Everything about Ramones totally explained
In 2002, the Ramones were voted the second greatest rock and roll band ever in
Spin Magazine, trailing only
The Beatles. On
March 18,
2002, they were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
History
Pre-history
The pre-history of the band is centered in and around the middle-class neighborhood of
Forest Hills in the
New York City borough of
Queens.
Most of the members had been in various bands since the late 1960s. Johnny and Tommy had both been in a high school garage band circa 1966-67 known as the Tangerine Puppets, and Joey was in the short-lived early 1970s
glam rock band Sniper. The initial version of the Ramones included
Jeffrey Hyman on drums,
John Cummings on guitar, and
Douglas Colvin on bass and lead vocals. Colvin was the first to use the name Ramone, calling himself Dee Dee Ramone. He was inspired by the fact that
Paul McCartney used the pseudonym Paul Ramon. He convinced the other members to take on the name, and came up with the idea of calling the band the Ramones. Hyman and Cummings would become Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone, respectively.
1974-1979
The band held their rehearsals at a New York City studio managed by a friend of the band,
Thomas Erdelyi, so Joey became the band's lead vocalist. (Dee Dee would continue, however, to count off each song's tempo with his signature rapid-fire shout of "1-2-3-4!".) Joey would also realize that he couldn't sing and play drums at the same time, and left the position of drummer. While auditioning new drummers, manager Thomas Erdelyi would often take to the drums and demonstrate to auditioners how to play the songs. It became apparent that he was able to play the group's songs better than anyone else, and he joined the band as drummer
Tommy Ramone.
The band played their first concert on
March 30,
1974, at Performance Studios in New York. They soon recorded their debut album,
Ramones on an extremely low budget; about $6,400. The band was plagued by hostile audience reactions outside of New York City. It wasn’t until they made a small tour of England that they began to see the fruits of their labor: a performance at The Roundhouse in
London on
July 4,
1976 (second-billed to the
Flamin' Groovies), which Linda Stein had organized, was a huge success. Their appearance galvanized the burgeoning UK punk rock scene, inspiring future punk stars, including members of
The Clash,
The Damned, and the
Sex Pistols.
The Flamin' Groovies/Ramones double-bill was successfully reprised at The Roxy in
Los Angeles the following month, which also inspired local Los Angeles musicians.
On
December 31,
1977, the Ramones recorded
It's Alive, a live concert double album, at the Rainbow Theatre, London, which was released in April 1979. The title is a reference to the 1974 horror movie of the same name. Their next two albums,
Leave Home and
Rocket to Russia were released in 1977. Dave Marsh wrote in
Rolling Stone that
Rocket to Russia was "the best American rock & roll of the year". Both records were co-produced by
Tony Bongiovi, the second cousin of
Jon Bon Jovi. Tommy, tired of touring, left the band and was replaced by Mark Bell, who became
Marky Ramone.
In 1978 the band released their fourth album, and first with Marky,
Road to Ruin. The album included some new sounds like
acoustic guitar, several ballads, and songs over three minutes, but still failed to chart highly.
1980–1989
After the band's movie debut in
Roger Corman's
Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), the legendary producer
Phil Spector became interested in the Ramones and produced their 1980 album
End of the Century. During the recording sessions, Spector pulled a gun on Dee Dee, and forced him to repeatedly play a riff. The band would later consider this one of their "not-so-great" albums, crediting tensions between the producer and the artists. Johnny recalls that he was disappointed with the outcome of
End of the Century. When asked in interviews, Johnny would indicate that he favored the band's more aggressive punk material. (He also conveyed this feeling with the title and track selection of the post-breakup collection CD that he compiled: .) In contrast,
End of the Century material such as the syrupy, string-section laden
Ronettes cover "Baby, I Love You" is entirely lacking the guitarist's trademark "buzzsaw" sound.
In 1981 the Ramones released
Pleasant Dreams, which continued the trend established by
End of The Century of diluting the rawer punk sound showcased on the band's initial four albums. Instead, slick production was again featured, this time provided by
Graham Gouldman of UK pop act
10 cc. Johnny would contend in retrospect that this direction was a record company decision and represented a continued futile attempt to get airplay on American radio.
In 1986, the Ramones were invited to record the soundtrack to the film
Sid and Nancy. During their work, some management problems developed, and the deal was cancelled. However, a handful of songs created for this movie were included in their 1986 album
Animal Boy. The album was produced by
Jean Beauvoir of the
Plasmatics, included a mix of hard and poppier punk songs.
In 1987, the band recorded their last album with Richie,
Halfway to Sanity.
Halfway to Sanity was the first collaboration with producer and former Shrapnel (another late 1970s NYC punk band) guitarist
Daniel Rey. Richie left in August 1987, upset that after being in the band for five years, the other members would still not give him a share of the money they made selling t-shirts.
