“They’re gonna suck”: How the Ramones launched Talking Heads
New York in the 1970s was a breeding ground for the future greats of guitar music. The punk rock and new wave genres were on the brink of exploding, producing anti-establishment bands and groups of art school kids in equal measure. The Ramones spawned out of the former category, creating a sound based around raw guitars and punky confidence, while Talking Heads found themselves in the latter scene, infusing their guitars with angularity and avant-garde influences.
The Ramones slightly predated the Heads, finding their success earlier in the 1970s around the punk scene and CBGBs. But the two worlds overlapped and, as post-punk and new wave began to emerge sightly later into the decade, members of that scene also took up residence at the beloved Manhattan venue. Talking Heads were no exception. They would soon become an essential part of the CBGB’s scene, but they landed their first show there courtesy of their punk peers.
Much to the budding band’s disappointment — they are all fans of the Ramones — they didn’t earn their place on the bill because the punks were huge fans of their work. Quite the opposite, in fact. As Chris Frantz explained during a conversation with the New York Post, Talking Heads played their first CBGB’s show in the summer of 1975, supporting the Ramones, but only because guitarist Johnny Ramone believed that their set would be a load of rubbish.
According to Frantz, Hilly Kristal, who owned the venue, asked the Ramones if Talking Heads could be their support band. “Johnny said, ‘Sure, they’re gonna suck, so no problem,’” Frantz explained. His low expectations were misplaced, as the band proved themselves to be one of the most exciting up and coming bands not just in the new wave scene, but in the entirety of New York. Still, it wasn’t quite the Ramones’ thing, so it’s easy to see why Johnny was skeptical.
Neither band had much pull at the show, either. As Frantz recalled it, there were only about ten people in the room during the whole show. “Five came to see us,” he explained, “And five came to see the Ramones.” Neither band had quite kickstarted their career yet. The Ramones were yet to release their debut album, which would arrive a year later and become a punk staple, despite an initially disappointing response.
Meanwhile, Talking Heads were still a couple of years off the release of their studio debut. 77 wouldn’t arrive until, unsurprisingly, 1977, when the band would begin to carve out a place for themselves as pioneers of the genre. With little to their name, performing so early on into their career, it’s no surprise that the band only pulled in a handful of people.
But now, almost half a century later, it’s hard to imagine a show – at a venue of any size – featuring either the Ramones or Talking Heads that wouldn’t immediately sell out. The fact that both bands once appeared on the same bill and barely filled out the room is incomprehensible.
The Ramones remain one of the most pivotal punk bands to ever exist, while Talking Heads’ following only seems to be gaining in numbers as people rediscover Stop Making Sense and the rest of their backcatalogue. But perhaps the latter band never would have got their start without the doubt of Johnny Ramone.
