Do you REALLY like The Ramones?!

[ladylydon]

I opened this thread because I really wanna know what’s your opinion about The Ramones. Well. I DON’T like them. I never liked them. I don’t like their music. I hate their way of dressing.

For me, The Ramones are the punk version of The Beatles. They dressed in the same way. All of them. And in my opinion, they didn’t look revolutionaries or provocatives, [as the Sex Pistols look]
When I say to the people that I LOVE the Sex Pistols they twist the head, surprised, and always ask me the same:
Do you like The Ramones??
¬¬
Most of the people thinks that the Ramones were BETTER than the Sex Pistols and I can’t understand it!! Why they say it??
What’s your opinion about this situation??

Sorry for my bad English, u.u!!

[Snoogans4Jay]

ladylydon said:

I opened this thread because I really wanna know what’s your opinion about The Ramones. Well. I DON’T like them. I never liked them. I don’t like their music. I hate their way of dressing.

For me, The Ramones are the punk version of The Beatles. They dressed in the same way. All of them. And in my opinion, they didn’t look revolutionaries or provocatives, [as the Sex Pistols look]
When I say to the people that I LOVE the Sex Pistols they twist the head, surprised, and always ask me the same:
Do you like The Ramones??
¬¬
Most of the people thinks that the Ramones were BETTER than the Sex Pistols and I can’t understand it!! Why they say it??
What’s your opinion about this situation??

Sorry for my bad English, u.u!!

Nothing against the Ramones, I just never listened to them, nor do I intend to. I don't really see what they have to do with the Sex Pistols or why people ask that when one says one is a Pistols fan (people have asked me that too). Of course I am more a John fan period.

[anne]

No, I don't. But I have that very quickly with bands so I'll ignore them. And just leave them. And sometimes I'm going to like them after a while, but no.. Not at the moment.

[anne]

admin said:

ladylydon said:

I opened this thread because I really wanna know what’s your opinion about The Ramones. Well. I DON’T like them. I never liked them. I don’t like their music. I hate their way of dressing.

For me, The Ramones are the punk version of The Beatles. They dressed in the same way. All of them. And in my opinion, they didn’t look revolutionaries or provocatives, [as the Sex Pistols look]
When I say to the people that I LOVE the Sex Pistols they twist the head, surprised, and always ask me the same:
Do you like The Ramones??
¬¬
Most of the people thinks that the Ramones were BETTER than the Sex Pistols and I can’t understand it!! Why they say it??
What’s your opinion about this situation??

Sorry for my bad English, u.u!!

Nothing against the Ramones, I just never listened to them, nor do I intend to. I don't really see what they have to do with the Sex Pistols or why people ask that when one says one is a Pistols fan (people have asked me that too). Of course I am more a John fan period.

Well, it's just about the whole 'punk'thing. I don't think the Ramones are punk though.. But it fits in really well with other 'standard' punkbands. But I like a lot of punkbands and nobody asks me if I like the Ramones. XD

[kathy]

I have always liked the Ramones. Not as much as the Pistols mind you, but I liked them then and I like them today.

The Ramones sound is definitely different than the Pistols, who had a lot of rage and anger over the economic situation given the royals and the Queen's Jubilee. Meantime, generations of people lived in tenements, had a trash strike that went on for years, the whole "no future" idea for young people. Yes, we also had our struggles and people lived in poverty no doubt, but not to the extent over in the U.K. The scene for young people in the U.S. was different, we had other things to be mad about, but at least we didn't see a ton of trash piled up for years or have our electric turned off every other night!

The Ramones were arguably the most well-known of the American punk bands & the NY scene which was running parallel to what was happening over in the U.K. But if you ask me, the leaders of the pack over here were The Dead Kennedys on the west coast. But the Kennedys got started a couple years later than Joey & co., who were playing CBGB's etc. in the mid-70s, around the time the Pistols were getting together. I think that's why whenever the Pistols, the Clash and the other U.K. bands are discussed in TV specials (like the one VH1 classic has been playing), you'll see, meantime over in the U.S., here's the Ramones...

[Joe]

To answer the original question, I really like the Ramones. The Ramones have never claimed to be "punk" or part of any movement---music-wise, fashion-wise, or otherwise; they merely claim to have returned two- or three-chord rock-n-roll to America when the industry was pushing crap on the public. And they did it quite well, IMHO, & influenced a lotta bands that followed.

My feeling has always been that it takes different people to make a world & there's certainly room for all of the music that's out there. There's no sense in comparing the Ramones to the Pistols or anybody to anybody---unless one wants to do it for fun.

