Peter Buck on the underrated musicianship of The Stooges and the Ramones
When the punk explosion of the 1970s came about, it quickly became noted for its revolutionary fashion, staunch political stance and defiant attitude. One thing that the scene was rarely noted for, however, was its musical proficiency. In fairness, the prevailing image of punk was the DIY ethos of ‘here’s three chords, now start a band’, which led to an image that few punk acts actually knew how to play their instruments – which wasn’t helped by the fact that Sid Vicious is among the most famous musicians of the punk generation.
Although punk was not revered for its musical opulence in the same way that glam, prog or disco was, its influence on later scenes was just as important. Spawning a variety of disparate movements, from 2 Tone to grunge, punk’s return on investment was unparalleled. One of the bands that owe a great deal to the revolutionary sounds of punk rock was R.E.M. who arose from the Athens, Georgia, scene following in the wake of groups like The B-52’s. R.E.M. had a tendency to be more mellow, mature and philosophical than the aggression of punk, but the lineage was certainly there.
Within the R.E.M. camp, guitarist Peter Buck always held an appreciation for the musical genius of punk, in contrast to the prevailing attitudes within popular music. The greatest example of technically gifted punk bands comes with Iggy Pop and The Stooges, who perfectly bridged the gap between 1960s rock and roll and the raw power of punk rock (pun definitely intended).
The Athens groups drew upon the influence of Iggy’s band, particularly their 1969 track ‘No Fun’, for their ninth album, Monster. As Buck told The Line of Best Fit back in 2019, “I listen to ‘No Fun’ and think that a song like ‘I Took Your Name’ is kind of a direct descendant of it,” he said, adding, “It’s not quite the same chords, but just that kind of monolithic, two-note chord progression that’s big and noisy, and I always loved that about them.” The Stooges pioneered a style of endlessly noisy, monolithic tracks that would spark the punk boom in the mid-1970s, but their legacy would last much longer.
Perhaps, within the pretentiousness of the musical world, something featuring such distortion and volume, The Stooges were viewed as lesser musicians than some other prominent acts of the time, particularly with the advent of progressive rock.
For Buck, though, the musical brilliance of Iggy’s band did not go unnoticed. “As much as I love Raw Power, that stuff’s hard to play, and it’s hard to play ‘No Fun’ right, but it’s easy to get the chords down. I’ve never heard anyone do a Stooges song as well as the Stooges do.” The guitarist also drew parallels between The Stooges and the CBGB icons, the Ramones.
The Ramones, more so than The Stooges, were viewed as pretty unskilled musicians, but, as Buck explained, “Almost anyone can figure out the chords to a Ramones song, but I’ve never heard anyone play them as well as the Ramones. You’ve just gotta be those people to do it.” That quote acts as a perfect encapsulation of the punk movement as a whole; it was never about being able to play scales, having a three-octave range, or the ability to craft insanely complex guitar solos. It was all in the attitude – in the feeling.
