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Ramones

May 15, 2014 by strictlyrock Leave a Comment

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The band Tangerine Puppets was started in Queens, New York City, by schoolmates John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi in 1966. The guys soon met German transplant Douglas Colvin as well as Jeffery Hyman. Colvin and Cummings had started to play together and recruited Hyman in 1974. Colvin became the band’s bassist and started going by the name Dee Dee Ramone. “Ramone” was a reference to the name “Paul Ramon,” which had been used by Paul McCartney as the Beatles were starting out. Following “Dee Dee’s” lead, drummer Hyman became Joey Ramone and lead guitarist Cummings became Johnny Ramone. Joey took over the band’s singing duties, and since this left the group’s rhythm section vacant, drummer Thomas Erdelyi joined the band and became Tommy Ramone.

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The aptly named “Ramones” performed for the first time on March 30th, 1974. The Ramones played New York City’s now legendary club, CBGB’s, for the first time on August 16th 1974. By the year’s end, the group had made more than 70 appearances at the venue. The band signed with Sire Records in 1975 and released their self-titled debut album “The Ramones,” on April 16th, 1976. Despite the fact that the record only made it to the #111 spot on the charts, it produced the songs “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” and the now famous “Blitzkrieg Bop.”

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With an album under their belts and a growing fan base, the Ramones ventured across the pond. The band played at London’s The Roadhouse on July 4th, 1976. Apart from widening their own appeal overseas, the Ramones helped nourish the seeds of Punk movement in the UK, which was defined by bands such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash. After returning home, the group played at The Roxy on Hollywood’s infamous Sunset Strip, and released their second album. “Leave Home,” hit stores on January 10th, 1977 and charted lower than its predecessor, only reaching the #148 spot.

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“Rocket to Russia” was released on November 4th, 1977. The record produced the songs “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” “Teenage Lobotomy,” and was very well received by fans and critics alike, placing #49 on the charts. The next year Tommy exited the band to focus on producing their records. Drummer Marc Bell, known as Marky, became the group’s drummer and the band released the album “Road to Ruin,” on September 22nd, 1978. The album included what is arguably the Ramones most famous song “I Wanna Be Sedated.” The band continued to record and release records, and after 1983’s “Subterranean Jungle,” Marky was replaced by Richard Reinhardt, who became Richie Ramone. The album “Too Tough to Die” was released on November 3rd, 1984 and included the songs “Too Tough to Die,” “Wart Hog,” and “Durango 95.” Richie left the in August of 1987 and Marky rejoined shortly afterwards.

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Founding member Dee Dee was replaced by Chistopher Joseph Ward who would be known as C.J. Ramone, in 1989. The Ramones continued to release albums throughout the early to mid 1990’s. The band embarked on its “Farewell Tour” which concluced on August 6th, 1996 at the Lollapalooza festival in Los Angeles, California. Remarkably, in less than 25 years the Ramones had performed a staggering 2,263 times securing their place in rock and roll history. Before this could be made official however, Joey Ramone lost his battle with cancer and died on April, 15th, 2001. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on February 24th, 2002. Sadly Douglas “Dee Dee” Colvin died of a drug overdose on June 5th of that same year. Shockingly, John “Johnny” Cummings, too, would succumb to prostate cancer on September 14th, 2004 leaving Thomas “Tommy” Erdelyi as the group’s only surviving founding member. Despite the fact that the Ramones never topped the charts, they left a lasting impression on music and pop-culture as a whole. They have been the inspiration for countless other groups, and have arguably helped shape the sound of today’s modern American Punk bands more than anyone else.

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100 Greatest Rock & Roll Bands

  1. The Beatles
  2. The Rolling Stones
  3. Led Zeppelin
  4. Jimi Hendrix
  5. Elvis Presley
  6. The Who
  7. U2
  8. Pink Floyd
  9. The Doors
  10. The Police
  11. Elton John
  12. Metallica
  13. AC/DC
  14. Van Halen
  15. Nirvana
  16. Guns N' Roses
  17. Santana
  18. The Allman Brothers Band
  19. Bon Jovi
  20. David Bowie
  21. Grateful Dead
  22. Rush
  23. Yes
  24. Black Sabbath
  25. Bob Dylan
  26. James Brown
  27. The Beach Boys
  28. Eric Clapton
  29. Fleetwood Mac
  30. The Eagles
  31. Bob Marley
  32. Van Morrison
  33. Bruce Springsteen
  34. The Clash
  35. Queen
  36. Janis Joplin
  37. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
  38. R.E.M.
  39. The Kinks
  40. Steely Dan
  41. Steve Miller Band
  42. Jethro Tull
  43. Tool
  44. The Scorpions
  45. Coldplay
  46. Stone Temple Pilots
  47. Rod Stewart
  48. Marilyn Manson
  49. Creedence Clearwater Revival
  50. KISS
  51. The Pretenders
  52. Green Day
  53. Aerosmith
  54. Tina Turner
  55. Pearl Jam
  56. Ted Nugent
  57. Pantera
  58. Motörhead
  59. Judas Priest
  60. ZZ Top
  61. Megadeth
  62. Motley Crue
  63. Alice Cooper
  64. Def Leppard
  65. Iron Maiden
  66. Billy Idol
  67. Journey
  68. Anthrax
  69. Rage Against the Machine
  70. Blue Oyster Cult
  71. Alice in Chains
  72. Genesis
  73. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  74. Chuck Berry
  75. Buddy Holly
  76. Little Richard
  77. Elvis Costello
  78. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  79. Sex Pistols
  80. Cream
  81. Frank Zappa
  82. Talking Heads
  83. Stevie Ray Vaughan
  84. Billy Joel
  85. The Band
  86. Ramones
  87. Lynyrd Skynyrd
  88. Jerry Lee Lewis
  89. Doobie Brothers
  90. Foo Fighters
  91. The Cure
  92. Soundgarden
  93. Iggy Pop
  94. Peter Gabriel
  95. The Byrds
  96. Traffic
  97. Deep Purple
  98. Blondie
  99. Velvet Underground
  100. Heart

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