7/2/2023 0 Comments Ramones albums![]() ![]() Their first live gig at CBGB was witnessed by a grand total of five souls (six if you count the bartender's dog). Supposedly CBGB owner Hilly Kristal gave the weird new band a shot simply because business was bad at the time and he would let just about anyone who came in the door up on stage. Then they began a regular residence at a dive bar in the Bowery known as CBGB (the initials stood for "Country, Bluegrass and Blues"). The Ramones played their first show in March of 1974 at Performance Studios, a rehearsal space in Manhattan, which was attended mainly by friends and family. The Ramones have described their music as "trying to write a bubble gum pop song without really knowing how."Ĭolvin came up with the idea for the band's name, inspired by an alias that Paul McCartney used to use when he signed into hotels - "Paul Ramon." Dressed in identical uniforms of leather jackets, jeans and t-shirts, the band members adopted the surname "Ramone" as an additional sign of unity, which led to the mistaken belief by many fans that they were all brothers. These original songs - characterized by hyper-speed chainsaw guitar riffing (no solos!), frantic, nasal vocals and lyrics inspired by tragic romance, comic books, horror movies and other '60s junk culture - were totally against the grain of what was "happening" in rock 'n' roll at the time. Their musical skills were rudimentary (at best) at the time and when they attempted covers of their favorite songs they found them too hard to learn, so they said "Screw it" and started writing simplistic originals instead. ![]() The new combo started rehearsing in the basement of an art gallery owned by Joey's mother. He switched from rhythm guitar to bass, and Joey moved up to the lead vocal spot due to his previous experience as the front man for a local glam band called "Sniper." The drum stool was filled by Tommy Erdelyi, who'd been a previous band with Cummings. Before long, Dee Dee admitted that he couldn't handle singing and playing an instrument at the same time. At first, Dee Dee was the rhythm guitarist/vocalist and Joey was the drummer. The seeds of the Ramones were first planted when guitarist John Cummings (aka "Johnny") and bassist Douglas Colvin (aka "Dee Dee") invited Jeffrey Hyman (aka "Joey") to join their band. By the early 1970s "rock" had been overtaken by over-indulgent progressive bands and the foursome simply wanted to form a group that would bring back that exciting "rock n roll" hit single vibe. The original four members had all crossed paths around the neighborhood over the years, playing in rival bands, and eventually bonded through their mutual love of 1960s bubble gum pop, underground garage rock and British Invasion music. The Ramones were formed in 1974 in the working class Forest Hills section of Queens, New York. I'm not even sure how many Ramones fans we've got up in here, but I figure this thread might smoke some of you out.īefore we get to the good stuff, here's a quick Cliffs Notes version of the band's formative years. ![]() Time for another geeky catalog run down from yours truly.
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