Ramones: America's Punk Pioneer

    No American punk band was more influential in the 1970's and 1980's than Queens, New York based band "The Ramones". Since forming in 1974, the band became the first truly iconic American punk band and they were a heavy influence on followers in the punk and pop punk scene. While each member's last name was Ramone on stage, none of the band members were related (they assumed pseudonyms on stage). The band toured virtually nonstop since 1976, the year of their first album's release, for about 20 years before calling it quits after the Lollapalooza festival in 1996. While each founding member is now dead, they left a legacy on the punk world that has been nearly impossible to match.
    The band members met in the Queens area in the early 1970's. John Cummings, Douglas Colvin, and Jeffry Hyman formed the band in 1974 with friend Thomas Erdelyi as manager. The band members assumed the names Johnny, Dee Dee, and Joey Ramone, respectively. As band members found difficulty singing and playing their instruments, though, Erdelyi became known as Tommy Ramone and took over the drummer role while Joey went to lead vocals. With bassist Dee Dee and guitarist Johnny, they began creating an assault of short but aggressive songs that earned them a wide audience across the Queens area, as they would often play the now renowned CBGB club in New York early in their career. Their debut album "Ramones" came out in 1976 and included the famous "Blitzkrieg Bop", which still stands as one of the greatest hard rock songs of all time. They continued their assault on the punk world, while not achieving much in terms of commercial success, throughout the remainder of the 1970's.
    As the years went on, the Ramones began shifting to a more pop influenced sound, best showcased by the song "I Wanna Be Sedated", which was featured on the 1978 album "Road to Ruin". The band then began to have tensions and many new members were necessary, leaving the band's future in serious doubt. In the 1980's, Ramones songs became much more politically angry, which was a major driving force behind the pop punk revolution (particularly in 2004, which will be discussed in a later post). However, original band members Tommy and Dee Dee had already left, and talks of disbanding began to erupt. The Ramones played their last show in 1996, still with the same aggression and style that they had 20 years prior. Since then, all 3 original members have died, but the band's sound, attitude, and demeanor became one of the most important influences on the first wave of pop punk bands in the United States, which will be introduced in the next post. This blog would not be possible without the Ramones, however, as without them, the pop punk sound may have never been what it is today.




RELFECTION QUESTIONS:
1. Were the Ramones actually Ramones?
2. Which album first showed the shift to a more pop influenced sound?
3. What elements did the Ramones have as a band that influenced the modern pop punk sound?




CITATION:
PARELES, J. (1995, August 9). POP REVIEW - POP REVIEW - The Ramones, 20 Years Later and Still the Same - Review - NYTimes.com. NY Times Advertisement. Retrieved February 18, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/09/arts/pop-review-the-ramones-20-years-later-and-still-the-same.html...
 

The Postpunk Era: Predecessor to Pop Punk

     Throughout the 1970's, punk rock was a phenomenon throughout the developed world, with its main influence in the United Kingdom. There, bands like the Clash and the Sex Pistols satisfied the angry youth with their up-tempo, powerful music. As the years wore on, however, the influence dwindled, and many of the bands either broke up, or changed their musical style to gain commercial popularity (otherwise known as "selling out", which will be a commonly used term throughout the upcoming months). The breakup of the Sex Pistols in 1978 was a dagger to the punk community, and ultimately gave birth to the postpunk era. 


     Although many people felt hopeless that this new era would usher in another revolution, postpunk became a more commercial-friendly and intelligent genre. Ex-Sex Pistols singer John Lydon went on to form the band "Public Image Limited" shortly after the 1978 breakup, and they showcased this new element by creating a "more resilient and fertile, albeit less gloriously iconic, music," with fresh ideas and the same youth angst that took the earlier bands to the top. As years went on, industrial and goth genres began the glorification of pain within their music, as bands such as Nine Inch Nails became popular in the 1980's.
     
     In recent years, postpunk has actually seen a revival, mainly within the boundaries of the Indie rock bands such as Interpol and the Killers. For now, though, we are mainly concerned with what came after the original postpunk era ended in 1984. This era gave birth to many of the genres that still live and thrive today, such as ska and grunge. As for the third important follower of postpunk, I think you can infer that by yourself...


REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
1. Why do you think postpunk was more influential to the pop punk bands than original punk rock?
2. What do you think the quote "more resilient and fertile, albeit less gloriously iconic," means?
3. When an artist changes their style significantly to adapt to the times, do you consider it "selling out" or just taking the necessary steps to musically thrive? Why?






CITATION:


Reed, A. S. (2007, May). Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984. Popular Music and Society, Volume 30, Number 2. Retrieved February 11, 2012, from the SIRS Issues Researcher database. 

Punk Goes Pop: Introduction

It's been a known fact for so many years that music has the ability to change lives. It can create inspiration for people, or give them feelings of power and happiness. Punk rock quickly emerged as one of the most extreme types of music, but gave millions of people around the world a feeling of aggression and empowerment. Two albums released in 1994 informed the world of a new genre which had already been growing since the late 1980's: pop punk. These two albums, "Smash" by the Offspring and "Dookie" by Green Day were classics that took the extreme punk rock sound made famous by 1970's bands such as the Ramones and the Clash, and tweaked it to be a more melodic, catchy genre with  endless three-chord riffs and the occasional guitar solo. In this blog, we will be closely examining the evolution of pop punk music in the United States and its impact on the population, with close emphasis on influential artists such as Green Day, blink-182, and Paramore. Let the "RIOT!" begin.


ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How has the genre of pop punk music evolved in America and impacted the population?