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Ramones

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File:Ramones album cover.jpg
The Ramones (L-R, Johnny, Tommy, Joey, Dee Dee) on the cover of their debut self-titled album (1976), cementing their place at the dawn of the punk movement.

The Ramones are widely considered to be the first punk rock band; formed in Forest Hills, Queens, New York in January 1974, they recorded 14 studio albums and toured intensively before they split up in 1996. They led the New York punk movement and are often credited with forming the musical foundation of punk. The original band members all adopted Ramone as a surname; although they were not actually brothers, later band members also adopted the name. They got the name from Paul McCartney, who, in the Beatles' early days, called himself "Paul Ramon."

Members

The original band members were:

Later band members:

An earlier member, Ritchie, left the band before the first recording (not related to the Richie Ramone, above). "Here lies Ritchie Ramone" can be seen on a cartoon drawing of a gravestone on the innersleeve of the 'Rocket to Russia' album.

Phil Ramone the producer was never a member. His surname is a coincidence. Alleged by his family to be the primary drummer for The Ramones, Steve Brickman in fact, never played with the band.

Musical Style and Influence

The Ramones pioneered a straightforward, stripped-down sound that was a far cry from the virtuosic musicianship and complex instrumentation that 1970s rock music had become known for. Joey Ramone has stated the Ramones were rather taken with the Bay City Rollers' hit song "Saturday Night," and set out to imitate its catchy, sing-a-long quality. Johnny disliked guitar solos, and played only a handful of them in his more than two decades with the group; his simple, direct riffing set the standard for many subsequent punk guitarists.

There were strong influences from the rock and pop music of the 1950s and 1960s: the Ramones recorded cover songs of such classics as "Surfin' Bird" and "California Sun." Some of their original material (such as "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" or "Swallow My Pride") deals with romance in a manner not far removed from bubblegum pop (Joey Ramone named himself after bubblegum kingpin Joey Levine) or even the girl group pioneered by Phil Spector (Joey often cited Ronnie Spector as one of his favorite singers). This type of material alternated, of course, with more troubling songs, such as "53rd and 3rd" (about male prostitution) and "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue".

The Ramones have proven hugely influential on later musicians. While the origins of punk rock are the subject of debate, The Ramones are widely credited with popularizing the form. Many have stated that, when they first heard the Ramones, they felt that they could do the same, deciding to play instruments and form their own groups. The Ramones' first British concerts on July 4 and 5, 1976, are widely credited with inspiring the first wave of English punk groups: The Buzzcocks (first concert July 20, 1976), The Damned (first concert July 6, 1976), The Clash (first concert July 10, 1976) and others. (Coincidentally, all these shows were supporting the Sex Pistols.)

Some bands are so taken by The Ramones as a whole that a subgenre dubbed "Ramones-punk" has appeared. These bands often dress up like the Ramones, and play instruments like theirs. The music is generally a little faster and heavier on the guitars with (often) tongue in cheek lyrics about girls and similar fare. Notable bands include Screeching Weasel and The Queers, both of whom recorded entire Ramones cover albums.

The Ramones Thirtieth Anniversary Tribute concert occured on September 12, 2004. The event was at Los Angeles' Avalon and hosted by Rob Zombie. The performers demonstrate the breadth of the Ramones' influence: The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Dickies and X played sets and then CJ Ramone, Marky Ramone and long time producer Daniel Rey took the stage and played while different guitar and vocal teams (including longtime Ramones fan Henry Rollins) came out and did Ramones songs.

The Ramones never achieved much commercial success in the United States during the time they were touring, but they were extremely popular in Europe and especially South America, where their records often topped the charts. Their only album to reach certified Gold status in the U.S. was the 1988 best-of album, RamonesMania. (1992's Mondo Bizarro went gold in Brazil.) Ironically, the band has seen somewhat of a renaissance during the early and mid-2000's, with their songs being used in soft drink, athletic wear and cellular phone commercials.

Intra-band Tension

The Ramones always had a certain amount of tension, mainly between Joey and Johnny. Johnny never thought Joey was a good singer, and resented the decision to let him take over lead vocals from Dee Dee. The relationship between the two got considerably worse when Johnny "stole" Joey's girlfriend Linda (whom he later married); they didn't speak to each other for years afterwards. The pair also did not see eye to eye politically, Joey being a left-wing liberal and Johnny a Nixon, Reagan, and Bush-voting conservative. Johnny fought with Dee Dee and Joey over the name of the anti-Reagan track "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" and the name was changed to 'My Brain is Hanging Upside Down' on the album. The lyrics to "The KKK Took My Baby Away", also written by Joey, are believed to be an attack on Johnny as both love rival and political foe. The pair never made up, and took their rivalry to the grave.

