The Ramones Biography

The Ramones were an American rock band considered to be the first punk rock group. While acknowledged as defining the sound and attitude of mid-1970s punk, they never really achieved the commercial success of their contemporaries The Clash or the notoriety of the Sex Pistols, but still had an immense impact on the punk and alternative rock scenes. They are often referred to as the "Godfathers of Punk" and played 2,263 concerts throughout their career.

After forming in Forest Hills, Queens, New York in 1974, they performed virtually non-stop for 22 years until disbanding in 1996 after a final tour with the Lollapalooza music festival. Three of the original band members—Joey, Johnny, and Dee Dee Ramone—died within a few years of the break up. While they were always regarded as influential, the band’s fame is now arguably greater than while they were actively performing and recording.

In 2002 they were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The original band members were:

The Ramones pioneered a straightforward, stripped-down sound that was a far cry from the virtuosic musicianship and complex instrumentation that 1970s rock music had become known for. Joey Ramone has stated the Ramones were rather taken with the Bay City Rollers' hit song "Saturday Night", and set out to imitate its catchy, singalong quality, inspiring the "Hey-ho, let's go" chant from their first single, "Blitzkrieg Bop". Johnny disliked guitar solos, and played only a handful of them in his more than two decades with the group; his simple, direct playing, exclusively power chords with 8th note downstrokes, set the standard for many subsequent punk guitarists.

On stage, the band adopted a focused approach directly intended to increase the audience's concert experience. Johnny's instructions to C.J. when preparing for his first live performances with the group were to look and play at the audience, stand with the bass strung low between spread legs, and to walk forward to the front of stage at the same time as he did. Johnny Ramone was not a fan of guitarists who performed facing their drummer, amplifier or other band members.

There were strong influences from the rock and pop music of the 1950s and 1960s; bands such as the Beach Boys, The Who, The Kinks, The Troggs, the Yardbirds, and primarily The Beatles, on whom they based their image (bowl haircuts, four members). The Ramones recorded cover songs of such "garage" classics as "Surfin' Bird" and "California Sun." Joey often cited Ronnie Spector as one of his favorite singers; the various love songs he sang for the band are reminiscent of the 1960s girl group sound. This type of material alternated with harder rock songs in the vein of proto punk bands The Stooges, MC5 and The New York Dolls.

The Ramones' first British concerts on July 4-5, 1976, are widely credited with inspiring the first wave of English punk groups: Buzzcocks (first concert July 20, 1976), The Damned (first concert July 6, 1976), The Clash (first concert July 10, 1976) and others. (Coincidentally, all these shows were supporting the Sex Pistols, whose bassist Sid Vicious considered the Ramones his favorite band; his rendition of "My Way" was intended as a "Ramonized" version.)

Likewise, early shows in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. inspired groups as diverse as X, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and Bad Brains. The upbeat, singalong aspects of their songs influenced pop punk bands, while their aggressive and powerful rhythm section become a blueprint for the future hardcore punk and even thrash metal genres.

Many bands were claimed "an answer to the Ramones" by critics in the late 70's. There were the "English answer" (The Lurkers), the "Irish answer" (The Undertones), the "Californian answer" (The Dickies) and the "Mexican answer" (The Zeros).

Tom Verlaine described the Ramones as the first band in the world to play a white urban form of rock'n'roll, removing the solos and blues patterns associated with earlier forms of rock music. This is sometimes described as the biggest development in rock'n'roll since Chuck Berry.

The Ramones never achieved much commercial success in the United States during the time they were touring, but they were extremely popular in Europe and especially South America, where their records often topped the charts. Their only album to reach certified gold status in the U.S. was the 1988 best-of album, RamonesMania; 1992's Mondo Bizarro went gold in Brazil.

Ironically, the band has seen somewhat of a renaissance during the early and mid-2000's, with their songs being used in soft drink, car, athletic wear, and cellular phone commercials. The band and their albums now regularly appear on "all-time greatest" lists in various rock magazines, such as Spin, Rolling Stone, and Mojo--an honor not often bestowed upon them during their career.

Their famous "presidential seal" logo is often seen as being trendy (to the ire of some fans), pictures of Paris Hilton wearing a pink T-shirt featuring the seal have been printed and it is frequently parodied. Sales of Ramones merchandise are apparently growing every year.

The Ramones 30th Anniversary Tribute concert occurred on September 12, 2004. The event was at Los Angeles' Avalon and hosted by Rob Zombie. The performers demonstrate the breadth of the Ramones' influence: Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Dickies and X played sets and then C.J. Ramone, Marky Ramone and long time producer Daniel Rey took the stage and played while different guitar and vocal teams, including longtime Ramones fan Henry Rollins, performed various Ramones songs.

Three days later, on September 15, 2004, the world's first and only Ramones Museum opened its doors for the public. Located in Berlin, Germany, the Ramones Museum Berlin features more than 300 original memorabilia items from the Ramones, including a stage-worn jeans from Johnny Ramone, a stage-worn glove from Joey Ramone, Marky Ramone's sneakers or CJ Ramone's stage-worn bass strap.

Some bands are so taken by the Ramones as a whole that a subgenre dubbed "Ramones-core" has appeared. These bands often dress up like the Ramones, and play instruments like theirs. The music is generally a little faster and heavier on the guitars with (often) tongue in cheek lyrics about girls and similar fare. Notable bands include Screeching Weasel, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Spazzys, The Vindictives, The Queers, The Mr. T Experience, and the Beatnik Termites, who recorded covers of the Ramones albums Ramones, Leave Home, and Rocket to Russia, and Road to Ruin, and Pleasant Dreams, respectively. There are also bands heavily influenced by the Ramones, such as The Lillingtons. This type of music can also be considered Cartoon Punk.

In 1992, Canadian punk rock band NoMeansNo created a side-project called the Hanson Brothers, adopting Ramones-esque alter-egos, Ramones-like graphics and stage monikers, and releasing three successful albums in Ramones three-chord style. While sometimes panned as a Ramones parody, the Hanson Brothers, all long-time Ramones fans, conceived the project as a tongue-in-cheek tribute to their heroes.

In 2002, the Ramones were voted the second greatest rock and roll band ever in Rolling Stone and Spin magazines, trailing only in both polls to The Beatles.

Johnny Ramone enforced a very strict dress code for the band consisting of Converse All-Star sneakers, torn jeans, t-shirt and a leather jacket - the Ramones 'uniform'. In the early days they often wore white Sperry Top-Sider shoes, later on they wore everything from Converse Chuck Taylors to Reebok. Their jackets didn't vary that much, they mainly wore Schott Perfectos. According to the documentary End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones Dee Dee Ramone wasn't too happy about the 'uniform' and wanted to look more punk rock. The band wore the 'uniform' until the very end in 1996.

For a complete discography, see Ramones Discography.