Richie was replaced by
Clem Burke (
Elvis Ramone) from
Blondie. According to Johnny, the shows with Burke were a disaster. He was fired after two shows because his drumming couldn't keep up with the rest of the band.
1990–1996
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. Mondo Bizarro was followed the next year with
Acid Eaters, an album made entirely of cover songs.
In 1993 the Ramones appeared on an episode of
The Simpsons ("
Rosebud"). They were booked to sing "
Happy Birthday" at
Mr. Burns's birthday party, where they showed their distaste for the gig, shouting, "I'd just like to say this gig sucks!" (Joey), "Hey, up yours, Springfield!" (Johnny), and "Go to Hell, you old bastard!" (C.J.); though Marky quipped, "Hey, I think they liked us!" Afterwards, Mr. Burns mistakenly ordered
Smithers to "have
The Rolling Stones killed."
In 1995 they released what would be their last studio album,
¡Adios Amigos!. After a spot in the 1996
Lollapalooza festival, the Ramones went on a short club tour and then disbanded, reportedly due to ongoing personality clashes and frustration at not achieving commercial success commensurate with their influence.
Their final show was on
August 6,
1996, at the Palace in Hollywood. The show was recorded, and later released on video and CD as
We're Outta Here!. The show featured several special guests such as
Lemmy from
Motörhead,
Eddie Vedder from
Pearl Jam,
Tim Armstrong and
Lars Frederiksen of
Rancid, and
Chris Cornell (then in
Soundgarden).
Breakup and deaths
Joey was diagnosed with
lymphoma in 1995. In his later years he became an avid follower of
yoga and health food. During the late 1990s, he started day trading NYSE stocks. Joey actually wrote a song about
CNBC financial news reporter
Maria "Money Honey" Bartiromo, entitled "Maria Bartiromo", which is included on his 2002 solo album
Don't Worry About Me.
On
July 20,
1999, Dee Dee, Johnny, Joey, Marky, and Tommy appeared together at the
Virgin Megastore in New York City for an autograph signing. This was the last occasion on which the ex-members of the group appeared together before Joey's death. Joey Ramone died of
lymphoma on
April 15,
2001, in
New York. Joey's last partially finished works were compiled as a posthumous solo album,
Don't Worry About Me.
In 2002, Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy, and Marky Ramone were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, the surviving inductees spoke on behalf of the band. Tommy spoke first, saying how honored the band felt, but how much it would have meant for Joey. Johnny thanked the band's fans and blessed
George W. Bush and his presidency, Dee Dee congratulated and thanked himself, while Marky thanked Tommy for influencing his drumstyle. This was one of Dee Dee's last public appearances; two months later he was found dead at his
Hollywood home on
June 5,
2002, following a heroin overdose. Also at the ceremony,
Green Day played "Teenage Lobotomy" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" as a tribute to the Ramones, showing the influence that the Ramones had on later post punk rock bands.
In the summer of 2004, the Ramones documentary was released in theaters. Johnny Ramone, who had been privately battling prostate cancer, died on
September 15,
2004, in
Los Angeles, California, almost exactly as the film was released.
On the same day as Johnny's death, the world's first and only Ramones Museum opened its doors for the public. Located in Berlin, Germany, the Ramones Museum Berlin features more than 300 original memorabilia items from the Ramones, including a pair of stage-worn jeans from Johnny Ramone, a stage-worn glove from Joey Ramone, Marky Ramone's sneakers and CJ Ramone's stage-worn bass strap. The Ramones were inducted into the
Long Island Music Hall of Fame in 2007.
In October 2007, a DVD was released containing live footage.
It's Alive 1974-1996 includes 118 songs from 33 performances over the span of the group's career.
Conflicts between members
The Ramones always had a certain amount of tension, mainly between Joey and Johnny. The pair were highly politically antagonistic, Joey being a
liberal and Johnny a
conservative. There was also tension caused by their very different personalities; Johnny was a military brat who lived by a code of self-discipline, while Joey struggled with
obsessive-compulsive disorder. It was Johnny who "stole" Joey's girlfriend Linda, whom he later married. Despite still playing in the same band, Joey and Johnny stopped talking to each other because of this. It is believed the song "
The KKK Took My Baby Away", written by Joey, alludes to this enmity. Johnny didn't call Joey before his death in 2001, but said in the documentary
End of the Century that he was depressed for "the whole week" after the singer's death. Aside from Joey and Johnny's animosities, Dee Dee's constant addictions, relapses, and bipolar disorder had put significant strain on the band's interactions. Furthermore, the methods of payment and exact positions in overall band image for later members were also matters of dispute.