Joey's obsessive compulsive disorder was another source of friction, particularly on tour, as Joey often had difficulty doing even the most simple things.

Dee Dee wanted the band to play and record "Chinese Rocks" which he wrote with a little help from Richard Hell who was playing with the Heartbreakers at the time. The other Ramones especially Johnny resisted because they felt a song about hard drugs didn't fit with their image. The Heartbreakers were all junkies and quickly added the song to their set list. Even today most people think the song was written by Johnny Thunders who adopted it as his theme song. The Ramones only recorded and started playing the song live in 1980.

Image

The band had a very distinctive image, wearing leather jackets, ripped jeans and all sporting long dark hair. Johnny was particularly keen on the band preserving this distinct marketable image. Ramones fans often try to look like their idols, in the 'uniform' of a Perfecto leather jacket, ripped jeans, and Converse sneakers.

Band history

1974-1975 Early Days

The initial version of the band included Jeffrey Hyman on drums, John Cummings on guitar, and Douglas Colvin on bass and vocals. Colvin was the first to use the stage name Ramone, calling himself Dee Dee Ramone. He was inspired by the fact that Paul McCartney used the pseudonym Paul Ramone (although some accounts say Paul Ramon) when he checked into hotels. The other members followed suit and adopted new stage names; Hyman became Joey Ramone, Cummings became Johnny Ramone, and the group itself became known as The Ramones.

Soon after the band was formed, Dee Dee realized that he couldn't sing and play bass at the same time (he would continue, however, to count off each song's tempo with his trademark rapid-fire shout of "OneTwoThreeFour!"). Joey became the lead vocalist, which left the drummer position vacant. The band auditioned new drummers at Performance Studio, where they rehearsed. Tom Erdelyi, an employee of the studio and long time acquaintance of the other members, would often take the drummer seat in order to demonstrate to the auditioners how to play the songs. It became apparent that he was more able to play the group's songs than anyone else, and he joined the band as drummer Tommy Ramone.

They played their first concert at the Performance Studio in New York on March 30, 1974. Their early songs were very fast and very short; most clocked in at about two minutes. In the early '70s, many New York bands started to play in clubs in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, such as Max's Kansas City and CBGB (which stands for "country, bluegrass and blues"). Other bands from this period of New york's "underground" music scene include the New York Dolls, Television, Blondie, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, The Patti Smith Group, Suicide, and the Talking Heads. Ramones concerts at CBGB's became legendary, due in part to their brevity: most concerts were twenty to thirty minutes long, much shorter than their contemporaries', and are often described by their witnesses as extremely fast, crude, energetic and desperate. A few super-8 movies of these shows have survived, and are present in a couple of the band's later videos.

According to a bio by Australian Musicologist/Guru Glenn A. Baker, they did play longer shows by simply playing their entire set and then repeating it. Apparently they used to be booed off stage when they played outside New York City. One reviewer (unknown) described them as taking "three chord rock back to its one and a half chord basics".

1975-1979 First albums

After garnering considerable attention for their performances at CBGB, the group was signed to a recording contract by Seymour Stein of Sire Records in autumn 1975. They soon recorded their debut album Ramones on an extremely low budget: about $6,000.

They appeared at The Roundhouse in London, England, on July 4, 1976, second billed to the Beatlesque Flamin' Groovies. Their appearance galvanized the UK punk rock scene, inspiring future punk stars including members of The Clash and The Damned. According to Joe Strummer, he and Johnny Rotten along with other members of The Clash and the Sex Pistols attended the gig and went to a backstage window in order to get in and meet the Ramones.

Another Ramones gig in England became their first live album, It's Alive, considered by most critics one of the best live albums ever.

After two years on the road and the Top 50 hit album Rocket to Russia, an exhausted Tommy Ramone was replaced on drums by Marc Bell, who became Marky Ramone. Tommy left the band to go back to his studio work, which he preferred to the hard life of touring. In an interview from "End Of The Century", a documentary on The Ramones, Tommy said that he felt like the band wasn't accepting him as a friend. In the same movie, other band members who were interviewed said that they were surprised, or dumbfounded in Dee Dee's case, by Tommy being so mature and well-adjusted. Dee-dee recites how (paraphrased) "Tommy would buy some hamburger and potatoes and... cook dinner. While we'd sit around, eat some dope and potato chips".

