In most respects they were an unabashed hit, welcomed in true conquering-hero style by the sold-out 2000-seat Ritz audience. Befitting the old soldiers that they are, their noise level and intensity rivaled that of the entire Meadowlands Arena’s recent return of their native son, Bon Jovi. The Ramones had the crowd in the palms of their hands before they even hit the stage. And the almost-middle-aged fathers of punk, hardcore and speed metal, with their hard-driving 1-2-3-4 tempos proved they can still dish it out and take it in classic punk style.
The Ramones are an American institution, not unlike Classic Coke. Serious rock music consumers, long familiar with countless imitators and off-shoots, know the real thing when they see it. Unfortunately, most other people still don’t. Although the sound and style that the Ramones literally invented has gone on to inspire hoards of global headbangers, they themselves remain small-timers within the music business, never getting their long overdue “big break.”
Part of this equation is the fact that the Ramones are yet another band that chose innovation over laughing all the way to the bank, and therefore have little money to place in the latter. Hence the constant touring. Even with a terrific live show that has gotten better and slicker as the years progressed, and a recent release, “Animal Boy,” which got a decent promotional push by Warner Brothers, they have still failed to make a dent in the charts.
Which is too bad, because the band definitely deserves someone’s lifetime achievement award, just for their dedication alone.
Instrumentally they were years ahead with their do-it-yourself low budget production and arrangements, sonically powered by their minimal, but orchestral guitars and bass. Coupled with their demented pop sensibility – kinda like the Monkees gone very, very wrong – and their blitzkrieg-like live delivery, the Ramones' sound became the punk standard – along with their ripped jeans, sneakers, T-shirts, and black leather jackets. According to legend, there was no punk in England until their 1976 gig at London’s Roundhouse. After that gig, there were bands on every block almost overnight, with everyone from the Clash to Sid Vicious & the Sex Pistols emulating their divine inspiration in both appearance, musical sound and attitude.
But the raw, revolutionary feeling that originally made the Ramones a special band is no longer there. Not because the band has changed that much, but because music in general has. These punk rock “Johnny Appleseeds” from Forest Hills Queens seem safe and tame today in comparison with some of their proteges in-arms, both good (Cro-Mags, Murphy’s Law, Megadeath) and bad (Die Kruezen, Discharge). Where the Ramones were once seen as dangerous street-wise outsiders in a music business made of Fleetwood Macs and Peter Framptons, today they are regarded as almost clean-cut professionals, playing homogenized punk rock.
The Ramones were an integral part of the major industry changes that Punk brought to rock and roll. They opened the door to the unknown, but were left outside in the mad rush that ensued – a fact which might make a real Ramone shrug and crack open another beer. Unlike the dark, self-analytical nature of many of their musical offspring, Joey & Company remain unassuming party animals to the end, like punk Peter Pans who still find fun in the toys of their youth.
Their Ritz performance was appropriately introduced by their hilarious video, “Something To Believe In” – an ultra-spoof of the recent rash of charity benefit concerts like “Live Aid” and “Hands Across America.” With their own “Ramones Aid” appeal “Hands Across Your Face,” their brilliant fake promo was complete with guest celebrity pitches (Weird Al Yankovic, Berlin, X), a “We Are The World” superstar sing-a-long, and soppy, sentimental camera work, playfully reminding us that in Ramonesland nothing is sacred, except of course, the Ramones.
Ten years is a long time to retain a “have-to-use-only-three chords-because-we-can’t-play-any-better” sound, and the Ramones are much more technically competent these days. They also seem to have borrowed more than a little from the high energy commercial metal market (a la the zany Ratt/David Lee Roth school of rock).
Their grand entrance, to the accompaniment of a marching band drum beat, with volumes of billowy smoke illuminated by multi-colored spotlights, was more reminiscent of the start of a Motley Crue show than the Ramones’ own classic no-frills gigs at CBGBs – as were guitarists Johnny and Dee Dee’s rockstar risers at each end of the stage. The Metal connection was further emphasized by the Ramones loud, loud collection of Marshall stacks, which has greatly expanded their sonic output over the years to ear-splitting levels. And while mechanical dragons, robots and other stage extravaganzas are still way beyond the Ramones’ financial reach (and probably taste), they did their best with a light show that was almost as frantic as the band themselves – and reflected their same “fuck you” punk sensibility by flashing directly into the audience, causing one to emerge from their show blind as well as deaf.
The group played a standard set of new-album-plus-energized-old-hits (among them “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Rock ‘n Roll High School,” “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” and “Lobotomy”), all with a much slicker version of the explosive, stripped-down punk energy that has kept them going for years.
The songs are still the same power-packed hook-laden three minute masterpieces of pop that they always were, performed with the appropriate amount of sound and fury. Their comic book approach to life is also still prevalent, along with their strange absurdist sense of humor – the very same attitude that created such punk classics as “I Wanna Be Sedated,” “Cretin Hop,” “Beat on the Brat” and “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment.”
Their famous “Gabba Gabba Hey” picket sign made its expected appearance during “Pinhead” towards the climax of the set, and was temporarily kidnapped by one of the many youthful stage-divers who engaged in a war of sorts with the on-stage bouncers, who for some reason were insistent about preventing people from jumping than at most Ritz shows (higher than usual insurance premiums perhaps?)
The Ramones kept their fast and furious guitar onslaught in high gear throughout the set and their multiple encores, which included more greats like “Rockaway Beach,” “Do You Wanna Dance,” and the Johnny Thunders co-creation, “Chinese Rocks.”
The Ramones are, and always will be the original archetypal punk band, and like other innovators and originals (Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Motorhead) they unfortunately seem destined to keep on slugging it out on the road forever, while generic one-hit-wonders hit the jackpot overnight, cashing in the current trends. But in the eyes of the forever faithful, myself included, just having the Ramones around is definitely something to be thankful for.
This review originally published by The East Coast Rocker on November 26, 1986.