Style
Musical style
The Ramones' musical style was influenced by
pop music that the band members grew up listening to in the 1950s and 1960s, such as
The Beach Boys,
The Beatles,
The Kinks,
The Ronettes,
The Rolling Stones as well as what are now known as
proto-punk bands like
The Stooges and the
New York Dolls. They were considered leaders in the
punk rock scene, or
pop punk.
On stage, the band adopted a focused approach directly intended to increase the audience's concert experience. Johnny's instructions to C.J. when preparing for his first live performances with the group were to play facing the audience, to stand with the bass slung low between spread legs, and to walk forward to the front of stage at the same time as he did. Johnny Ramone wasn't a fan of guitarists who performed facing their drummer, amplifier or other band members.
Due to a similar musical style, many bands were claimed to be "an answer to the Ramones" by critics in the late 1970s. There were the "English answer" (
The Lurkers), the "Irish answer" (
The Undertones), the "Canadian answer" (
Teenage Head), and the "Mexican answer" (
The Zeros).
Visual imagery
The Ramones' art and visual imagery complemented the themes of their music and performance. The band members adopted a uniform look of long hair, leather jackets, t-shirts, torn jeans, and sneakers. This fashion emphasized minimalism, which was a powerful influence on the New York punk scene of the 1970s and reflected the band's short, simple songs. Tommy Ramone recalled that, both musically and visually, "we were influenced by
comic books,
movies, the
Andy Warhol scene, and
avant-garde films. I was a big
Mad Magazine fan myself." Vega produced the band's
t-shirts, their main source of income, basing most of the images on a black-and-white self-portrait photograph he'd taken of his American
bald eagle belt buckle which had appeared on the back sleeve of the Ramones' first album.
Influence
The Ramones' first British concert was held on
July 4, 1976. Prior to the performance, the band hung out with fans who turned out to be members of the
Sex Pistols and
The Clash. During the meeting
Paul Simonon claimed The Clash hadn't played a show yet because they felt they were not good enough, to which Johnny Ramone responded, "We stink. You don't have to be good, just get out there and play". Likewise another band who met with the Ramones that day,
The Damned, played their first show two days later. Similarly, early Ramones concerts in
California inspired early
California punk groups like
Black Flag, the
Dead Kennedys,
Bad Religion, and
Social Distortion.
Bands such as
Screeching Weasel,
The Vindictives,
The Queers,
The Huntingtons,
The Mr. T Experience and the
Beatnik Termites have all recorded covers of entire Ramones albums; including
Ramones,
Leave Home,
Rocket to Russia,
File Under Ramones,
Road to Ruin, and
Pleasant Dreams, respectively.
The first Ramones tribute album by multiple bands was released in 1991 under the title, featuring tracks recorded by such notable bands as
L7,
Mojo Nixon, and
Bad Religion. Many more tribute albums followed,
We're a Happy Family being the most well-known, with artists such as
Green Day,
Kiss,
Metallica,
The Offspring,
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
U2, and
Rob Zombie (who also did the album cover artwork).
Metal musician
Lemmy first met the Ramones in 1976. His band
Motörhead composed and performed the song "R.A.M.O.N.E.S" as a tribute, and Lemmy would perform at the final Ramones concert in 1996. The band
Bad Brains took its name from a Ramones song. Green Day members have gone as far as naming their children in honor of the band.
Billie Joe Armstrong named his son Joey as tribute to Joey Ramone, and
Tré Cool named his daughter Ramona for similar reasons.
Members
The following is a complete chronology of the various line-ups of the Ramones, from the group's inception in 1974 until their break-up in 1996.
Ramones line-ups>
| (1974) | |
| (1974) | Joey Ramone - drums, lead vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
Dee Dee Ramone - bass
|
| (1974-1978) | Joey Ramone - lead vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
Dee Dee Ramone - bass, backing vocals
Tommy Ramone (Tamás Erdélyi) - drums
|
| (1978-1983) | Joey Ramone - lead vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
Dee Dee Ramone - bass, vocals
Marky Ramone (Marc Bell) - drums
|
| (1983-1987) | Joey Ramone - lead vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
Dee Dee Ramone - bass, vocals
Richie Ramone (Richard Reinhardt) - drums, vocals
|
| (1987) | Joey Ramone - lead vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
Dee Dee Ramone - bass, backing vocals
Elvis Ramone (Clement Bozewski) - drums
|
| (1987-1989) | Joey Ramone - lead vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
Dee Dee Ramone - bass, vocals
Marky Ramone - drums
|
| (1989-1996) | Joey Ramone - lead vocals
Johnny Ramone - guitar
C. J. Ramone (Christopher Joseph Ward) - bass, vocals
Marky Ramone - drums
|
Discography
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ramones'.
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