August, 1974. New York City. Scattered Bowery residents pay little notice as four young men from Forest Hills, Queens, enter a small club called CBGB in Manhattan's Lower East Side... All of their songs are very loud, very short, and very fast. In fact, the only thing separating them are the bass player's shouts of "1-2-3-4" during the milliseconds in which they stop...Their first public performance draws no attention from newspapers, radio, or television and, in point of fact, is witnessed by a grand total of five warm bodies - six if you count the bartender's dog. No matter. From this moment forward, rock & roll will never again be the same.
Thus sayeth the cover of the 1988 LP of Ramones Mania, in a notable confluence of the artistic and the political. This would be called a greatest-hits compilation if the Ramones had had any real hits in their career. The songs are, still, very loud and short and fast. Although a "long-playing" LP has space for about 40 minutes of music, the first record (of two) contains 16 songs - all but one are under three minutes in length, with three under two minutes.
And the last of those four young men has passed away. Drummer Tommy Ramone died at the age of 65, not quite 40 years after that CBGB gig.
Strauss & Howe identify the peak of that Awakening with Nixon's resignation in August 1974. In 11 short years since Kennedy's assassination, there had been the Gulf of Tonkin, a wider war, a summer of love, a long hot violent 1968, the inauguration of Kennedy's bitter rival, men on the moon, Kent State, a break-in, an oil shock, and much more.
In music alone there was the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, with their continued influence through their break-up in 1970 ; Jimi and Janis and Mister Mojo Risin; Altamont and Woodstock and The Newport Pop Festival, and The Dark Side of the Moon. And with the Ramones came punk, and everything changed again.
And the last of those four young men has passed away. Drummer Tommy Ramone died at the age of 65, not quite 40 years after that CBGB gig.
Strauss & Howe identify the peak of that Awakening with Nixon's resignation in August 1974. In 11 short years since Kennedy's assassination, there had been the Gulf of Tonkin, a wider war, a summer of love, a long hot violent 1968, the inauguration of Kennedy's bitter rival, men on the moon, Kent State, a break-in, an oil shock, and much more.
In music alone there was the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, with their continued influence through their break-up in 1970 ; Jimi and Janis and Mister Mojo Risin; Altamont and Woodstock and The Newport Pop Festival, and The Dark Side of the Moon. And with the Ramones came punk, and everything changed again.
The inside sleeve of Ramones Mania continues the history of the band with the following from Joey Ramone:
In 1974, there was nothing to listen to anymore. Everything was tenth generation Led Zeppelin or tenth-generation Elton John, or overproduced, or just junk. Everything was long jams, long guitar solos. We missed songs that were short and exciting and ... good!The Ramones, while influential, didn't grow musically. The above succinctly describes their musical goals. This meant that their later songs sound much like their early songs, giving people little incentive to continue following them. They successfully rebelled against the status quo, however, and will be missed.
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