RAMONES @ 45

 

On April 23, 1976, the debut LP of the Ramones was released, 45 years ago today. While, at the time of its release, it would seem to have little impact, at least in the pop charts, the undercurrent the band had unleashed would turn out to be one of the most impactful in rock music history.

The album was recorded in a mere 7 days with a puny budget of less than $6,500.00. Even the cover, which would become one of the most iconic images the band ever produced, cost only $125. But these meager investments proved to be more than worthwhile as this album became the stone dropped into the ocean who's ripples would send wave after wave of influence throughout the music world for decades to come.

The formula of the Ramones was deceptively simple on every facet, from sound to image. And yes, it was completely contrived, but didn't come across as forced or artificial. It felt all too legitimate and as real as an invading army. On stage, they were all ripped jeans, black leather jackets and bowl-cut hair. It was a remarkably effective visual and gave them a sense of unity and purpose. That focus was even more evident in the music, built out of blocky three-chord riffs played at breakneck speed, propelled by machine gun rapid drumming. As hard-edged as it sounded, sharp as a buzz-saw blade, every song rested on a melodic framework which was as optimized and efficient as anything the classically trained Kraftwerk could muster. And the hooks were inescapable, topped off by Joey's minimalist lyrics, often requiring no more than a handful of lines to communicate their theme as clearly as a perfectly cut diamond. They captured the zeitgeist of the bored teenager with precision and nuance in a subtly brutalist manner.

The Ramones were my gateway into what was called "punk" at that time. I was a little late to the party, not picking up my first album by them until Road To Ruin in 1978. I remember crossing that threshold so distinctly. I'd been collecting rock magazines like CREEM for a couple of years and kept seeing articles on these new bands like the Ramones all the time. At first, I was suspicious about this stuff, but then The Cars came out and nudged me into the "new wave" lane, and I became curious enough to want to take the next step into something harder edged.

I recall being so bored and disappointed with the mainstream rock music of the day. I'd buy an album and only like one or two songs on it and the rest was just "blech" - tedious blues based boogie-woogie rehash cliche crap. I was desperate for something fresh and vital and NEW! So I decided that the Ramones were going to be my first experiment in this direction and I was not disappointed. I remember pulling out the inner sleeve of the LP, which had a lyric sheet on it and I was baffled by how short all the songs were. Maybe only one 4 line stanza for some songs and that was IT! Putting the record on my parent's behemoth console stereo, the speakers burst with these frantic guitar riffs, speed-demon drumming and Joey's nasal yet inescapably melodic whine. He was like some kind of giant insect, like someone had crossed Gilligan/Bob Denver with a praying mantis. Alien but enchanting.

Four and a half decades later and this music still holds its own and has become soaked into western popular culture. Some of their songs are even used for sports chants, a sure sign that you've become a social icon. Sadly, all four of the faces on this first album have now slipped their mortal bonds and moved off of this material plain, yet their contribution will resonate on for generations and this album will continue to stand as ground zero for that explosion.