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The Delta Snake Review:
The Godfathers of Punk - Part 8: The Ramones
Note: These Godfather of Punk blog entries are part of my promotion for “The Quitturz” which is still only .99 on Amazon (and free to KU members).
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In the movie “Rock and Roll High School” which starred the Ramones, there's a scene where they walk down the hallway with a bunch of students playing their version of "Do You Want To Dance."
As their explosive sound poured out into the hallway, a wide variety of people joined the crowd which included cheerleaders, football players in uniform, teachers, and all sorts of students in different types of clothing and dress.
In other words, Punk was for everyone and of all of the first wave, they were probably the loudest and the most fun. Their music was, at its core, the joyful side of rock and roll, which put them in a line straight back to the 50s rockers like Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly.
In 1977, what made me feel that the Ramones were special was hearing their song “Rockaway Beach” over the radio in the daytime; not on some late night “Intro to Punk program” but in the afternoon, mixed in with the big hits from Fleetwood Mac, Journey and Steve Miller.
It was in a small grocery store being played over the radio and followed some mainstream rock cuts that I don't remember. It was amazing how the customers reacted. Most made a face or started making negative remarks but a few, like me, immediately perked up. Everything had been background music until Rockaway Beach came on, then no one ignored the music.
The thought that went through my mind was that a new sound had arrived; not just the latest new artist or song, but a new “SOUND.”
That it played over commercial rock radio during the day meant Punk had left the more obscure territory of rock critic articles and record collectors and into the ears of the mainstream listener, for better or worse.
The Ramones’ “Rocket To Russia” album was a huge sonic leap from their previous two albums in that they were able to get a bigger sound to match the faster, powerful arrangements. The guitar and drums sounded noticeably louder and really jumped out of the small speakers of radios and cheap record players.
The first single from the rocket to Russia album was “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker,” which was a surf-pop influenced cut with a very catchy chorus.
The release of the single was a seminal moment, as sources like Wikipedia state, that after that single, many of the first wave bands were offered recording contracts. Although way too many rock histories trace the evolution through record industry trends and events, it still was an important moment for punk music.
The opening cut, “Cretin Hop” is an up tempo rocker with a killer guitar opening and a chorus that sticks in your head long afterwards. That energy continues through “Rockaway Beach” and ends with “Locket Love” until the pace slows with “I Don’t Care,” a pounding dirge reminiscent of the darker stuff from the first album.
The album then closes with the single “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” and the truly bent, “We’re a Happy Family” about a family that's not so happy.
The Sex Pistols put punk on the map, but the band that inspired me to buy an electric guitar was the Ramones.
You had to have a particular type of attitude to want to emulate many of the punk bands of that era; the Ramones were the easiest to emulate because, from a musicians standpoint, they played the purest rock and roll.
They never attained the success of other groups like Blondie or the Police but no one, except the Sex Pistols and the Clash, so epitomized what Punk was about and what it meant to those whose lives were changed by their music.
-Al Handa
The Quitturz on Amazon:
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#punk #newwave #ramones #sexpistols #blog #rockhistory
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