The Ramones Live: 26 Songs In 54 Minutes

April 3, 2011 4:15 PM

The Ramones Live: 26 Songs In 54 Minutes. Recorded at the Palladium, NYC, January 7, 1978.
posted by milquetoast (79 comments total)

26 Songs In 54 Minutes

And only 3 chords!
posted by thanotopsis at 4:23 PM on April 3, 2011

The comments on that NPR page make YouTube seem tolerant.
posted by PHINC at 4:35 PM on April 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

The world needs more things like this.
posted by marxchivist at 4:37 PM on April 3, 2011

FWIW, this was recorded a week after the London stands that produced "It's Alive."
posted by mwhybark at 4:38 PM on April 3, 2011

This is the perfect way to start my day. Thanks!
AV Club gateway on The Ramones.

I think The Ramones are my perfect band. They can pack so much emotion and joy and snottiness in those little 3 chord songs. 'I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend' is the perfect love song. 'Pet Cemetary' preempts and betters psychobilly. 'Poison Heart' has got your favorite heartfelt ballad beat. They look like comic book characters, they write like pop stars and sing like punks... I can't get over how good they are and how happy they make me. i honestly don't understand why there aren't MORE bands who sound just like them. some of pop punk comes close, i guess. Australia has The Spazzys and they do it well but i dunno... we need more Ramones bands

i should start one
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 4:44 PM on April 3, 2011 [7 favorites]

The comments on that NPR page make YouTube seem tolerant.

Woah, you aren't kidding. I guess the Ramones aren't nearly bland enough for NPR.
posted by Forktine at 4:55 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

yeah, attacking a great band because one of the members was a Republican would never happen at Metafilter

(after my last breakup i went to a pub that was doing karaoke and belted out an awsome 'KKK Took My Baby Away')
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:01 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

They may have only known 3 chords, but they were the right 3 chords.

(obligatory link)
posted by 1970s Antihero at 5:01 PM on April 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

i need to order that Ramones box set with the comic book. and write my own Ramones comic. and be like The Ramones. i used to only listen to wordy folk but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now (still a Ramones link)
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:03 PM on April 3, 2011

Or as George Thorogood has said; "I only know three chords... but I know 'em COLD."
posted by R. Mutt at 5:08 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Lovecraft In Brooklyn is so on the money. The Ramones are one of those bands that proves that you don't need complicated chords or "deep" lyrics to make fucking great music. I think that anyone who aggressively hates on The Ramones must have a joyless soul and live a sad, miserable existance. I feel sorry for those people.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 5:10 PM on April 3, 2011 [6 favorites]

After The Beatles and Bob Dylan destroyed rock and roll by making it seem intelligent, it was necessary for The Ramones to come along and re-invent it. It makes me very, very happy that a concert from 1978 is still pissing off squares on NPR's website's comment section in 2011. The Ramones are dead, long live The Ramones. Gabba gabba hey motherfuckers.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 5:13 PM on April 3, 2011 [16 favorites]

Or as Lemmy said, "We only knew three chords but we arranged them pretty well."

(Speaking of Lemmy and the Ramones...)
posted by jeffen at 5:14 PM on April 3, 2011

Gabba. Gabba. Hey.
posted by jonmc at 5:24 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wish there was a band that made you realize that making great music didn't require anything more than passion, three chords and a love of the absurd.

Hope lies within. (three chords)

Ramones for fucking ever.
posted by Bighappyfunhouse at 5:25 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I still miss the Ramones. Great link!
posted by Ron Thanagar at 5:27 PM on April 3, 2011

I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard a Ramones song—High school Xmas party off of O'shaugnessy blvd. in SF, 1977. Life-changing event.
posted by Devils Rancher at 5:35 PM on April 3, 2011

After The Beatles and Bob Dylan destroyed rock and roll by making it seem intelligent

the cult of the simulated primitive is every bit as artistically self-conscious and pretentious as anything the beatles and bob dylan (not to mention yes or elp) ever did

a few bands playing like this was a good thing and rock and roll needed it at the time

thousands of bands doing it? - not so good - suddenly musicianship wasn't cool anymore and rock has yet to recover from that

i like the ramones but they're pretty limited to my ears - and in spite of what i said about simulated primitives, i don't think they were simulating their primitivism, which makes them better than a lot of the bands that followed them

i checked in joey when i was working at a motel in the mid 80s - he was very cool
posted by pyramid termite at 5:36 PM on April 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

thousands of bands doing it? - not so good - suddenly musicianship wasn't cool anymore and rock has yet to recover from that

why does it need to 'recover' from that? some musicanship is okay but i'd rather my rock raw and energetic. i don't think there's ENOUGH of that bleeding heart, primitive passion these days. i'm not talking about self-conscious no-wave noise. i'm talking about that sloppy joy. but you can't tell me the Ramones weren't pop craftsmen. they've got songs every bit as catchy as anything by Beach Boys or Big Star

but hey, it takes all kinds. Ed Kuepper started with the Saints and now plays experimental jazz

who are their heirs? seriously? why can't i see a Ramones style band every night of the week? i like the Descendants and the Buzzcocks but i haven't found many others
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:43 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

why does it need to 'recover' from that?