My "just-for-fun" comparison of the Ramones vs. the Pistols: Both played high-energy music with simple arrangements & atypical lyrics, so it's easy to see why a fan of one would assume that one is a fan of the other as well. The Ramones certainly never made an album as great as Never Mind the Bollocks, which I'd list in the top 5-10 of all time. On the other hand, as I stated on another thread here a while back, the Pistols had lost their song-writer, Glen Matlock, & with the benefit of hindsight, there's nothing in the histories of Lydon/Rotten, Jones, or Cook that suggests any great song-writing talent that woulda sustained the Pistols much longer. Thus, altho' they had one great album, it's highly unlikely that the Pistols woulda ever made as many good albums as the Ramones, who lasted a long time. One man's opinion.

[M!$H]

I really like the Ramones. They had the same tradition as the Pistols. They didn't necessarily know how to play their instruments when they first became a band. It was a band full of freaks too. Joey Ramone was one of the strangest people I have EVER read about.

The only reason that they don't seem as "revolutionary" is because they were in America. It wasn't like Britain. They weren't met with the resistance that the Pistols were met with. The Pistols were against a monarchy, in a society based in a different type of government than America. That will, of course, break societal differences in how things are reacted to (I phrased that badly, but hopefully, you all get the point.) In America, pretty much people allowed anything - especially in New York, where the Ramones were based! Anything was okay. It wasn't like England, where there were nationalists and monarchists etc. etc.

But yeah, I really love the Ramones. But then, I love all music. I listen to everything. And yes, that means pop, country, techno, heavy metal, PUNK, bluegrass, jazz, etc. The Ramones are just one of MANY bands I adore. The first however is the Pistols, but Ramones are one of my favorites after the Pistols and PiL.

[Joan D]

I can enjoy listening to the Ramones at times. Sometimes when I get too overloaded with crap stuff at work, listening to "I Want To Be Sedated" seems just right (though "No Fun" helps as well). I've always thought that their music had a sort of 50's sound to it - with a little more aggressive lyrics (don't remember beating on brats being sung about in the 50's).

I don't see a lot of similarities to the Sex Pistols. I would suppose they get lumped together & compared so often because they are both considered to be "punk" and both bands started out in the mid 70's. But I think "punk" means different things to different people & I doubt that either band started out trying to be punk (unlike some newer bands) as the term seems to have been created in an attempt to define what the younger bands were doing.

Seems like people have a real need to define who/what is best in all areas. I don't really see the point, especially for music. The music I choose to listen to at any given time is largely based on my mood & what I'm doing (working, cooking, cleaning, dancing, relaxing, conversing with friends, etc.). There isn't any band, or music genre that I could say I would want to listen to exclusively. That seems to me to be a pretty boring way to live.

I can say that I am more "into" the Sex Pistols than the Ramones - obvious by my presence on this site. However, that is just because I find John, in particular, to be a very interesting person, regardless of the music.

Joan

[Johanna]

Well, I like some of their songs but it´s not like I am their fan and in fact I don´t listen to these songs very often. I will always think that the Pistols were BETTER!!! The Ramones are very popular, made many albums and lasted more than the Pistols did. But I believe it´s better to have one GREAT album, with all these great songs than many albums with just some good songs. At least for me it is better. And yes, when I say I like very much The Pistols the next question is - Oh, do you like The Ramones too??

[johnnysgirl]

I don`t like the Ramones but I respect them... and NO::: the Sex Pistols never copied the Ramones they just happen to be from the same period... that`s all

[jrotten]

I like The Ramones but I love the Sex Pistols!
They sound so different, its weird that people compare them so much... I love the 70s music so I like many punk bands both from the NY scene and the UK. I want to go back in time to when it was GOOD music, I would do anything for it.

[mashrum]

I do like the Ramones! I think they produced lots of great, catchy, incredibly energetic songs. But I agree with jrotten, as I don't get why people keep comparing the Pistols to them, because they really sound a lot different. Pistols' songs are much slower, and the lyrics are also very unlike, as I guess each represents the culture they were living in. But I rate the Ramones as the best American punk band!

I was just watching the End of the Century yesterday, and I hope someone will here know this: How come that everyone (including Joe Strummer!) always says that the Clash and the Sex Pistols met the Ramones the Ramones' gig in London on 4 July 1976? I thought that the Pistols, supported by the Clash, played Black Swan Sheffield that day? Did they somehow manage to get to the both gigs?

[M!$H]

mashrum said:

I do like the Ramones! I think they produced lots of great, catchy, incredibly energetic songs. But I agree with jrotten, as I don't get why people keep comparing the Pistols to them, because they really sound a lot different. Pistols' songs are much slower, and the lyrics are also very unlike, as I guess each represents the culture they were living in. But I rate the Ramones as the best American punk band!

