If the members always felt disappointed at their own lack of commercial success, they more than made up for it in T-shirt sales.
“Everybody’s just emulating us and now everybody just kinda takes our sound as their foundations,” observed Joey, reflecting on the band’s impact. As such their early albums continue to provide a blueprint to anyone who hears them, their perceived simplicity suggesting that this is music you could make. They were, after all, the original pop-punk band – embracing traditional ‘60s and ‘50s pop sensibilities and translating them into the ‘70s and beyond. Of course, The Ramones have continued to influence countless acts down the years. Existing bootlegs from that night capture the crowd raising the familiar ‘ Hey, ho!’ chant prior to the band’s arrival onstage, while the audience itself reads like a ‘who’s who’ of British punk and includes members of the Sex Pistols and The Clash – two bands who would refine their own performances based on what they witnessed that very night. Their most impactful performance came on Sunday, Jwhen, in the wake of their debut album, the brudders hit London’s Roundhouse for a co-headline show with San Francisco garage-rock outfit The Flaming Groovies. By then, however, the influence of The Ramones was writ large across the face of modern music, and across three generations of fans and fellow musicians. It would take until April 2014 for the band’s debut album to be certified gold in the U.S. In fact, genuine success would elude The Ramones throughout their career, ultimately leading to their split in 1996 as the tensions and differences that had always existed between band members finally consumed them. charts, and received little if any radio-play. When the album hit the racks, it was met with universal praise and yet it stalled at 111 in the U.S. Signing to Seymour Stein’s Sire records in late ’75, the band famously cut their debut with producer Craig Leon on a paltry recording budget of $6,400. If Debbie Harry became the poster girl for that nascent punk individualism, then Joey was its unwitting gangly poster boy. The New York scene of the time begat the likes of Suicide, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and the Patti Smith Group – all different sounding bands bound by a common, restless energy. The band’s collective power was evident onstage from their first shows in 1974 onwards, their reputation increasing as they moved out of their HQ at Performance Studios and became regulars at CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City. In contrast, Joey – the band’s other key songwriter – was sensitive and introverted, his unique, near-hiccoughing vocal style rendering The Ramones instantly recognisable. Dee Dee, meanwhile, was one of the band’s principal writers, his lyrics defined by his own experience and self-destructive personality. Johnny – strong willed and politically to the right – was the band’s de facto leader and the man who shaped their musical style through his direct use of barre chords and the downstroke. Tommy was The Ramones’ conceptualist and producer, who would leave after their first three studio albums to be replaced by Marky Ramone. In fact, all four members of The Ramones – their adopted collective surname taken from an adaptation of a pseudonym used by Paul McCartney during his time in The Beatles – had clearly defined roles within the band.
Dee Dee looks hesitant and awkward – as if he has somewhere better to be – and peers out from under his bowl-cut fringe. Drummer Tommy perches on tiptoes on a ledge and is slightly tucked in to 6’ 6” singer Joey who, conversely, slouches to try and mask his height. Guitar player Johnny stands slightly apart, the threat in his stare evident.
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