Magnificent Albums #05 - Ramones//////////////////The Ramones (1976)
Hello you there! I’m back on Steemit after a long period of self-doubt and trouble, but hey now everything is fine!
Today I want to talk about one of the most influential albums of my life: the first LP by The Ramones! I still remember: just a 12 year-old learn how to play the guitar, still discovering music when I heard my uncle (who lived with me at the time) singing Sheena Is A Punk Rocker. I froze and was like:
“hey, what’s that bro?”
“dude, that’s Ramones, have you ever heard it?”
“nah, but I will search it”
BOOM! Fast forward two days and I was SOLD man, I heard this album for two days straight, no pauses and learned all the songs on the guitar in a similar time (that must be the easiest album to play on guitar, no jk), now here’s the story of it:
The Ramones were an american band formed in 1974 by John Cummings, Thomas Erdelyi, Douglas Colvin and Jeffrey Hyman… what, don’t recognize them by their names? They’ve become Johnny, Tommy, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone respectively, the name Ramones was inspired by Paul Ramon, a nickname Paul McCartney used on the period of the Silver Beetles (pre-Beatles) to cover his hotel reservations. They’ve played a lot on the NYC joint CBGB’s, where the rock journalist Lisa Robinson caught a show of them and was mesmerized by their new simple and inventive sound and did everything to get their a manager and a record deal. They got a contract with Sire Records for the recording of an LP.
To understand how The Ramones broke the establishment of rock music, we need to take a look at some of the contemporary albums, let’s check it out:
Presence - Led Zeppelin
Hotel California - Eagles
Desire - Bob Dylan
Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder and of course
Frampton Comes Alive! - Peter Frampton
What they have in common? Advanced production techniques, crystal clear arrangements, long songs and lots of concepts… Ramones threw all of this through the window with this first album.
The longest song in the album is “I Don’t Wanna Go Down The Basement” with TWO and a half minutes and the whole LP has 29 minute of pure punk gold. But LET’S GO with brief summary of this wonder:
Blitzkrieg Bop is the summary of the album, the band and all the punk aesthetic in two minutes and four chords. Everyone knows the chantic HEY HO, LET’S GO! from this song. The lyrics are a critic and satire of nazism, and from here I want to talk about the themes of the album, they’re really dark. They’re about nazism (B. Bop), prostitution (53rd & 3rd), drugs (Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue), girls (Judy is a Punk), spies in cuba (Havana Affair) and psychopaths (Chain Saw), it’s teenager-y in a wrap.
The sound is so crude! The album was recorded in a week (3 days for instrumentals and 4 days for vocals), with a budget of only $6,400 and was recorded just like The Beatles’ early albums. The biggest influences on them were the 50’s rock and 60’s motown girl groups and you can hear this fingerprints all over the album.
Needless to say, this is one of the most influential albums ever made, gave birth to a whole new genre, ideology and approach to rock music like few other albums did before, and after. The Ramones shook the world with will and truth and brought to life this wonderful mindset of “Do It Yourself”.
VIVA RAMONES!
My other texts from the Magnificent Albums series:
https://steemit.com/music/@themusiclover/magnificent-albums-02-maggot-brain-funkadelic-1971
https://steemit.com/music/@themusiclover/magnificent-albums-03-head-hunters-herbie-hancock-1973
https://steemit.com/music/@themusiclover/magnificent-albums-04-what-s-going-on-marvin-gaye-1971
Well thanks to you I learned something today... so I can go ahead and do nothing the rest of the day. LOL Excellent writeup on the Romones, I love when people/groups/bands go against the grain and produce something original instead of keeping the same ol' song and dance going.
Great Tribute
Hey @splatz This music lover needs some Splat Love
Yo Yo Yo i am ready to go!
Hey man, thank you very much for your comment! The true grandiose art is the one the break the estabilishment in a peaceful and constructive way. The Ramones were all on it on a minimalistic and simple package!
Cheers from Brazil!
Exactly!! Peaceful and Constfuctive...very well said!!
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Very nice tribute
I came to your post because it was featured in an entry to @pifc's Curation Contest:Week 48
Posts that have been selected by the entrant will be visited by other members of the PIFC Community and given support.
You are welcome to submit other author’s post in future contests. The PIFC community has a support Discord Channel that you are invited to join. For more information about the PIFC family along with a great way to meet new people. We are a group of like minded people that focuses on assisting one another.
