The Ramones

A few weeks ago, Tommy Ramone died. He was the last living original member of The Ramones. As far as I know, this is the first major band that has lost all its members. It has given me the occasion to consider a band that, like The Velvet Underground and The Pixies, are known more for their influence than their record sales.

I picked up a copy of The Ramones greatest hits, though, as the liner notes by Tommy Ramone indicate, they didn't really have hits, but they certainly had recognizable songs. I found I knew more than half of them, songs less than three minutes long that formed what would be called punk music.

The Ramones were formed out of a group of teenagers from Forest Hills, New York. They took the name from an alias Paul McCartney used in hotel rooms, giving themselves the last name of Ramone, though they were not related. Their look was distinctive--leather jackets, sunglasses, ripped jeans. They were not hippies. They were something different--urban, dangerous. Punk.

The highest charting single they had was "Rockaway Beach," at number 66. But they influenced an entire style of music. Along with the British bands like The Sex Pistols, they created punk music by using a minimalist approach, countering the increasingly psychedelic sound of the late '60s and early '70s. They used only four chords, simple instrumentation, and largely inconsequential lyrics. They were a successful touring band, playing over 2,000 concerts in their 22 years together.

Most of The Ramones songs were about basic teenage issues and an increasing feeling of alienation, which are not mutually exclusive. I think their most famous song is "I Wanna Be Sedated," which features a fabulous vocal by Joey Ramone, and has the universally agreeable:

"Just put me in a wheelchair
And get me on a plane
Hurry hurry hurry, before I go insane
I can't control my fingers
I can't control my brain, oh no"

If that weren't enough, they have a song called "Teenage Lobotomy," and "Pinhead," which gave the world their famous chant, "Gabba gabba hey!"

Other great songs of theirs include "Rock and Roll Radio," the lament "The KKK Took My Baby Away," the seminal "Blitzkrieg Bop," and perhaps the most emotionally resonant theme song from a horror movie ever, the title tune of "Pet Sematary":

"Don't want to be buried
In a pet sematary,
Don't want to live my life again."

They also covered many songs, ranging from "California Sun" to the theme from Spider-Man. And many artists covered their work--no fewer than 48 tribute albums exist.

Since 2001, The Ramones have all died. Joey died in 2001, Dee Dee later that year, Johnny in 2004, and Tommy just recently. Markie Ramone, who replaced Tommy on the drums, still lives.

I never bought a Ramones album or went to a concert--they weren't interesting to me, who favored the more esoteric progressive rock. But, as I've gotten older, I've become more appreciate of musicians who set a different path. The Ramones had a musical philosophy, and though it was primitive, it took the old way of doing things and reinvented them. In many ways, The Ramones were the summation of everything that had come before, and everything that has come since emanates from them.