Ramones

Ramones were an American punk rock group who formed in New York City in 1974 and broke up in 1996. All the members of the group had stage names which replaced their real last names with "Ramone." They were one of the first punk bands. Some others were The Clash, Sex Pistols, and Misfits. Three of the four founding members of the Ramones died within eight years of the band breaking up.

Ramones
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, US
Genres	Alternative rock, Punk rock, pop punk, hard rock
Years active	1974 - 1996
Past member(s)	Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Marky Ramone, Richie Ramone, C.J. Ramone

The original lineup was made up of Joey on drums, Johnny on guitar and Dee Dee on bass and vocals. Tommy was their manager. Then Dee Dee said he was unable to sing while playing bass, so Tommy got Joey to sing and then played drums himself, leaving Dee Dee to backup sing. Later, Tommy left the band and was replaced on drums by a new member, Marky. Eventually Marky was fired and then replaced by another drummer, Richie. After that, Dee Dee left the band to produce his own rap album. C.J. joined the band as their new bassist.

Their first album "Ramones" is now a classic of early punk rock. The songs are short, the melodies simple and the text is often made up of 2 or three phrases only. Their live concerts were legendary, extremely loud and very short. They played song after song, only interrupted by Dee Dee's (and later, C.J.'s) shouts of "one, two, three, four!".

The Ramones never had big commercial success. Among their best-known songs today are "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Wanna Be Sedated." Now they are seen as one of the most important punk rock bands. Several rock bands, including Nirvana and Green Day were influenced by the Ramones.

The Ramones had their first gigs at the club CBGB in New York. The letters "CBGB" stand for Country, BlueGrass, Blues. The club was opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal. CBGB, soon afterward, became a place where new wave and punk rock bands played. These included Patti Smith Group, Blondie, Talking Heads and many others. From the early 1980s onward, CBGB was known for hardcore punk.