I was walking down the Bowery in 1976. I heard a band playing a breakneck version of CALIFORNIA SUN from inside a white-stuccoed bar. I walked inside, paid my admission, and walked to the stage, mesmerized by the leather-jacketed quartet. In less than a minute I was hooked by the Ramones and still am to this day.
I think this is the way the ramones should sound. All this remastered shit is wrong. It's particular type of music that is elevated by that bad bar acoustics effect.
Sounds like crap. Shame no clean record of the event exists. You can blow out your amplifier to get the effect later if you want. One thing is the recording, another is special effects. Rocket to Russia is great! Lots of bubblegum harmonies and effects. The recording of distorted guitar is clean. Lots of careful tiny effects too. Listen to their live "It's Alive" album LOUD and clean, among my favorite live albums. They could have covered the cheesy ALC mic with a sandbag or something. Too bad. We'll never have good audio with this remarkable performance.
Had the good fortune of seeing them in 85'. Late in the show, my buddy yells out "I wanna be sedated". Someone near us says they already played that. Yeah...
The first time I saw their 1976 s/t album' sleeve, on a mag, I was hooked: "Gotta have that record!!" Good ol' days, when Rock music (Punk included) was really exciting... When finally I found the album, the first night played it, I think, 10 times (Poor Mum & Dad...)
The raw power is mind blowing. I hope all those young kids wandering around in Ramones T shirts realise they are promoting one of the genre-shifting bands of all time. I am honoured to have seen them with this lineup. RIP Tommy and the rest.
It’s a shame because all the kids wearing Misfits and Ramones shirts don’t even know who they are 9 times out of 10. So many times I’ve complimented people wearing those shirts and they have no idea who the bands are.
I wear my ramones and Sex Pistols shirt everyday pretty much, and i love them those are the only two bands I listen to. My mom lived in nyc during the punk movement and hung out at cbgb and became really great friends with the owner hilly and the ramones. I wear the shirts to pay my respect. Truly a one time band
I can’t even speak in this comment section, I’m so blown away. This is what RU-vid is for. They were the greatest band of all time. I don’t think anything could make me happier than this band, in all of existence. Every song, every member, every note, no matter how messed up, was always perfect no matter what. They were nothing short of a pure force of nature and a miracle of god. I’m almost in tears right now just clicking this video, which I’ve watched for years at this point. And I wasn’t even a part of their generation. But for over 10 years now, I have known their greatness and perfection. Thank god for this website, and thank god for the ramones!!
In 1979, I was twelve. I went to a movie theater and saw Rock N Roll High School. I became a punk that day. My lesson was to blow up the school and dance.
I love it, Johnny fucks up a chord @ 3:40 and Dee Dee looks over at him. I just imagine this scene being in reverse more times than not.......LOL RIP to all the guys, gone way too soon.
@@edumaicol4141 That's your opinion...your opinion is of no more importance than mine.....I like the Ramones but they just couldn't string a career together...I may be wrong but I think I read somwhere that they played a gig every 3 days for almost 25 years..they played everywhere on the planet and yet they couldn't make people buy their records...I think the Ramones had a huge impact and inspired a lot of bands over a 20+ year period...but the Sex Pistols did the same in 18 months
these guys were so ahead of their times. this look, sound and style did not get rolling with english bands until two years after this. and this scene is still current today. classic.
"This style"? English Punk was different from American. The Clash and the Pistols were much better bands than the Ramones, they were actual musicians. Look at how diverse the music the Clash made was, the Ramones never changed and Johnny Ramone used to brag about how he never practiced when he wasn't on the road because he didn't want to get any better. I mean I like the Ramones but they made some real shit records in the mid 80s-early 90s.
@@Vichedges first off, the Sex Pistols suck major dog ass, and second, by you saying that the Ramones never changed their sound I know that you haven't listened to a full album past Road to Ruin. They diversified quite a bit. the ranged from true doo wop to heavier stuff, I suggest that you truly listen to what they put out, you'll be surprised.
