The Ramones | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Generally regarded as the forefathers of the punk rock movement, the Ramones—Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny, and Tommy—formed in Forest Hills, New York, in 1974. Their influence was felt overseas after several future members of Britain's leading punk acts witnessed the Ramones' 1976 tour of England. Many Americans, though, weren't sure whether the band was a joke or not. Their identical attire of ripped denim and biker jackets, and the use of the same surname ("Ramone" was a pseudonym used by Paul McCartney when he was with the Beatles), poked fun at the pomposity that infected rock during the 1970s. Joey Ramone recalled to Matt Diehl in Rolling Stone that "1976 was the height of disco and corporate rock, and we were like nobody else." When other groups were recording songs that lasted the length of an LP's entire side, the Ramones' first album clocked in at 30 minutes, with many songs lasting a mere two minutes. The songs' short length was part of the same minimalist, no-frills technique that characterized the band's career-long discipline and consistency. A Ramones show in 1997 was pretty much the same show as one in 1977, and it was this consistency that helped the band outlast most of its punk peers.

The Ramones were signed in 1975 by Sire Records, an independent American label that had a heavy roster of punk and new wave acts, including the Replacements and the Talking Heads. Their first release in 1976, Ramones, contained short, energetic songs that used three chords and shunned existing rock conventions like guitar solos. The combination of surf music and fast rhythm guitar was initially abrasive, something the band undoubtedly knew and capitalized on by recording an actual chain saw to introduce "Chain Saw." Songs like "Beat on the Brat" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" contained elements of aggression and conquest, but this fueled a campaign to overtake the music industry, not one that advocated street violence.

By the time Rocket to Russia was released in 1977, the group's cartoonish persona was established; the "joke" band that people thought would fall into obscurity didn't. As many of rock's superstars clung to a leftover 1960s mysticism, the Ramones' records featured cretins, pinheads, lobotomies, and shock treatment. On a more serious level, these elements of fun served to repudiate 1960s hippie culture. The Ramones recaptured the short and simple aesthetic that rock music had abandoned and revived the generation gap, all in the same stroke.

Road to Ruin was released in 1978 and introduced the group's first lineup change. Tommy, the group's drummer and co-producer, gave up performing to produce records; he was replaced by Marky Ramone. Road to Ruin included a cover from the British Invasion period and—surprise—a ballad called "Questioningly." The group then starred in the 1979 movie, Rock 'n' Roll High School, which fairly represented the group's just-dumb-fun ethos.

The Ramones' last recording was 1995's Adios Amigos. They left fans with 11 original recordings and a number of live recordings and retrospectives. Throughout their career the band's style remained largely intact, with the occasional incorporation of metal and psyche-delia. Lyrically, the band expanded into topical subjects, like 1986's "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," a reference to Ronald Reagan's ill-advised trip to a German war cemetery. The song was subsequently retitled "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down" for its release on Animal Boy.

The Ramones characterized the complex nature of punk while exposing the contradictions within rock 'n' roll itself. Their music, lyrics, and image were drawn entirely from popular culture. Some critics, especially those who tried to legitimize rock music to a broader audience, dismissed the Ramones as lowbrow entertainment. These writers missed the point, or forgot, that rock derives a large part of its validity by standing opposite to mainstream culture. Reminding people of this, the Ramones were put in the position of initiating a conservative artistic reaction within the punk movement, a movementthat was perceived by many as a radical threat. Even among their songs the group expressed seemingly contradictory ideas: the group that recorded "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" later recorded a pro-NRA song called "Scattergun."

The Ramones' cartoonish pose masked their conceptual nature, which Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth commented on in 1990: "What set the Ramones apart from all the hardcore bands that came later was their discipline. They chose to be primitive." The Ramones' spontaneous do-it-yourself style made them a mass-scale influence in rock. They launched the development of punk, but they also emboldened musicians outside of punk as well. Once young musicians realized that forming a band did not require anyone else's blessing, local club scenes emerged and independent record labels developed. In the commercially conservative climate of the music business in the late 1970s, the Ramones' appearance showed others that it was possible to work outside an often hostile music industry.

Bessman, Jim. Ramones: An American Band. New York, St. Martin's Press, 1993.

Diehl, Matt. "The Making of Ramones' Ramones." Rolling Stone. May 15, 1997, 80.

Eddy, Chuck. "The Ramones." Rolling Stone. September 20, 1990, 78-81.

Gaines, Donna. "My Life with the Ramones." Village Voice. January 116, 1996, 23-26.

Ramone, Dee Dee. Poison Heart: Surviving the Ramones. Wembley, Middlesex, England, Firefly, 1997.

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