Tommy worked with Marky to ensure that his drumming was appropriate for the Ramones style; he also produced the Ramones fourth studio album, Road to Ruin, and their eighth Too Tough To Die. It was the lineup with Marky which played a central role in the 1979 film Rock 'n' Roll High School, a film that Roger Corman originally called Disco High until writer/director Allan Arkush heard the Ramones.

1980s and 1990s

File:End of the Century.jpg
The Ramones on the cover of their 1980 album, End of the Century

After Rock 'n' Roll High School, legendary producer Phil Spector became interested in the band and produced End of the Century. During the recording sessions for End of the Century, Spector reportedly pulled a gun on Dee Dee Ramone. The band would later consider this one of the 'not-so-great' albums they had distributed, crediting tensions between the producer and the artists. Johnny recalls that he was disappointed with the outcome of End of the Century.

Marky Ramone was fired because of his alcoholism and eventually replaced by Richard Beau (under the name Richie Ramone). They recorded several albums with Richie Ramone, who left in 1987. He was then replaced by Clem Burke (a.k.a. Elvis Ramone) from Blondie. Burke lasted two concerts in the band before Marky came back.

Dee Dee Ramone left after 1989's Brain Drain, and was replaced by Christopher John Ward (C.J. Ramone), a Ramones fan that gave a younger rock feeling to the Ramones' work. However, Dee Dee did continue contributing to the music of The Ramones by lending his lyrics for use in later songs. Dee Dee left to pursue a solo career as a rapper, adopting the name Dee Dee King.

After 16 years at Sire records, the band moved to new label Radioactive Records with their 1992 album Mondo Bizarro, which also reunited them with producer Ed Stasium.

Ramones Break Up

After a spot in the 1996 Lollapalooza festival, The Ramones disbanded, reportedly due to ongoing personality clashes and frustration at not achieving success commensurate with their influence. Joey was also reported to have drug problems, and later admitted drinking heavily for much of the '80s. Joey achieved sobriety in 1990, but was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1995. In his later years he became an avid follower of yoga and health food, and a savvy Wall Street day-trader.

Their last show was recorded, and later released on video and CD as We're Outta Here. The show featured several special guests such as Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead, Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen of Rancid, and Chris Cornell (then in Soundgarden).

In 2002, the band was introduced to the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, Johnny, Tommy, Marky and Dee Dee spoke on behalf of the band. Johnny blessed George Bush and his presidency. Dee Dee congratulated and thanked himself. He died two months later of a heroin overdose. In the summer of 2004, the Ramones documentary End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones was released in theaters. Its release was treated as an event by Ramones fans and former members, and it received rave reviews. Coincidentally, however, Johnny Ramone--who had been privately battling prostate cancer--died almost exactly as the film was released, on September 15, 2004.

Deaths

References and Tributes

Songs with Ramones references

  • Lemmy Kilmister, from the band Motörhead wrote the tribute song R.A.M.O.N.E.S. which appeared on their album 1916. The Ramones later took to playing the song live, and recorded their own version of it.
  • The Human League song Things That Dreams are Made Of (from their platinum-selling 1981 album Dare) namechecks "Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee" in the lyrics.
  • At the beginning of the Clash's cover of "Police and Thieves," (originally performed by Junior Murvin) singer Joe Strummer ad-libs "They're going through a tight wind" which is a line from "Blitzkrieg Bop."
  • From 1999-2002, twenty-eight punk rock bands re-recorded the entire "RAMONESMANIA" album. Released on CD in 2002 as "Ramones Maniacs" on trend is dead! records. Features bands like Frantics, Bracket, Furious George, Blanks 77, Youth Gone Mad, Loose Change, Yogurt and even a guest appearance by Dee Dee Ramone himself.
  • Frank Black from The Pixies has a song on his first solo album called I Heard Ramona Sing that is a Ramones tribute song.
  • Australian band Mach Pelican are one of the most blatant examples of the Ramones' influence: three Japanese teenagers sent to Perth, Australia to study English, decide to team up and make a Ramones-esque band despite speaking very little English. They've been playing gigs around Australia for at least 5 years.
  • American Child, a song by The Stone Coyotes contains the line "give us Jerry Lee Lewis/ Give us Joey Ramone"
  • The Dutch group Heideroosjes wrote a song called "Ode to the Ramones," a song that starts with a "1-2-3-4" and is full of Ramones lyrics, such as "The KKK took my baby away," "Sheena is a punk rocker," and "Rockaway Beach." In 2004 and 2005, they toured through Belgium and Holland as the cover band "the ramroosjes"(www.ramroosjes.tk).
  • New York hardcore band, The Casualties, wrote a song called Made in NYC, in which they make several references to Ramones songs.
  • Corin Tucker, lead singer and guitarist of Portland, Oregon-based rock band Sleater-Kinney, wrote a song titled 'I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone' (in reference to the Ramones song 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend') for their sophomore record, Call The Doctor. The song also appears in the soundtrack for the film All Over Me.
  • The Wildhearts' song 29 x The Pain, a tribute to songwriter Ginger's influences, includes the line "The Beatles and The Stones get to hang out with Ramones".
  • D.E.A.D.R.A.M.O.N.E.S. by Modern Life Is War.
  • Punk band The Huntingtons recorded a song-for-song cover of the entire End of the Century LP.
  • Australian all-female band The Spazzys releases a song called "I Wanna Cut My Hair Just Like Marky Ramone"
  • The song "The Art Of Losing" by American Hi-Fi contains the line "Hey ho/ Let's go!", from the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop".
  • [Guitar Wolf] dress in "Ramones drag" and have a song named "Kung Fu Ramone".

