Although the term ‘punk rock’ had been used to describe
garage bands during the ‘60s, the first real punk scene materialized in the mid
1970s in New York City and the United Kingdom. This new movement railed against
social and political norms and many bands intentionally set out to shock and
outrage the mainstream audience. The Ramones, a New York based band, were at
the forefront of the punk movement. Although they never experienced much
commercial success, the Ramones have been described as one of the most
influential groups in rock music.
Formed in 1974 in Queens, the Ramones’ first performance was
on March 30th at Performance Studios. The songs they played were
raw, fast, and short, usually under 2 minutes each. A few months later, they
landed a gig at the famous downtown Manhattan club, CBGB’s (Country, Bluegrass,
and Blues), where they became regulars and performed 74 times by the end of the
year. Their first album, Ramones, was
released in February 1976. Although it received glowing reviews from The Village Voice and Rolling Stone, Ramones met with little commercial success.
On July 4th, 1976, the Ramones performed at the Roundhouse
London. Inspired by this performance were members of the Clash, Sex Pistols,
the Damned, and Chrissy Hynde, who would all go on to revolutionize the punk
music scene that was beginning in England. Shortly after this, the Ramones
played in Toronto, inspiring the growing punk scene there as well. Over the
following 20 years, the Ramones would release 13 more albums with very little
success on the charts. Drugs, alcohol, personality conflicts, and psychological
disorders caused a lot of tension between members of the band, and sometimes
with their producers. It is said that Phil Spector clashed with bassist Dee Dee
Ramone and once forced him to play at gunpoint.
After I listened to just a few songs from the Ramones’ early
recordings, it wasn’t difficult to hear the impact this group had on punk and
rock music to come. The simplistic three or four power-chord form being played
at blazing tempos and obnoxious volumes can be heard from recent bands such as
the Offspring and Green Day. Many award-winning rock, pop, punk, and metal
artists have credited the Ramones with inspiring their musical development.
This commercially underrated band eventually received recognition for their
impact on the music world. In 2002, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.
One of the main things I’ll take away from what I’ve learned
comes from a quote from Johnny Ramone. He was talking to Paul Simonon from the
Clash and said, “Wait ‘till you see us – we stink, we’re lousy, we can’t play.
Just get out there and do it.” He didn’t care if anyone liked them. I think we
could all learn a little from that. Just get out there and do it, right?
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