the ramones first album demos 1975

How these recordings have come to light is miracle of the times, given that it was probably only ever on a cassette in the first place. This set of demos by The Ramones recorded in 1975 was to eventually become their first album.
As raw and lo-fi as it is those chainsaw guitars and snotty vocals are all in place some two years before their debut album is released. Some of the songs sound a bit slower or even in different keys but within those couple of years and CBGB's later they would be tighter and faster and make one of the most important albums of the the 1970's and inspire a new era in rock and roll.
Here's the track listing with the time each track begins -

1. I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement Demo 00:00
2. 53rd & 3rd Demo 02:27
3. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend Demo 04:50
4. Judy Is A Punk Demo 06:39
5. Loudmouth Demo 08:20
6. Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue Demo 10:40
7. I Can't Be Demo 12:22
8. Today Your Love Tomorrow The World Demo 14:18
9. I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You Demo 16:29
10. I Don't Wanna Be Learned I Don't Wanna Be Tamed Demo 18:22
11. You Gonna Kill That Girl Demo 19:25
12. What's Your Name Demo 22:09
13. Chainsaw Demo 24:58
14. You Should Never Open That Door Demo 26:54

the last ramone

It's become a rather odd thing in the past few years that an obit for a musician should find it's way broadcast on the day by the BBC midnight news. It doesn't show up anywhere else in the news slots just the midnight news or maybe the hours after. Perhaps they think it's the time when those that might be interested in the passing of a musician might be listening to the radio. The night owl news.

So it was on Saturday night with the announcement that Tommy Ramone had died. And what a miserable thing it is to know that 3 of these lives were all ended with cancer as the cause. Dee Dee's death being from a heroine overdose in 2002.

And for those not aware of the other members deaths some years back, the sombre voiced BBC announcer informed us that Tommy was the last of the original members of the Ramones.
Damn it. There shouldn't be a time when there just isn't a Ramone anymore. It's like part of rock and roll has gone. Whether you were a long time fan of their music or not hardly anyone one could say they hadn't heard or known of the Ramones. They represented an image and sound of rock and roll that came from it's past and still perceived today. What is rock and roll without buzzing guitars, leather jackets and a snotty vocal.
It starts with a young Elvis in a biker jacket on a Harley Davison, to the Beatles in the Cavern Club and Hamburg, to the arrival of the Ramones themselves at The London Roundhouse in 1976, and where every young punk Londoner who was anyone packed the iconic venue and became immediately influenced by them and the sound and image of a new era in rock and roll. Now forward 4 decades to the Opening Ceremony of The Olympic Games in 2012 and you'll see the Arctic Monkeys play rock and roll in much the same way and dressed in leathers. You can similarly name anyone of hundreds between those decades. Sure it's different lyrics, and a different tune but the song remains the same.

The Ramones represented all of that like some cartoon characterisation of every rock and roll band you've ever wanted to see. Their songs were intelligent yet encapsulated like a graphic novel. Their sound was a wall of sound driven at relentless pace in 2 and 3 minute chunks with the only the shout of "1..2..3..4" between each number. Phil Spector wanted to produce them and they turned him down flat after a day or two in the studio with him. That's how great the Ramones were. Not even Lennon managed that one.

Tommy Ramone was a producer for them first and foremost before they realised he was also the only drummer to be able to stay the pace with them on kit. So through their classic years of 1974 until 78 Tommy held the drum stool and then went back to producing them after that. But he also always stayed a musician. In his latter years he played in a bluegrass-based folk duo called Uncle Monk of all things. Which sounds a might unexpected... from punk to blue grass? How does that work?
Maybe the resonance of the Ramone's early years playing at CBGB's (Country, Blue Grass and Blues) returned to Tommy in his later years.

Tommy :
"There are a lot of similarities between punk and old-time music. Both are home-brewed music as opposed to schooled, and both have an earthy energy. And anybody can pick up an instrument and start playing."
WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE

See that right there. It sort of sums up the Ramones.
Anybody can pick it up.. and thousands did. But no one ever sounded quite like the Ramones.

