He was a male prostitute, a would-be mugger, a heroin user and dealer, an accomplice to armed robbery - and a genius poet who was headed for an early grave, but was sidetracked by rock ‘n’ roll.”Īnd without him, the Ramones likely would never have existed and the history of punk music as we know it would not have been the same. In the intro to Dee Dee Ramone’s book Lobotomy, Legs McNeil wrote, “Dee Dee was the archetypical f-k-up whose life was a living disaster. Despite serious substance abuse problems, he remained musically active until his death. After leaving the Ramones he had a short, unsuccessful career as rapper Dee Dee King, recorded a few solo albums and appeared on various collaborations. While the Ramones endured numerous lineup changes, Dee Dee remained with the band until 1990, playing on 11 records. The Ramones quickly became leaders of the New York punk rock scene and in 1976 released their seminal self-titled debut, which included “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “Beat on the Brat,” “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” and “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.” The Ramones, "Blitzkrieg Bop" Using just three and four chords, the Ramones mixed their love for bubblegum girl pop with the hard rock of the Who and the MC5 and the proto-punk of The Stooges, then put the blender on full-speed, creating a wall of primal, melodic, abrasive and bouncy sound that was both visceral and infectious. The Ramones debuted live on Maand soon became an in-demand club act. The band changed the spelling to “Ramone” and every member used the title as their surname to demonstrate their solidarity. Dee Dee, who had a reputation of being the wildest member, came up with the name after learning that Paul McCartney often used the alias Paul Ramon when he checked into hotels. One day, they both decided to cash their paychecks and buy guitars Johnny got a Mosrite, Dee Dee purchased a Danelectro.Īfter fumbling around the band with different members in different positions - Dee Dee was originally the vocalist and Jeffrey Ross Hyman (Joey Ramone) played drums - they officially became the Ramones in 1973. They met at a building in New York, where Dee Dee worked in the mail room and Johnny did construction. Johnny Ramone, who died in 2004) had been friends with Dee Dee since 1969. Though the Ramones may well be the bastion of punk, the leather jackets, ripped jeans and snarling attitude was about as close to an archetypal punk as you could get in the mid-seventies.Guitarist John William Cummings (a.k.a. They may all be under three minutes, but the Ramones made some searing songs. Other bands, such as the Stooges and the New York Dolls, came before them and set the stage and aesthetic for punk, and bands that immediately followed, such as the Sex Pistols, made the latent violence of the music more explicit, but The Ramones crystallized the musical ideals of. When they did finally hang up their leathers, they left behind a legion of fans, a host of inspired artists and a back catalogue that can be whipped through in just a few hours. The Ramones are one of the first punk rock bands. They persisted with their purist punk sound up until they parted ways in the 1990s. The band founded their sound, made it their own and refused to bow down to societal pressure for guitar solos and droning arthouse persuasions. To try and scoff at the Ramones for their comprehensive use of thrashing three chords across a simple disco backbeat is to deny them their very own uniqueness. Well, this is what the punk lamen would have you believe. The Ramones grew out of the 1970s new wave scene in New York that also produced Blondie, Television and Talking Heads, and they played regularly at the CBGB club in the city's Bowery neighbourhood. Of course, there’s a good reason that each song had similar potential - they all sounded the same.
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