well, for one thing a lot of today's drummers can't keep a steady beat without the help of pro tools - that alone is going to choke rawness and energy
posted by pyramid termite at 5:51 PM on April 3, 2011

Lovecraft: The Queers are here.
posted by jeffen at 5:52 PM on April 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

well, for one thing a lot of today's drummers can't keep a steady beat without the help of pro tools - that alone is going to choke rawness and energy

hard to use pro tools live, which is where i see most punk
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 5:53 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh and before I miss this chance of a lifetime, let us not forget Teenage Bottlerocket.
posted by jeffen at 5:57 PM on April 3, 2011

well, punk just doesn't grab me like it did when it happened in the late 70s - it is what it is and for me it isn't enough anymore
posted by pyramid termite at 5:58 PM on April 3, 2011

I'm about half way through I Slept With Joey Ramone. There are some great stories in there. All this talk about rock -n- roll would probably make Joey laugh because he loved rock -n- roll. The old stuff.
posted by Sailormom at 6:03 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love the Ramones cause they are comic book characters. 3 cords. 4 colors. one shirt.
posted by The Whelk at 6:10 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

How many times did they count to 4?
posted by ardgedee at 6:12 PM on April 3, 2011

If drummers can't drum, wouldn't the rise of drum machines in the 80's be a more likely cause?
This 'punk killed musicianship' talk is pretty suspect anyway, especially if we're talking about drummers. Punk bands all needed great drummers: Topper Headon: The Clash, Budgie: the Slits, Dave Ruffy (The Ruts) Chuck Biscuits (D.O.A. Black Flag, Social Distortion), Grant Hart (Husker Du) Charlie Quintana (The Plugs, Social D. and ..er...Bob Dylan), John Wright (NoMeansNo), Dave Grohl (Scream and some other bands).
posted by jeffen at 6:14 PM on April 3, 2011 [6 favorites]

Lovecraft, do it. Someone needs to fill the gaping hole left by the demise of Mach Pelican. They relocated to Melbourne for a few years and did lots of work with the Spazzys.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 6:27 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Joey Ramone used to always end up on my lap for some reason. Well, always meaning three times...maybe four, usually in the east village bar called Continental Divide and that one over in the village that was below sidewalk level...it was called Trash, maybe?
I never knew if it was because he couldn't see me already sitting where he was about to plop his bony ass, or if it was just something he did randomly to everybody. Mid 80's I think it was...

/end name drop
posted by newpotato at 6:32 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Hey. Ho.
posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 6:37 PM on April 3, 2011

Let's GO!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 6:39 PM on April 3, 2011

we need more Ramones bands

Agreed.
posted by charlie don't surf at 6:42 PM on April 3, 2011

The Ramones. Still better than Radiohead.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:47 PM on April 3, 2011 [8 favorites]

Lovecraft, do it. Someone needs to fill the gaping hole left by the demise of Mach Pelican. yt They relocated to Melbourne for a few years and did lots of work with the Spazzys.

the two of them just played a benefit gig for Japan with The Meanies, but i think there was some immigration issues with Mach Pelican? they used to tour amazing Japanese bands, including Guitar Wolf (who wrote 'Kung Fu Ramone's Passion')
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:48 PM on April 3, 2011

Whoever thinks that the ramones drum parts doesn't take skill hasn't actually tried playing those drum parts. 2's and 4's are pretty much all you need most of the time.

I like to invoke the Ramones when my doom metal band is composing a new piece and we feel our drummer is getting inappropriately ambitious with the drum parts.

"Duuuude. Ramooooones."

Works every time.
posted by triceryclops at 6:51 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

I saw the Ramones in a college gymnasium back in 1982 or 1983. We were right in front (back in the bad old days of general admission). I loved it. The only way I knew that they were starting a new song was to hear, "1-2-3-4!", then they'd blast into the next tune.

So much fun we had that night.
posted by sundrop at 6:53 PM on April 3, 2011

The Ramones are everything rock'n'roll was meant to be: loud, fast, funny and fun. God bless their li'l poison hearts, every one.


