The Cover Uncovered: The instant-iconography of the Ramones’ debut album
On January 20th, 1964, The Beatles released Meet the Beatles!, adorned with an iconic photograph by Robert Freeman capturing the Fab Four in a black-and-white photograph, though casting a blue tint over their faces.
The album found its way into the hearts of American teenagers everywhere, the Beatlemania beginning to take its form, so surely, four young men from Forest Hills, Queens, New York City would be no exception.
The Ramones was formed when John Cummings (Johnny) and Thomas Erdelyi’s (Tommy) high school garage band befriended Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee) and Jeff Hyman (Joey) to round out their lineup. Dee Dee, inspired by one of Paul McCartney’s pseudonyms, Paul Ramon, adopted the last name ‘Ramone’, convinced his bandmates to do the same and christened the band The Ramones, thus intrinsically linking The Beatles to their ethos.
They began playing gigs in mid-1974, immersed in New York City’s downtown Manhattan circuit and making clubs such as CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City their second home. Thanks to the brilliant music journalist Lisa Robinson, The Ramones found their name in the pages of Rock Scene and later, The Village Voice, due to Lenny Kaye (who would later become Patti Smith’s collaborator and bandmate, setting her poetry to his guitar). Soon, they were signed to Sire Records and sent to Plaza Sound studio, with a week of session time booked.
The songs that formed the album were performed with a reckless abandon that was previously unheard of, from the adrenalised shout of ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ to the horror-inspired ‘Chain Saw’, and a tale of childhood trauma and discontent on ‘Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue’, they played their instruments with imperfect precision, exuding an immediate burst of energy. Released on April 23rd, 1976, Ramones became, with no exaggeration, the definitive album of its era, exemplifying ‘punk’ before the term assumed its true meaning.
Equally innovative was the album cover: their initial concept was to mimic none other than Meet the Beatles!, even staging a photoshoot with Danny Fields, but Sire was displeased with the results, and in turn, decided on a pre-existing photograph of The Ramones, chosen by art director Toni Wadler.
In the photo, Johnny, Tommy, Joey and Dee Dee are standing against the graffiti-tinged brick wall of Albert’s Garden, a private community garden located in the Bowery neighbourhood of New York City, with each Ramone wearing a pair of frayed and torn denim jeans, trainers and a black leather jacket.
Smiles are completely absent from their faces; instead, Johnny and Dee Dee stare into the lens half-heartedly, while Tommy and Joey obscure their gazes with sunglasses. The cover finds its power in its simplicity, capturing the band as they would be seen walking down the street on any given day, authentic in their rugged demeanour.
The photograph was taken for a feature on the band in Punk magazine by Roberta Bayley who was a punk icon in her own right: she briefly worked for Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren at their store Let It Rock, began a relationship with Richard Hell and commenced working the door at CBGBs, later leaving to work for Blondie before joining the Punk team alongside John Holmstrom and Legs McNeil.
Solidifying the unofficial punk image forever, The Ramones’ photograph has become one of the most widely imitated album covers since its release, even earning a permanent spot in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
“Doing an album in a week and bringing it in for $6,400 was unheard of, especially since it was an album that really changed the world,” Joey Ramone said, as quoted in the oral history Please Kill Me, “It kicked off punk rock and started the whole thing—as well as us.”