@Jason Allen Yeah Pistols were such "actual musicians" that they needed so much in-studio help to get their first (and only real album) off the ground and finished. Not to mention the decision to bring-in a non-musicians in Sid Vicious, simply because he was "pretty." The Sex Pistols were pretty much the Punk Rock version of a boy band - which btw, doesn't happen without Malcolm McLaren's visit to NY where he saw the Punk rock underground scene being spearheaded by The Ramones. ;) The Clash wouldn't be a thing without The Ramones themselves; they'll tell you this outright. And if you for some reason don't believe them, just look at their early stuff, wearing jackets similar to the Ramones and copying Dee Dee's rapid, tempo-irrelevant "1-2-3-4" before every song. Yes, The Clash progressed musically, but they did so, going away from Punk. The Ramones didn't change because they had no desire to. They had no particular artistic ambition, pretentious or otherwise, they simply stayed Punk - which is not suppose to be viewed as a negative in Punk, btw. The acoustic guitars, poppier songs and Phil Spector experiments were just them wanting to get more radio play (that they found extremely difficult to get in the US) - something not helped when they were lumped in with the Sex Pistols as "unsavory, obscene Punk bands that spit on crowds" in the US. Nothing here to hold against The Ramones, or laud over them in comparison to your two examples.
@@StarryStarryNocturne I didn't read that whole mess but you're an idiot, nobody played on the Pistols record but Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Rotten and Sid is allegedly buried deep in the mix somewhere. The Pistols were a boy band lol? Fucking idot. BTW the Ramones did have a LOT of help on their records. Johnny was pretty limited playing wise and they brought in outside guitarists to play lead and the trickier songs. I've read Dee Dee didn't even play on some of the later Dee Dee era Ramones records, but I don't know if that's true or not. I do know they used outside guitarists frequently. Here's Steve "Boy Band" Jones playing Perfect Day: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aYrPsq1zm6g.html What a hack.
Nuff said?...the Ramones were a very small band in terms of almost everything.....they have made some good songs but they didn't evolve....all their songs sounded the same...thank that right wing clown Johnny Ramone for their complete lack of record sales
There were bands around before them like MC5 and The Stooges, but I honest to God believe that without The Ramones, punk rock, or even Rock in general wouldn’t be the same. A solid argument can be made for The Ramones being the most influential band ever
I just read Danny Field's book "My Ramones" and as it turns out, this is not at Arturo Vegas loft nor was it filmed in 1975! It was filmed in 1976 at M.P.C.S TV studios.
The rhythm that Tommy creates is unique. People think because its primitive sounding that its simple, but the some of the hardest things to do in the world are simplest.
This is pretty cool. I once stood about 5 feet from Johnny for an entire show in early 1980 (1st Ave., Mpls.), and I think my ears just stopped ringing last week!
The same happened to me with IRON MAIDEN mk1 (Live in Italiy 1981), I was in front of the PA on the left of the stage. 😲 I saw the RAMONES, too, but in a big disco in Italy, which was... under a flats' building. They had to keep quite a low volume, but I saw the concert very close to the stage, again!
Ah, my old ancient heart is breaking all over again. But I shall never grow tired of watching/listening to these guys play. Ramones Forever! Rock in Peace Eternal and Blessed Be, Gentlemen.
This is a rare live performance before they got huge and the Ramones did give "Punk Rock" to the world. I love the quality , It's awesome ..just so nostalgic, If you lived through this era you would appreciate this. Todays squeaky clean digitalized world has nothing on these old recordings...Just awesome
Remembering Tommy and the rest of The Ramones. Always one of the VERY best, live and on record, true innovators and REAL rock and roll. Gone but not ever forgotten. Thanks for uploading this live footage, it's among my very favourites.
Actually, The Stooges were the first to give the world pure and raw punk (along with a long forgotten local band, The UP. They are far from the so-called proto-punk label that many like to pace on them. There were many proto-punk bands but the Stooges were the real deal before the word punk was even invented for their, in your face, aggressive brand of noise. The Ramones are OK but watered down in comparison to the late 60s / early 70s Stooges. It's sad that in that era so little of the Stooges was captured on film. Guess you had to be there but since obviously weren't I will respectfully disagree and respect your opinion.
