Leather-clad Converse endorsees, The Ramones, were arguably the first real punk band. Adopting the sleazy and snotty minimalism of the Stooges, MC5 and the New York Dolls (bands whose style has been retrospectively referred to as proto-punk), these four brothers from the bowels of New York City stripped back the primal sounds of their predecessors even more so and prided themselves on thrashing out short, rudimentary two-minute songs that dealt with fixtures of the everyday- the drugs, the heartbreaks and the violence that permeated the streets. Their eponymous debut was the catalyst for a punk explosion that became a tale of two cities; a continuous musical dialogue between the aforementioned New York and a London nervously awaiting the inevitable entry of Margaret Thatcher into Downing Street. Yet, where punk is often recognised as a movement for ripping it up and starting again, The Ramones obsession with girl-group melodies undermined this short-sighted nihilism. Naming themselves after a certain Paul Ramon- a pseudonym that The Beatles Paul McCartney frequently used when signing into hotels- the band further betrayed their love of what came before and their appreciation of the Fab Fours irrepressible song writing craft. And to think, Ramones protégées, the Sex Pistols, allegedly kicked Glen Matlock out of the band for liking The Beatles too much. How ironic.
A 22 year old English Literature graduate from Birmingham. I am passionate about music, literature and football, in particular, my beloved Aston Villa. Lover of words and consumer of art, music is the very air that I breathe.
