate Hanukkah with the release of cover versions of eight songs by Jewish artists, one for each day of the holiday season, in collaboration with Kurstin.

“With all the mishegas of 2020, Greg Kurstin & I were kibbitzing about how we could make Hanukkah extra-special this year,” he explained as the 2020 series launched. “Festival of Lights?! How about a festival of tasty LICKS! So hold on to your tuchuses… we’ve got something special coming for your shayna punims.”

The 2020 Hanukkah Sessions series saw the pair release memorable covers of songs by the Beastie Boys, Drake, Peaches, Mountain and more.

Artists

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.