So long Tommy. You made a difference.

RAMONES - Live December 31st, 1977

the ramones on phil spector

The notion that Phil Spector could work with The Ramones on an album seemed like a liaison made in punk heaven. The groups natural guitar wall of sound enhanced by the experience and genius of the great American wall of sound producers? What could go wrong? Surely nothing could stop what would have been one of rocks great partnerships.
The following interview with the band puts it all in perspective. The visionary genius of Spector is now a nightmare in punk hell. The band, mainly Dee Dee and Johnny, accompanied by a rather glum and silent Joey, tell it how it was.
"we didn't know how difficult it was to work with the guy before we stepped into it... we found out."
"and I never met anyone like him and I hope I... ya know."

the ramones backstage

This Ramones footage has a section with them being interviewed backstage at a Minnesota PBS show in January 1978, which is unusual in itself but there's also fascinating and rare view of guitarist Johnny and bass player Dee Dee warming up in the dressing room before the gig. It looks and sounds like it's un-amplified which really highlights the tight synchronisation they had when working a tune over and proof enough The Ramones could have played on banjo's and it would have sounded good.
The on stage live tracks are “Rockaway Beach” , “California Sun” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” and they tear through them with their customary intent.
In 1978, and despite their success in England during the formative punk years they were still on the support bill at gigs and were still largely under valued, likewise here in Minnesota they were also playing support slot on the show. The large percentage of the audience seeming somewhat docile and still not grasping what this new punk thing was actually all about. Some even rejecting it out right. The commentators tone at the end takes almost a parental (or condescending) view as he asks the TV viewer to "give it a try".
The Ramones were just about as good as it got in that or any other era. They were nice guys too, as you'll hear.

motorhead box set

Lemmy Kilmister recently explained he went "bug nuts" when he knew the Motorhead Box Set was selling for $600 and advised all fans not to buy.
Which is just one reason why Lemmy is legend.
And here is 1 minute and 18 seconds of Lemmy with The Ramones.
Which is another.

joey ramone

1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. Joey Ramone's birthday. Born 19th May 1951.
When The Ramones played the London Roundhouse in July 1976, Joey Ramone's shouted count-in to the song was to forecast a sea change in UK rock and from then on copied by countless punk bands up and down the country.
The Ramones stood in front of a stack of Marshall amps and created a wall of rock and quick fire songs the like of which hadn't been heard before in the capital. Anyone who had the news on these New York punks wanted in for this gig.
It was one of those seminal moments in the evolution of pop and rock that could only have been equaled by the Beatles playing the Cavern Club some 15 years earlier or Hendrix playing the Marquee in 1967.
This excellent short documentary has some rare footage of the event and stories from those that were there at the time. Notice as influential as The Ramones were it would be others who went on to reap the greater commercial financial rewards.
Though the rock and roll legend and quality still lay with The Ramones.

cbgb's

Sticker plastered, dark, sweaty, beer swilled, smoke filled, and that was just going down the stairs to CBGB's !
The club had started in 73 on New York's East Side and promised in it's title Country, Bluegrass and Blues, by 1977 it become the home of Punk. In it's 70's heyday it inspired the first punk club in the UK, The Roxy. Malcolm McLaren had nicked most of the CBGB bands visual ideas and fed the early Sex Pistols with the results.
The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, Mink DeVille, The Voidoids, Cramps, Blondie, The Shirts, and Talking Heads all began their less than big break in the place. The breaks for these bands came later but CBGB's is where the reputation was earned. Some were good musicians and artists. Some just weren't. It didn't matter though, it was owned as much by the audience as it was by anyone. Freaks, misfits, dropouts, bums and rock and roll fans had made the club their own. In later years it mainly become known for just hardcore punk and metal.
CBGB's closed in October 2006 with the owner Hilly Kristal in a mountain of debt. He tried to move it to another location but died before he could open.
It seems only fitting then, that one day after the anniversary of Joey Ramone's death on April 15 2001, to show a film of the club in 1977 with The Ramones, resplendent against a backdrop of Marshall stacks.