I was just watching the End of the Century yesterday, and I hope someone will here know this: How come that everyone (including Joe Strummer!) always says that the Clash and the Sex Pistols met the Ramones the Ramones' gig in London on 4 July 1976? I thought that the Pistols, supported by the Clash, played Black Swan Sheffield that day? Did they somehow manage to get to the both gigs?

I always assumed they went from one gig to the other. Like, Pistols played, Clash played, then went over to the Ramones' gig to bother them/check it out/party.

I should also point out that I love the way the Ramones dressed. Nothing is sexier than jeans and a plain white tee shirt with a leather jacket. I mean I like the Sex Pistols style, but jeans+tee+leather jacket is classic.

[mashrum]

Apr 7, 2008 17:54:07 GMT -5 M!$H said:

mashrum said:

I do like the Ramones! I think they produced lots of great, catchy, incredibly energetic songs. But I agree with jrotten, as I don't get why people keep comparing the Pistols to them, because they really sound a lot different. Pistols' songs are much slower, and the lyrics are also very unlike, as I guess each represents the culture they were living in. But I rate the Ramones as the best American punk band!

I was just watching the End of the Century yesterday, and I hope someone will here know this: How come that everyone (including Joe Strummer!) always says that the Clash and the Sex Pistols met the Ramones the Ramones' gig in London on 4 July 1976? I thought that the Pistols, supported by the Clash, played Black Swan Sheffield that day? Did they somehow manage to get to the both gigs?

I always assumed they went from one gig to the other. Like, Pistols played, Clash played, then went over to the Ramones' gig to bother them/check it out/party.

I should also point out that I love the way the Ramones dressed. Nothing is sexier than jeans and a plain white tee shirt with a leather jacket. I mean I like the Sex Pistols style, but jeans+tee+leather jacket is classic.

Thanks for the answer!! It looks like John doesn't know either - but he seemed angry about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame book:

Reading the transcript of John's recent interview with Sirius Radio reminded us of something we saw written in the official ($29.95) 'Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum Guide Book'.

Here's what their book says:

July 1976
The Ramones perform at The Roundhouse in London. They are approached by future members of The Clash, Pretenders, Damned and Sex Pistols, and asked how to form a band.

'How to form a band?' Oh really? Here's the truth of the matter straight from the horses mouth:

"… the very night The Ramones were at this Roundhouse thing, I was actually playing a live gig at Sheffield, alright, the Sex Pistols were already up and at it mate, so it’s historically incorrect. It’s a lie."

On July 4th 1976 the Sex Pistols (and The Clash) played the Black Swan, Sheffield. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are blatantly re-writing history. How can the Sex Pistols have anything to do with lies like that? Of course, we know better, but thousands of visitors to that museum are being mislead. And it's just not good enough.

and:

Tully: What of this story, I think it was in the recent Ramones movie, of this moment when The Ramones come and play in England and you and members of The Clash break in and hang out with them back stage.

JL: Hello? The implication is that none of us were in bands at the time yet somehow we what arranged a coach party and we all just broke in together, like sheep in a field. How can they do that? You know you can tell there is no Ramones left alive for them to be running off with a plot like that. That doesn’t make sense even. It doesn’t make any practical, logical sense. This is nonsense and bollocks and again it’s a lie to sell The Ramones’ story. Well you know what, look at “The Filth and Fury” the Sex Pistols story and you don’t be seeing us playing that game on anyone. Alright. We stand by our own merits and they should too. It lessens The Ramones, it lessens them. It doesn’t make them better, and anyone who goes along nonsense like that you know, kiss my ass.

Yeah, hello. Somebody just reminded me that the very night The Ramones were at this Roundhouse thing, from that film, I was actually playing a live gig at Sheffield, alright, the Sex Pistols were already up and at it mate, so it’s historically incorrect. It’s a lie. It’s a lie. I wouldn’t normally even bother to deal with it but we’re having a good talk here and it’s important for you to understand what is and isn’t in life. You know, I can’t be bothered to live a lie. And I don’t think anyone should and if you need to propagate a bands mythology around lies there can’t be too much substance there, can there.

But anyway, Ramones are great and you're right about those ripped-up jeans and leather jackets - classic!



Gabba Gabba Hey!

[mojofilter]

I have nothing against the Ramones. I just dont think that they are the punk origins or whatever they've been named. They're ok. I have always thought that the Sex Pistols are the first punk rock band & I wont change my mind. You see, if you read/listen carefully to everything Lydon & Co have portrayed you should understand that the sex pistols are the first and THE ONLY punk rock band ever. Just my opinion. All the others are just...well....bands that try to be "punk" but are not. Oh, by the way, I love Green Day. How ironic, isn't it? But it has nothing to do with them being "punk" or whatever. They just have a special place in my heart.