(minor derail: anyone catch Saturday Night Live last night where Fred Armisen and Bill Hader played Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and they played a punk rock song with Elton John on vocals? Man, that raw guitar sound made me happy -- one of my favourite sounds in the world...)
posted by spoobnooble at 7:11 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

My 11th Birthday. Sadly, I was not in attendance.
posted by mikelieman at 7:25 PM on April 3, 2011

To my mind, saying "we need more bands just like the Ramones" is to miss out on what was so great about Ramones. They were very much of their time, doing something that needed to be done : stripping rock n' roll down to its barest essentials.

Everything about the Ramones you could sum up as "subversively dumb." The 3-chord guitar playing, the monotone vocals, the lyrics written at a 3rd-grade level. Hell, they have one song where all they say is "I don't wanna go do the basement!" And yet it works. Everything about their image, words, and music flips the bird at the idea of complexity. Paring down rock n' roll to a few basic ingredients -- it was like eating steak cooked over a fire after having nothing but molecular gastronomy foam for weeks.

Thing is, it can only be done once. You can only do so much with a few (very) basic elements. You just run out of possible combinations. It's kinda like how we're never going to have another Andy Warhol. What he did was mind blowing at the time, even though it was dead-simple. Why? Because nobody else had done it. But after him, anybody who painted soup cans would just be ... painting soup cans.

Hell, even the Ramones got sick of their own style. Nobody listens to their 80s and 90s stuff, because that's when they stopped sounding like the Ramones and started sounding like a bad 80s pop band -- sorta like a really bad version of The Cars. Why did they change their style? Because after a while, even the best get tired of doing the same old shit.

Some things can only be done once.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:31 PM on April 3, 2011 [3 favorites]

This show rules. Is there any way to download it?
posted by Ike_Arumba at 7:34 PM on April 3, 2011

Whoever thinks that the ramones drum parts doesn't take skill hasn't actually tried playing those drum parts.

to be clear, i think tommy's good - it's not easy to be simple and keep a groove

as a side note, i'll say that when i was hanging around the sw michigan punk scene in the late 70s, i never heard one band cover the ramones - sex pistols, yes - stooges, of course - but no ramones

it's odd

---

They were very much of their time, doing something that needed to be done : stripping rock n' roll down to its barest essentials.

i agree - 30 years later, we need something else to happen
posted by pyramid termite at 7:34 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

To my mind, saying "we need more bands just like the Ramones" is to miss out on what was so great about Ramones. They were very much of their time, doing something that needed to be done : stripping rock n' roll down to its barest essentials.

I'm not making some grant philosophical statement about the nature of music. My favorite hobby is seeing live music, and I see alot of it and I enjoy it. But I'd enjoy it more if every weekend I could see at least one band writing fast, fun songs about girls, comic books, and life. Punk's either too hard or too soft, indie's either too abrasive or too boring, etc. Ramones hit that perfect sweet spot.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:41 PM on April 3, 2011

I'm not making some grant philosophical statement about the nature of music.

er, grand
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:42 PM on April 3, 2011

as a side note, i'll say that when i was hanging around the sw michigan punk scene in the late 70s, i never heard one band cover the ramones - sex pistols, yes - stooges, of course - but no ramones

I've seen several Ramones cover bands (late '80s, early '90s). They always had names like the Ramonees, the Ramoonies, things like that, and were always way looser and sloppier than the actual Ramones.
posted by Forktine at 7:44 PM on April 3, 2011

Punk's either too hard or too soft, indie's either too abrasive or too boring, etc.

Do what I did! Switch to stamping tube music of the Solomon Islands! You'll never go back!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:45 PM on April 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Thing is, it can only be done once. You can only do so much with a few (very) basic elements. You just run out of possible combinations. It's kinda like how we're never going to have another Andy Warhol. What he did was mind blowing at the time, even though it was dead-simple. Why? Because nobody else had done it. But after him, anybody who painted soup cans would just be ... painting soup cans.

I always thought of the Ramones and Warhol as kind of the folk art you get in modern urban populations.

And I love folk art.
posted by The Whelk at 7:48 PM on April 3, 2011

although warhol did have formal art training soo uhhh HEY LOOK AT THIS CAT
posted by The Whelk at 7:52 PM on April 3, 2011

Folk art, let's dance.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:54 PM on April 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

except Warhol was a vampiric robot sucking vitality and joy out of culture and leading to ironic distance and the hipster the disease. if he is the Anti-Life than the Ramones are LIFE, and the antidote to all that
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:54 PM on April 3, 2011

it's close to lunch. i'm not making much sense. but the Ramones were a recreation of the well-spring of rock and roll. when the tree has grown too far you need to return to the roots. now it's Springsteen (who wrote 'Hungry Heart' for the Ramones) that's providing the new life for a bunch of bands, but the Ramones were basing it on 50s rockabilly and 60s girl group. why do you think so many old punks turn into rockabillies? but they're too self-conscious, too dark, too in love with Route 66 iconography and flames. The Ramones tapped into the life where it all began and brought it forward
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 7:56 PM on April 3, 2011

but the Ramones were basing it on 50s rockabilly and 60s girl group.

actually the '60s garage sound, bubblegum, and surf music all had far more influence on the Ramones than rockabilly.
posted by jonmc at 8:06 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

actually the '60s garage sound, bubblegum, and surf music all had far more influence on the Ramones than rockabilly.

