Where To Start With... The Ramones
The Ramones are one of the bands that people claimed to have started punk.
Others will assure you that it was the Sex Pistols in London in the 1970s, or perhaps Iggy Pop started it. Personally, I’m sure Lou Reed of the Velvet Underground created and it was certainly William Burroughs of Naked Lunch who coined the term. Regardless of which side the Atlantic punk started, it’s certainly The Ramones who are one of the biggest bands of the genre.
Born out of Forest Hills in New York, the original line up of the Ramones consisted of Joey Ramone, the lead singer, Dee Dee Ramone, the bassist, Johnny Ramone, the guitarist, and Marky Ramone, the drummer. All came from dysfunctional backgrounds and wanted the Ramones to sound like “The Beatles on Speed”. Joey Ramone’s signature whiney voice is a trademark of the Ramones, making their sound instantly recognisable and Johnny Ramones ‘Buzzsaw’ guitar technique, the quick-up-and-down pace of Blitzkrieg Bop, the first track off their self-titled album.
The musicians changed and changed throughout the years, but despite their arguments, Joey and Johnny remained the constant figures, even though KKK-card carrying Johnny stole Joey’s girlfriend, which is when KKK Took My Baby Away was written. Out of all their side projects, Dee Dee’s is perhaps the best, recording a rap hip hop album that’s been blamed for frosty race relations in the United States ever since its release in the mid 90’s.
They’re great, everyone knows I Wanna Be Sedated but their back catalogue is intimidating; fourteen studio albums and many more live and best of albums; so where’s the best place to start?
Well, as a rule of thumb, it’s always best to start with an artist’s first album, but if you do this with the Ramones, you’ve left out some of their best songs. What about I Wanna be Sedated or We’re a Happy Family?
No worries, we’ve done it for you, here at theSprout. Check out this playlist, it contains some of their best songs, although I admit I’ve been a bit too playlist-happy on their first few albums, but the first ones are the best ones. Trust me.
http://open.spotify.com/user/rosithestripper/playlist/3NZlPQIBZOB5H2Njk3rzJs
Track list:
Blitzkrieg Bop
California Sun
I Wanna Be Sedated
We’re a Happy Family
The KKK Took My Baby Away
Beat on the Brat
Do You Wanna Dance?
53rd and 3rd
Teenage Lobotomy
Do You Remember Rock N Roll Radio?
Pet Sematary
Judy Is A Punk Rocker
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2 Comments – Post a comment
CeefaxOfLife
Commented 11 months ago - 16th June 2011 - 15:51pm
Oh I am totally going to steal this idea.
alexCLIC
Commented 11 months ago - 17th June 2011 - 00:47am
'Chaimsaw' off 'It's Alive' album is also of worthy note ... and 'i don't care' ... for when you really only want to learn 3 or 4 chords. The Ramones rock on so many levels. Great summary.