Ad Pro As far as I recall most of the Punk bands in 76 and 77 were covering Stooges material and not The Ramones. The Stooges and Detriot is the birth of Punk. It's a fact except for New Yorkers who live in a fantasy world that it's the centre of the universe.
Ad Pro ".. any music journalist or music historian", from where? New York? Ask a few journalists and historians from Detroit and I think you'll get a different answer. I suggest you look up a few bands other than the Stooges from Detriot, especially a great band called Death. How about MC5? Detroit is the birth place of Punk, hands down. The evidience doesn't support your revisionist history mate. The Ramones were great, but not the original band you claim them to be.
first time I saw the Ramones the mosh pit got so crazy I had to carry one girl out over my shoulders and another under my chest! It changed my view of music forever! 1,2,3,4...
1st time I saw/heard of the Ramones was in 6th-7th grade (mid 80's). I was watching Rock n 'Roll High School on cable & this band just took over the screen. I was in LOVE from that second on!!! One, Two, Three, Four= Rock On Ramones. RIP
Caught them at a 200 seat club called the Coo Coo's Nest in Orange County California in '79. It was a Nonstop Assault of pure energy being played to the fans, who were glad to be there! Best Band Ever!
I guess at the time there was no way for them to know they’d become one of the most influential and iconic bands of all time. Crazy when you think about it.
Pascal Hubert Take it just as a curiosity. I had an Italian rock mag (1978), feat. an interview with the band, and Joey said the song he hated most was THE BEATLES' Hey Jude...
I read Johnnys autobiography "Commando". Fckin best book I ever read on a RnR guy. Just brilliant. It's not that long, but wow what a page turner. And he wrote it right before he died of cancer. So many things in that book that blew my mind.
I gave the Ramones a VHS tape I had of this show in Manchester 1989 on their UK tour. Joey and Johnny hadn't seen this recording for many years and had no personal copies. They eventually tracked down a much better version.
I love how the guitars are so distorted that it almost tricks you into thinking the fuzz is from the video quality. And about that quality, better than what I expected.
This comment enthralls me. I've been watching this video and imagining how cool it would be we were given a transmission from another galaxy, and the total contents of that transmission were simply these 8 minutes and 19 seconds of (and I say this with love in my heart) loud, unintelligible white noise music. That'd be so cool.
I remember when they first came out everyone thought they were a joke band, like something made for comedy and I remembered people thought the same thing about Elvis and the Beatles. When something so different comes out peoples initial reaction is they think they are being put on which is why I always thought comedy in rock is so incredibly important. Not to the point where the musicians tell jokes on stage, but to the point where they troll the audience. That's how you get originality. The B-52s were another band like that which is band John Lennon called the greatest group ever.
+Ka Boom I agree but just messing with the crowd is kind of stupid. I liked it when the heartbreakers would say that the beatles sucked or say profound things. That's when it's fun, but you have to learn how to do that. Some just talk and say meaningless or boring things.
Robert Dolan I’ve noticed you got something against England but that doesn’t mean you gotta go after their people calm down already trying to spread you’re “patriotism” dude
LOVE this video! Watch how fast Johnny strums DOWN (and never up!) on the guitar...who else can do that?! Power and explosion! Violence! All created by the Johnny....and that iss why he is rated as the 15th best Rock and Roll guitarist of all time by SPIN magazine.
Gringo Uh Marshall's came onto the American scene in the late 60's and Fender had been around since the early 50's in American rock so, your statement is completely false. Ampeg was also in music stores in the early 60's.
KY -I know what was available in the 70's -my comment was before the Ramones had Marshalls and Ampegs, as you'll notice here. By the first time I saw the Ramones, DeeDee had an SVT and the 8x10 cab and Johnny had a full Marshall stack and were loud!
This is the best Ramones video I've seen. It is so pure and they have a young passion that didn't have the ugliness of hate and the toll of drugs and eventually, the sense that it was a job.