References in Television and Film

  • The character Dwayne on the show Home Movies' hair and voice are based on Joey Ramones'.
  • On an episode of CatDog, there is a reference where Dog plays with diamonds, and tucks them in saying, "Goodnight Joey, goodnight Johnny, goodnight Dee Dee!"
  • Animation TV show Oggy and the Cockroaches featured a trio of cockroaches called "Joey", "Marky" and "Dee Dee".
  • On an Episode of Dexter’s Laboratory in which Dexter goes to college, there is a group of 2 musicians playing in a bathroom one of which resembles Joey Ramone (his only line in the episode is "1,2,3,4!")
  • The Ramones once made a guest appearance on The Simpsons, episode "Rosebud" during which they performed Happy Birthday for Montgomery Burns, who mistook them for The Rolling Stones.
  • The Ramones made a guest appearance on Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, wherein Space Ghost dismisses them as "punks".
  • Homestar Runner features one of the characters, Marzipan, dressed up Joey Ramone in the cartoon The House That Gave Sucky Treats.
  • In an episode of Gilmore Girls when Rory and Lorelai are filling out aplications for college, Lane is writing a want ad for the newspaper and is frustrated so she turns up "I wanna be sedated" in the background.
  • The song I Wanna be Sedated is also played on the movie Daddy Day Care
  • In the movie National Lampoons Vacation, Blitzkreig Bop is played while the family is traveling on the interstate.
  • I Wanna be Sedated was played in an episode of the TV show Northern Exposure.

Famous Fans

  • Slash from Guns N' Roses has stated that he learned to play guitar by listening to Road to Ruin.
  • Notorious American radio personality Howard Stern was an avid Ramones fan, having them on both his radio and TV shows numerous times. He also named their song "Pet Sematary" the best song of 1989.
  • Horror novelist Stephen King was also a fan of the band, mentioning them in his books Danse Macabre (1979) and Pet Sematary (1983), also writing the introduction in the jacket to the tribute album "We're A happy Family.
  • Pearl Jam's seventh album "Riot Act" was dedicated to Dee Dee Ramone, John Entwistle and Ray Brown.
  • In 2002, when the Ramones were being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the band was no longer together, Green Day performed "Teenage Lobotomy" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" in place of the Ramones.
  • On their hugely successful album American Idiot, Green Day makes a tribute to The Ramones's legendary counting of "1-2-3-4" before each song on their track St-Jimmy. Lead signer Billie Joe Armstrong sings "Light of a silhouette, He's insubordinate, Coming at you on the count of 1,2.." And in the background someone yells "1,2,3,4!"
  • Tre Cool (The drummer from Green Day) is quoted as saying "The world is a better place because of Joey Ramone" and named his daughter Ramona after the Ramones.
  • When Joey died, The Misfits removed their own content from their website and replaced it with a picture of Joey. Social Distortion did likewise, displaying a photograph of Mike Ness and Joey Ramone as tribute.
  • On the following day, Bono from U2 made a speech about Joey and the Ramones. The band, which was on tour at the time, dedicated the song "In A Little While" to Joey Ramone for the rest of the tour, after learning that it was the last song he had listened to on his deathbed.
  • Jello Biafra pays tribute to the Ramones on his spoken word album Machine Gun in the Clown's Hands. Biafra cites how the Ramones personally influenced him by being less high falutin and actually talking to their fans after shows. Also by their relentless touring of small town, middle America, including Biafra's home town Boulder, Colorado.
  • Bruce Springsteen was a fan of the band, and wrote the song Hungry Heart for them in 1979, but his manager persuaded him to keep the song for himself (it appeared on The River, and was a hit single).
  • Attaque 77, one the most important Argentine punk bands said that they started the band to play Ramones songs.
  • The members of Hanson (band) have also made clear their fondness for the Ramones.

