Not knowing how to play is also something you have to be able to do! Having witnessed the rehearsal of the young, unfeathered Ramones, New York Dolls vocalist David Johansen, laughing, suggested to guitarist Johnny Ramone to immediately disband the group. It seemed that the team was hopeless. None of them knew then that the hairy brawlers Ramones were destined to become one of the most important groups (if not the most important!) of the 1970s, informs Ukr.Media.
It's hard to say whether the Ramones' blatant ineptitude helped or hindered them. They played deliberately crudely and defiantly simply. But extremely honestly, without any fluff. Their spring songs lasted two or three minutes. They rarely had more than three chords and never had guitar solos. Simply because Johnny Ramone couldn't play them.
In doing so, the Ramones changed rock music forever, proving that even a band with minimal talent could create innovative, catchy, and extremely catchy records. They were, as they say, rockers. The true first punks.
John Cummings, the future Johnny Ramone, was born on October 8, 1948, into a middle-class family in New York City. As he grew up, he befriended his neighbors: teenage heroin addict Douglas “Dee Dee” Colvin and equally troubled young man Jeffrey “Joey” Hyman, who was periodically checked into a psychiatric clinic.
At first, their friendship was based only on a shared passion for alcohol. But in 1974, Johnny Cummings bought a guitar with the earnings from his work as a construction worker. After adding drummer Thomas Erdely, the band was called the Ramones. All members changed their surnames to Ramon.
The newly formed group drew inspiration equally from the raucous, raw rock and roll of The Stooges and The New York Dolls, the long-gone pop of the 1960s, and the early albums of The Beach Boys and The Beatles. The name Ramones comes from a pseudonym Paul McCartney once used in his early career.
Their image — tight T-shirts, ripped jeans, leather jackets — was borrowed from street teenagers. The songs embodied the realities of the aimless existence of young suburbanites: a boring life, diluted only by comic books, horror films and cheap drugs. Their customs…
Those who saw the Ramones' first live performances at the legendary Manhattan club CBGB often compared them not to other artists but to a natural disaster. No other band played at such a feverish pace. In an era when prog-rockers gave three-hour shows, stunning audiences with expensive lighting, sets and virtuoso solos, the Ramones' teeth-grinding performances lasted about 18 minutes.
The Ramones' 1976 debut album contained 14 songs. It lasted less than half an hour. Like its follow-up, “Leave Home.” Ridiculed by the US rock mainstream, the New York punks were enthusiastically embraced by the nascent punk movement in England. They never achieved commercial success in America. However, in England, several of their singles reached the top 40.
Attempts to appeal to a wider audience with ballads and more glossy production failed. As did the lead role in the 1979 film High School of Rock and Roll. Sessions with producer Phil Spector were marred by personal conflicts. Dee Dee Ramone later claimed that the relentless producer even pointed a gun at them during the work. But as a result, the album End Of The Century (1980) became the best-selling album in the history of the group.
The Ramones released a series of unsuccessful albums in the 1980s and early 1990s, although they remained a popular live act. They even performed their signature birthday song on The Simpsons.
After the Ramones broke up in 1996, Johnny Ramone sold his guitars and amplifiers, announcing his retirement. In recent years, he has become known for his right-wing political views: he was a lifelong Republican and expressed admiration for Richard Nixon. This has not harmed the Ramones' legacy. Once openly condemned as weak and crude, the music is now considered part of the cultural heritage.
After Joey Ramone's death in 2001, a street in New York City was renamed in his honor. The New York Times poll ranked the Ramones' debut album among the twenty most influential albums of the 20th century, putting the leather-clad street punks on a par with Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and Elvis Presley.
Джерело: ukr.media
