Ramones, The

The Ramones were nasty, ugly and played music so fast and simple it was borderline inane, but this band of terminally unhappy creeps from Forest Hills in Queens, New York, would go on to have an influence on contemporary music matched only by The Velvet Underground.

Buoyed by a love of The Who, The MC5, Iggy & The Stooges and the Brill Building/girl-group sound of the 60s, The Ramones formed in 1974. A gang of local misfits and former army brats, they weren’t brothers, but they might as well have been.

They met in their high school years and had been playing together since then. So, when the decision came to adopt the fake surname of Ramone and name the band after it, it made sense.

The lineup originally comprised Joey (Jeff Hyman) on drums, Johnny (John Cummings) on guitar and Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin) on bass. Tommy (Thomas Erdelyi) – originally their manager – switched to drums when Joey took over on vocals.

Their own DIY, rough-around-the-edges energy didn’t just define them, but it would go on to define punk as a whole. They prioritised feel over everything as the atmosphere at their shows was king, and so the songs they wrote were built to serve that.

The group earned a residency at New York’s CBGB‘s club (1974-1975) and quickly built up a cult following, with many fans adopting the uniform of torn blue jeans, sneakers, and black leather jackets, which The Ramones adhered to for 20 years.

In 1975, The Ramones negotiated a deal with Seymour Stein’s Sire Records and began recording their first album on a shoestring budget of $6,500.

The self-titled result (running time: 29 minutes) was released in April 1976, as America luxuriated in the AOR double-whammy of Frampton Comes Alive and Wings At The Speed Of Sound.

Prior to recording this first album, The Ramones acquired a reputation for being a fairly amateurish and hilariously fast band in concert.

Once, in Seattle, the band played 17 songs, took a five-minute break, and came back and played another 14 songs and a couple of encores – and they still hadn’t been on stage for an hour.

Despite already being in their mid 20’s, they had picked up little expertise as musicians, concentrating instead on their few strengths: Joey and Dee Dee could write lyrics and melodies, Johnny could play barre chords, and drummer Tommy could keep time.

From 1976 to 1978, their first four albums established their simple chord progressions and guitar/bass/drums combination as the blueprint for thousands of bands over the last 20 years – many of whom were unaware that it was a blueprint pinched from early Rock & Roll, Phil Spector, Bubblegum and the Brill Building.

The Ramones, in turn, handed down the tradition to British and American punks, to indie bands, to hardcore rockers and to modern commercial chart acts such as Green Day, Ash and Feeder. The Clash‘s Joe Strummer once claimed there would have been no UK punk scene without The Ramones.

Tommy Ramone left the band in 1978 but continued to produce them under his real surname of Erdelyi. He was replaced by Marc Bell (Ex- Richard Hell and the Voidoids), who adopted the name Marky Ramone.

The Ramones’ long-awaited hit finally arrived in 1980 when their faithful interpretation of The Ronettes‘ Baby I Love You (from the Phil Spector-produced End Of The Century album) made the UK Top 10.

In the decade that followed, they were widely perceived as un-hip and they disbanded in 1996 – at least 14 years after everyone thought they had.

The Ramones played their final gig on 6 August 1996 at The Palace, Hollywood – with guest appearances from Eddie Vedder, Lemmy, and Dee Dee (who had left the band by then). It was a fitting close to their 22 years of service.

Johnny and Joey had been at loggerheads since the early 80s when the former married the latter’s girlfriend, Linda. After that, they rarely spoke. Even in a cramped tour bus, they would not address each other directly. When they were guests on his radio show in the 90s, Howard Stern tried to get the two to look at each other. They refused.

Joey Ramone passed away from lymphoma on 15 April 2001.

Bassist Dee Dee was found dead of a heroin overdose at his Hollywood home on 5 June 2002.  He was 49.

Johnny died of prostate cancer on 15 September 2004, aged 55.

Joey Ramone (Jeff Hyman)
Vocals
Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin)
Bass, vocals
Johnny Ramone (John Cummings)
Guitar
Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi)
Drums
Marky Ramone (Marc Bell)
Drums
Richie Ramone (Richard Reinhardt)
Drums
Elvis Ramone (Clem Burke)
Drums
C J Ramone (Christopher Ward)
Bass

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