Other references, influence or tributes

  • The street behind CBGB was named Joey Ramone Place after his death.
  • In September 2005, the first Ramonesmuseum was opened in Berlin-Kreuzberg
  • In 1997 four species of trilobites were named after members of the band: Mackenziurus johnnyi, Mackenziurus joeyi, Mackenziurus deedeei, and Mackenziurus ceejayi.
  • Swedish band Roxette included a tall thin puppet with long black hair, Perfecto leather jacket and red sunglasses in one of their video clips. The end of the video reveals the puppet name’s is "Joey".
  • Nueva Vision is the official Ramones Fan Club of Spain, and also a popular bar in Malasaña in Madrid.
  • Ramones concerts usually included a pinhead that held up a sign that read, "Gabba Gabba Hey" when they would play the song Pinhead. The pinhead was named Gabby Hey. This name was given to him by either Uncle Floyd or a member of the Uncle Floyd Show cast (The Ramones appeared on the Uncle Floyd Show on at least 15 occasions).
  • The members of the band The Donnas all adopt the first name Donna, as a tribute to The Ramones.
  • Australian all-female punk act, The Spazzys shamelessly (but lovingly) rip off The Ramones. So much so that Johnny Ramone allegedly starred in one of the groups videos.
  • On Jump, Little Children's 1998 release "Magazine", Dee Dee Ramone does his trademark count-off at the beginning of the title track.
  • Countless bands dress and play like the Ramones in their own Ramones tribute bands, including: The Cretins, Rockit To Russia, The Rydells, The Gabba Gabba Heys, The Ramoones, and the Hanson Brothers.
  • Alt-rock band Ween named their band as a tribute to the Ramones, adopting the aliases Dean and Gene Ween.
  • German Tanz-Metall band Rammstein released a live cover of "Pet Sematary."

Discography

Studio Albums

  1. Ramones − April 1976
  2. Leave Home − January 1977
  3. Rocket to Russia − November 1977
  4. Road to Ruin − September 1978
  5. End of the Century − February 1980
  6. Pleasant Dreams − July 1981
  7. Subterranean Jungle − February 1983
  8. Too Tough to Die − October 1984
  9. Animal Boy − May 1986
  10. Halfway to Sanity − September 1987
  11. Brain Drain − May 1989
  12. Mondo Bizarro − September 1992
  13. Acid Eaters − December 1993
  14. Adios Amigos − June 1995

Singles

    • Blitzkrieg Bop − November 1975
    • 53rd & 3rd − February 1976
    • Judy Is A Punk − July 1976
    • Beat On The Brat − October 1976
    • Swallow My Pride − February 1977
    • Sheena is a Punk Rocker − September 1977
    • Rockaway Beach − December 1977
    • I Wanna Be Sedated − June 1978
    • I'm Against It − November 1978
    • Don't Come Close − February 1979
    • Needles And Pins − May 1979
    • Rock 'n' Roll High School − August 1979
    • Baby, I Love You − January 1980
    • I'm Affected − April 1980
    • Danny Says − July 1980
    • Chinese Rock − November 1980
    • We Want The Airwaves − March 1981
    • The KKK Took My Baby Away − July 1981
    • She's A Sensation − October 1981
    • It's Not My Place (In The 9 To 5 World) − February 1982
    • Time Has Come Today − February 1983
    • Psycho Therapy − August 1983
    • Howling At The Moon − June 1984
    • My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes To Bitburg) − April 1986
    • Something To Believe In − September 1986
    • Bop 'Til You Drop − May 1987
    • I Wanna Live − April 1988
    • I Believe In Miracles − May 1989
    • Pet Sematary − July 1989
    • Can't Get You (Outta My Mind) − October 1989
    • Merry Christmas (I Don't Want To Fight Tonight) − March 1990
    • Poison Heart − June 1992
    • Strength To Endure − October 1992
    • Substitute − May 1994
    • I Don't Want To Grow Up − June 1995
    • Spider-Man − April 1996

Compilations

Live Albums

Tribute Albums

Other

  • "We Want The Airwaves", Airheads Soundtrack 1994
  • "Spiderman", Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits!, 1995
  • "Touring", Hard-Core Logo Soundtrack, 1998

Singles

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US Modern Rock US Mainstream Rock UK
1989 "Pet Sematary" - #4 - - Brain Drain

Samples

Sources

  • David Fricke, Untitled 1999 essay included in The Ramones Anthology
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