Eddie Vedder thought the Ramones should have hated each other: “The same level of intensity”
Punk was a movement that burned bright and fast. Sex Pistols, The Clash, the Ramones, they have longevity in name, but it didn’t come without its trials and tribulations.
I revisit the review of Sex Pistols first ever gig quite a lot, mainly because it’s funny, but also because it pretty perfectly sets out the punk attitude that endeared many and terrified those remaining. No punches were pulled in this distortion-flooded mess, as band members fought the audience and each other, and the frustration bottled up by a lost generation found form in a heap of sonic madness.
“‘Hurry up, they’re having an orgy on stage’, said the bloke on the door as he tore the tickets up,” wrote Neil Spencer. The opening line to the review certainly hooks the reader, as the whispers of this new movement and the outrageous nature of it are realised within just a few words. The rumours were true, punk is here, and it’s as chaotic and unpredictable as they say.
“I walked to the front and straightaway sighted a chair arcing gracefully through the air, skidding across the stage and thudding contentedly into the PA system, to the obvious nonchalance of the bass drums and guitar,” the reviewer continued, “Well I didn’t think they sounded that bad on first earful–then I saw it was the singer who’d done the throwing.”
When this is an accurate description of your live show, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that your band doesn’t stay together for very long. Sex Pistols were running on borrowed time the minute they decided to take such a hot-headed approach to music and performance, and the same can be said for the majority of punk bands who were making music at the time. Albeit not all of them.
Before the Sex Pistols had even performed, the Ramones were already playing music in a way that would set the bar for a lot of punk outfits. Granted, their music wasn’t quite as politically driven, but their style, their sound and their stage presence were very much a reflection of the punk ethos that a generation of vagabonds would soon wear close to their heart.
Their influence was massive, as Joe Strummer of the Clash said himself that no other punk band would exist had it not been for the Ramones. “If it wasn’t for the Ramones, or Joey in particular, there wouldn’t be a Green Day, an Offspring, a Rancid, a Blink-182 – there wouldn’t be any punk band, period,” he said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “There are bands that are influenced by the Ramones that don’t even know it yet. The Ramones sounded like rock & roll in its purest form – they beat it back into purity.”
What was perhaps even more impressive than their innovative approach to music, which essentially founded punk, was that, unlike a lot of the bands they inspired, the Ramones were able to stay together. They toured for years, crammed into the back of a van, driving up and down the country in a bid to bring this iconic and heavy sound to as many ears as possible. When Eddie Vedder was giving a speech about the band, not only did he praise their longevity, but also their willingness to not fully despise one another despite the circumstances they were living in a lot of the time.
“They existed for 22 years with the same level of intensity for the whole time,” said Vedder, “They may not have gotten along the whole time, but that was touring together for 22 years in a van for fuck sake. So, you have to understand.”
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Punk Newsletter
All the latest Punk content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.