The punk bands Ramones dismissed as “a bore” and compared to Joan Baez
I once met Glen Matlock. When I say met, I was standing outside The 100 Club having a cigarette, and he asked if he could borrow my lighter. He seemed like a nice man. I was there that night because he and a few other legends of the punk movement were doing a press evening, talking about Iggy Pop’s festival, Dog Day Afternoon, and the mini Sex Pistols reunion that was happening because of it.
The conversation onstage was interesting, as people recounted their stories about what it was like growing up in Britain around the time of the punk movement, and why this new style of music resonated with so many. I took a lot away from that night, but one of the boldest quotes came from Matlock himself, who said that after The Beatles, Ramones are the most important band in history.
There is a common debate that often circulates amongst punk-lovers, which is: who was the first punk band? The two contenders are Ramones and Sex Pistols. The truth is, they both kind of were. While Ramones trademarked a lot of mannerisms and style that we now recognise as quintessentially punk, Sex Pistols made things political, which we also recognise as punk.
These mannerisms are likely what Matlock is referring to when he calls his American counterparts influential. A lot of what we now recognise as punk behaviour, and that distorted, chaotic style of playing which we understand as essential to the genre, initially originated because of the influence of Ramones. As such, Matlock is right, the band were incredibly influential.
It appears that the feeling wasn’t as mutual as Sex Pistols might like. Towards the end of the 1970s, the punk movement was really kicking off in the UK, and subsequently, there was a huge market for Ramones, who, despite not writing about politics a great deal, still had a sound that fit in well with the punk scene. Upon returning to the States after doing a tour in the UK, they were asked how they felt about the punk bands in the UK, to which they responded rather harshly.
It seems that while Ramones had touched upon politics slightly in the past, they felt an overreliance on it was growing stale. They attested that the British audience seemed to agree, as while the punk sound was alive and kicking overseas, the political side was dwindling, and the only bands continuing to champion it were The Clash and Sex Pistols.
“There’s only about three groups who are even slightly political, okay?” said Tommy Ramone when discussing their visit to the UK, “The Clash, and maybe the Sex Pistols were, but not anymore, and that’s about it. It’s not that big a deal, really, even over there, they’re not that heavy politically.”
It became clear why The Ramones had moved away from writing about politics during this interview, as Johnny Ramone admitted he thought the two bands mentioned were boring, and their infatuation with politics was equally so.
“Political stuff is a bore,” he said, “We already had our political thing, it went out with Joan Baez, you know?”