Thank you very much for your comment!
I'll surely participate from this group!
Cheers from Brazil!
Love the Ramones! Thanks for the write-up, I didn't know all these details about them 😊
I found your post because @dandays featured you in a Pay it Forward Curation contest entry.
Thank you very much for reading!
You are welcome 😊
Excellent work on this article.
For sure, Ramones are a mythical band who have influenced various generations of musicians!
Even Lousine Gevorkian, from the Russian band Louna, is often seen wearing a Ramones shirt!
Congratulations on being featured by @dandays in an entry for the Pay It Forward Contest!
And that, @trincowski, is what it’s all about. An @pifc challenge also creates a response like this?! You rock! Not like the Ramones—no one does that.
@themusiclover,
As a poet who measures songs by the quality of their lyrics, and a fellow who's first reaction to a Punk Rocker would be to advise a shower and the procurement of a haircut, the Ramones (and Punk Rock in general) were never my cup of tea.
The Eagles were.
That said, I appreciate the time and effort that went into creating this fine Tribute Post. And, apparently, others liked the Ramones as well. Like @lynncoyle1. Then again, Lynne also LOVED this tripe (it makes me homicidal), so consider the source:
.
.
I was directed to your post by @dandays as a result of his participation in the @pifc contest.
Quill
Ok buddy, I liked the Ramones AND The Eagles ... and REM for that matter (but never that video :). Let's just say I'm well-rounded when it comes to music. Unlike other cough cough, who may be a little stuck in their ways :)
@lynncoyle1,
WOMAN ... I have you on record! Everything stays on the blockchain forever, remember? YOU LOVED that video. Don't make me prove it. :-)
Quill
Now I'm being verbally raped/harrassed by you! Geez MAN, when is enough, enough?!! :)
...and that's called deflection :)
@lynncoyle1,
To anyone else reading this comment-reply thread ... we are not lunatics! Inside jokes piled one atop another.
Quill
😂🤣😂🤣😂
I jumped in in the middle of it when @lynncoyle1 said, "Now I'm being verbally raped/harrassed by you! Geez MAN, when is enough, enough?!"........and i thought what the heck is going on here?....and who am i about to start a war with?😂🤣😂🤣😂 She really is one of the best people i have met her. SO loving and caring. I was so relieved to see it was in good humor.🤪 Have a great day my dear friend! I hope your weekend was relaxing and peaceful.
@johndoer123,
As I've written previosuly, @lynncoyle1 is Steemit's Homecoming Queen. And, as such ... she's spoiled. She drops in, says, "Hi, y'all" ... and people give her comment an $86.00 upvote.
Someone's got to keep her in line. :-) (She's one of my absolute favorites too ... but don't tell her I said that.)
BTW ... watch that damn video. Really ... watch it. Then you tell me if I shouldn't be giving her a hard time. :-)
Quill
Homecoming queen...😂🤣 I love it!!! And after a quick review, yes i believe she may deserve some hassling.
I think he's making fun of me buddy :)
Naaa..
I know! Like many guys, I make fun of you cus I like you :)
@lynncoyle1,
Strange, isn't it?
Quill
Cool, I might take some photos of my Bee gees special edition booklet
I really liked your write-up @themusiclover. Nice work! In fact, I featured your article here. Great write-up, cheers! I’ll see you around, themusiclover. 👍🏿
Oh man, thank you so much for this featuring! It only make me feel motivated to do more of it!
Thank you!
My pleasure, I’m glad you liked it @themusiclover! Motivation and inspiration is what keeps this blockchain together, I’ll be looking for your next one.
See ya around, cheers!
source
Rewarding Your Original Work
With an Upvote
And
Resteem
If you find posts worthy of a nasty Splatin’ feel free and mention @splatz in your reply to their post. Call me out!!
So happy you were introduced to them. They're the love'em or hate'em kind of group. Being one of the first true punk bands they broke the rules. There was nothing elegant or arranged about them.
You were featured in week 48 of @pifc's Pay It Forward Curation Contest by @dandys. @pifc is a Pay It Forward Community which believes in by helping others grow we build a stronger community. We run this contest each week, it is open to everyone. It's a great way to show off people you find that might need some more exposure or meet new people.
@pifc just posted these results and, apparently I’m not the only one who appreciated your article, a community effort agreed! Congratulations @themusiclover, I’ll be keeping an eye out for you. 👍🏿