THE RAMONES

History of The Ramones

The Ramones became a band in 1974 in Queens, New York City. Although the band's members would change frequently as the years progressed, the original group was composed of Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, and Tommy Ramone. Of those four, only Joey and Johnny would stay until the band dissolved in 1996. The name "Ramones" was a pseudonym taken by the members as a reference to The Beatle's Paul Mccartney who supposedly used the name "Ramones" as an alias when checking into hotel rooms. In total, the band released 14 studio albums and 4 live ones. Some highlights include Ramones (1976), Rocket To Russia (1977), Too Tough To Die (1985), and It's Alive (1979).

Deconstructing A Punk Band

The Ramones were not just important musically, the way they looked and the culture which they inhabited was a crucial part of what made them who they were: Style
Pop Culture
Songs

StyleThroughout their carreer, The Ramones adhered to a specific style of clothes that was reinforced by guitarist Johnny Ramone's insistence in wearing a "uniform". Here is a list of "Ramones Fashion":

1. Converse shoes, a must.
2. Torn, old, unwashed, small and just plain disguting pair of jeans. Gotta have em.
3. Perfecto leather jackets:black, too small, extra points if it has pins.
4. Optional: bowl hair cut or sunglasses; choose, you can't have them both.
5. Tight T-shirt with clever pop culture allusion on the front

Pop Culture

The Ramones were probably the first band to be truly aware of their cultural climate and they continually used pop culture imagery, especially movies, in their songs:

• Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Chainsaw)
• All quiet on the western front (All's quiet on the Western Front)
• Pet Cemetery (Pet Sematary)
• Spiderman; superheroes in general (Spiderman)
• The Beach Boys (Surf City, Surfin' Bird, Surfin' Safari)
• Green Berets (53rd & 3rd)

Songs
Few bands can claim to have written such amazingly fun and memorable rock tunes as The Ramones, here is a list of some of their best:

• Blitzrieg Bop: the start of a revolution, a call to arms, an event in music history (2:14)
• Judy Is A Punk: furious, the Ramones examine themselves (1:32)
• I Wanna By Your Boyfriend: a love song by The Ramones, does it get anymore romantic? (2:24)
• I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You: a breakup song by The Ramones (1:42)
• The KKK Took My Baby Away: Johnny steals Joey's girlfriend, Joey writes a song (2:32)

An Ode To The Ramones

The Ramones personify punk. No matter what others might say, The Ramones truly were the "first" first punk band. When I first heard their sound, it was as if I was listening to music for the first time. Their music was devoid of pretensions. They were the anti-beatles, anti-led zep, anti-stones, anti-who. It was not that they resented those groups, on the contrary, The Ramones adored those bands, it was that they understood that rock was nothing more than rock. By stripping down music to three-chords, a catchy tune, and playing it faster than their instruments could handle, The Ramones reinvented music. But more importantly, it was a band that played honestly. Throughout their long carreer they never really changed their formula. They refused to evolve. They were conscious that their musical innocence would be lost if they attempted to deviate from their beginnings. And it is exactly that innocence, that pure, unshakable love for rock that has made them last the test of time. Long live The Ramones.