“Nobody as good”: The greatest band of all time, according to Joey Ramone
Punk changed the music industry forever, subverting the commercial attitudes of the industry and placing ultimate impotence on a DIY ethos and groundbreakingly abrasive records. Anybody could start a punk band, provided they had enough anger, energy, and a handful of basic guitar chords; it was a grassroots cultural revolution. At the forefront of the movement, bands like The Ramones provided a musical manifesto for other groups, putting New York City on the map as the birthplace of punk rock.
The exact origins of punk rock are endlessly debated. Depending on who you ask, the spirit of punk could have started anywhere from the Beatniks of the 1950s to the garage rockers of the 1960s, to the anti-monarchy defiance of the Sex Pistols in the 1970s. However, New York City has more claim to the origins of the genre than most other cities.
After all, the East Coast city played host to venues like CBGBs and Max’s Kansas City, which acted as havens for early punk outfits like Television, The Patti Smith Group, and The Ramones. Not to mention the fact that the New York Dolls paved the way for punk’s anti-conformity years prior.
Within that CBGB scene, few groups managed to garner the same reputation as The Ramones. Bedecked in blue jeans and leather jackets, the Queens band favoured simple song structures, driving buzzsaw guitars, and lightning-fast delivery. Dee Dee Ramone’s infamous “1-2-3-4” became an iconic shout of the punk age in its own right. When the band released their self-titled debut album in 1976, it ushered in the global age of punk – despite the fact that Patti Smith’s Horses preceded the album’s release by months.
The Ramones were a pretty unique group within the punk movement; their strict uniform seemed at odds with the individualistic fashion of other punk groups. What’s more, the New York band took many musical cues from the pop sounds of the 1960s, going so far as to cover tracks like ‘Baby I Love You’ along with garage rock tracks like ‘California Sun’ and ‘Surfin’ Bird’, whereas virtually every other punk band was attempting to move away from the nostalgia of the 1960s.
Nevertheless, the band were essential in the first wave of punk, and they never shied away from conforming as much. During a 1995 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Joey Ramone declared, “I think people in the know recognise the Ramones as the originators of the whole thing,” with reference to the punk movement. While that quote might have ignored the contributions of artists like The Stooges, The MC5, Patti Smith, and Death, it is difficult to argue against the key role The Ramones played in the development of punk.
“There’s nobody as good as the Ramones, never will be,” the ever-modest Joey Ramone went on to say. “I mean, everybody’s just emulated us, and now everybody just kinda takes our sound as their foundations.”
Despite this, the singer also highlighted some of the 1990s greatest groups, sharing, “There are some really good bands out there. I guess my favourite new band is Hole. I find [Courtney Love] to be totally unpredictable and primal, kind of spiritual, and she’s just herself; she’s not buying into all the shit.” He added, “I like Rancid, I like Green Day. I like the bands that have more of an edge to them.”
Bands like Green Day, Rancid, and even Hole, to an extent, were indeed indebted to the pioneering sounds of The Ramones. Their unique blend of a punk attitude with classic pop structures made them a sonic force to be reckoned with, and key harbingers of the punk revolution.
