It's an Eagle, it's a T-Shirt, it's a Blitzkrieg... It's the Ramones!
It's an eagle, it's a T-shirt, it's a blitzkrieg. It's "Ramones"!
Yesterday, 44 years ago, the phenomenon called "Ramones" released their debut. A little about the album and band:
The beginning
The four original members, Joey, Dee Dee, Tommy and Johnny, came from Queens, New York.
Dee Dee was first to adopt the Ramone surname, inspired by another pseudonym: Paul Ramon, used by Paul McCartney when checking into hotels.
That is why people sometimes assume they were related. Confession: until recently, I was among them.
An editor at the long-running music magazine "Hit Parader" saw them in New York and was won over.
She encouraged Danny Fields to work with the band, and he became one of their managers.
Fields had been involved in proto-punk since the late 1960s, helping artists including Iggy and "The Stooges" and "MC5" secure recording deals.
Making the album
Fields brought in producer Craig Leon, then relatively early in his production career and later associated with "Blondie" and "Talking Heads".
The record may sound do-it-yourself, but its approach was deliberate. Leon drew on techniques from early "Beatles" records, and Joey's brother Mickey Leigh also contributed to the sessions.
The result is a machine gun loaded with short, powerful songs, most racing above 160 beats per minute, and words bursting with youthful energy: drugs, relationships, humor and even Nazis. Their relative simplicity inspired countless listeners to pick up guitars and dream of making music.
Artwork, a logo and T-shirts
The band and Fields initially wanted something closer to "The Beatles"' "Meet the Beatles!" cover, but the label opposed it.
The iconic cover photograph cost only around $125 and later appeared at number 58 on Rolling Stone's list of the hundred greatest covers.
Artistic director Arturo Vega, often called the fifth Ramone, designed the logo that first appeared on the debut's back cover.
It resembles the eagle on the U.S. presidential seal, but holds a baseball bat instead of arrows and an apple-tree branch instead of olive leaves. These suggest alternative American symbols: the national pastime and apple pie.
The emblem developed a life of its own. At one point, shirt sales outstripped record sales, becoming a major source of income.
Some figures and rankings
Despite favorable reviews, the album initially sold only a few thousand copies in America.
Its eventual story is familiar: a cornerstone for the rock music that followed, with more than 500,000 copies sold in America and substantial sales in Britain.
Spin placed it at the head of an essential punk-albums list, ranked it among the most influential records and placed the band second only to "The Beatles" in one of its greatest-bands lists.
Earlier Rolling Stone lists placed the album at number 33 among the greatest albums and the band at number 26 among the greatest artists.
Across 22 years, the band released 14 studio albums and played an extraordinary 2,263 shows!
Recognition and influence
They entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
One of their devoted admirers, Eddie Vedder of "Pearl Jam", delivered the induction speech dressed in full punk attire:
The album was selected in 2012 for the U.S. National Recording Registry, recognizing its exceptional cultural and historical significance.
Tony James, bassist with "Generation X" and "The Sisters of Mercy", said that after the record and band reached Britain, everyone shifted up several gears.
Their influence on late-1970s British punk and many other styles was enormous.
Their songs have been covered countless times, celebrated on tribute albums and cited by an immense range of major artists.
A few extra details
Manager Fields, Joey and Tommy were Jewish. Tommy was born in Hungary to Holocaust survivors. Joey was born with a rare parasitic twin that was surgically removed. He also shared a birthday with one of his heroes, "The Who" guitarist and principal songwriter Pete Townshend.
The end
The band announced their breakup on Howard Stern's radio show:
Their final concert took place in Hollywood on August 6, 1996, shortly after their Lollapalooza tour. Here is the first part:
None of the four original members is still alive. All died relatively young: Dee Dee from an overdose, the others from cancer.
But like their logo, the music and attitude have an immortal life, still kicking and influencing others today!
Here is that automatic musical machine gun, loaded with 14 iconic tracks. Set aside 29 minutes and four seconds and press play!
P.S. A children's activity about the band, yes, really, follows in another installment of "Teach Your Children".
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