Independent Research - The Ramones

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 30^th 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 4^th, 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?