“It never took off”: Eddie Vedder discusses the band that the world ignored
Not every band is meant to be as big as their fans might like for them to be. Even if they have some of the biggest hits that someone could ask for, there are always going to be those few artists who manage to outdo them in every way, even if they are putting out inferior music by comparison. And while Eddie Vedder never anticipated Pearl Jam getting as big as they eventually did, that did come with a bit of guilt when it came to leaving some of his favourite bands by the wayside.
You have to remember that as much as Vedder loved the idea of making music for people who were willing to listen, some of his biggest inspirations were people who never managed to hit the big time like they were supposed to. He still had his revered icons like The Who to see as inspirations, but he was always the resident punk in the group, which meant catering to bands that would have never had a chance at the hit parade.
But when looking at some of the biggest punk bands around the same time, they always seemed to be intentionally making sure their music never reached the mainstream. Fugazi always made sure to stray away from the major labels, and even when Sonic Youth had someone like Nirvana open up for them, there was no chance they were going to sell a million records off of their art project albums like Dirty.
That’s not to say that there wasn’t room for punk bands to reach the mainstream. The rules had drastically changed by the time that Pearl Jam and Nirvana became the biggest names in the world, but while Green Day managed to pick everyone up once Kurt Cobain passed away, there wasn’t anything they were doing that Ramones hadn’t done better a few decades prior as far as Vedder could see.
Because looking at the first wave of punk bands, Ramones seemed like the one act that seemed like they actually cared about becoming stars. They still were badasses whenever they touched the stage, but they were also as likely to write an honest love song during their tenure, like hearing them make a Phil Spector-style love song like ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ or Joey Ramone crooning ‘I Want You Around’ in Rock n’ Roll High School.
Although most people know tunes like ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ today, Vedder felt that history never gave the group a proper shot, saying, “My understanding from talking to people like Johnny and Marky [Ramone] is that the first punks were all waiting to reap some spoils from it. But it never really took off. The Ramones never took over the radio like they should have, playing arenas like they should have. But they were huge in Brazil–I went down there with them once on tour, and there were, like, thousands of people mobbing their hotel. That’s what the world should’ve been like.”
Vedder did at least try to do his part when he did reach the top of the food chain. When the punk icons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was the first in line to give their induction speed, and once Johnny Ramone passed away in the 2000s, Vedder’s song ‘Life Wasted’ is still one of the finest tracks about mortality he ever wrote for Pearl Jam.
Then again, there is something profoundly bittersweet about how Ramones never got their just due in the music world. They never quite fit into anyone’s model for what a rock and roll band should be, and even if they had the hooks to hang with the biggest names in pop-punk, they were never going to have their names in flashing lights if it wasn’t on their own terms.