There is a direct line between this and this and this

Don't you just love noises?
posted by The Whelk at 8:24 PM on April 3, 2011

actually the '60s garage sound, bubblegum, and surf music all had far more influence on the Ramones than rockabilly.

This is true. You have only to look at the rhythm feel: surf music was very straight, the drums and bass guitar pummeling through in a driving beat that left any trace of lilt or swing behind. That's what the Ramones did. Rhythmically speaking, that's pretty much all they did. Rockabilly, on the other hand, often had much more of the jump blues-type "swing" fulcrum. Some of the most interesting rockabilly has that strange tension in the rhythm, too, where it's half leaning into the swing camp, and half leaning into the straight 4/4. Between two rhythmic worlds. The Ramones, bless their hearts, couldn't have done that in a million years. In fact, almost no one can anymore.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:40 PM on April 3, 2011

Don't you just love noises?

"Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable." - Dr. Johnson

posted by AsYouKnow Bob at 8:41 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

In fact, almost no one can anymore.

i'd like you to meet the Jim Jones Revue
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 8:44 PM on April 3, 2011

Those NPR comments: I had no idea people existed who don't find the Ramones profound!
posted by telstar at 9:13 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

i'd like you to meet the Jim Jones Revue

That's still not quite what I'm talking about, Lovecraft, but it might be close. I say might be because it's actually pretty hard to tell, with the thickness/distortion going on in their sound. What I'm talking about is a pretty subtle interplay between rhythmic elements, and that's pretty much indiscernible here, given the nature of the mix.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:14 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

In my head NPR is always Your Flabergasted Aunt, regardless of age or social status, NPR is a flabbergasted Aunt.
posted by The Whelk at 9:19 PM on April 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Well, someone from NPR wrote this up and posted the video. Maybe people who anonymously comment at brand-name news and video sties are just a-holes across the board, regardless of the particular media organization? Or a-holes in different ways?

(Note: The last FPP I saw with a video post from NPR here featured a mash-up of Van Halen's "Jump" and John Lennon's "Imagine." And you had NPR commenters going, "Sacrilege!" Wait, I thought the song asked you to imagine a world with no religion, right? Wouldn't David Lee Roth be your brother in a World That Lives as One? Answer me that, ascot-wearing NPR web commenters!)
posted by raysmj at 9:53 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

That's still not quite what I'm talking about, Lovecraft, but it might be close. I say might be because it's actually pretty hard to tell, with the thickness/distortion going on in their sound. What I'm talking about is a pretty subtle interplay between rhythmic elements, and that's pretty much indiscernible here, given the nature of the mix.

yeah, Jim Jones Revue really shine live. their recorded music is just a signpost to that. i don't have the musicological vocabulary but i know that proper rockabilly always makes me dance. and i don't usually dance
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:01 PM on April 3, 2011

Lovecraft In Brooklyn: "I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now"

Is that DeeDee? Awesome.
posted by mwhybark at 10:55 PM on April 3, 2011

Lovecraft In Brooklyn: "why can't i see a Ramones style band every night of the week? i like the Descendants and the Buzzcocks but i haven't found many other."

These guys are RIP for a few years now, but they brung et, I assure thee: Groovie Ghoulies.
posted by mwhybark at 11:02 PM on April 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

Ike_Arumba: "This show rules. Is there any way to download it."

Seriously, I suggest buying "It's Alive."
posted by mwhybark at 11:06 PM on April 3, 2011

Per up-thread: Guitar Wolf Jet Generation. No Kung Fu Ramones Passion on YT, alas. RIP, pourin out an isshou-bin for Mr. Wolf.
posted by mwhybark at 11:12 PM on April 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Then punk happened. And I saw the Ramones, early on at a country-rock palace in Denver. They were opening for some record-company band, so the local music establishment, and I emphasize the word "establishment," was there in force, and the handful of us who knew the Ramones were up in front. And half the fun was, you know, not only were the Ramones the most powerful band I had ever seen at that point, but they made it look so simple--that anyone could do it, hell, even I could do it. This is what I should be doing.
Jello Biafra 2002 - The Progressive

Also, a lovely spoken word piece by Jello Biafra about seeing the Ramones for the first time.
posted by dougzilla at 11:17 PM on April 3, 2011 [2 favorites]

"This show rules. Is there any way to download it."

There's any number of free media converters out there. I use this one.
posted by KingEdRa at 1:12 AM on April 4, 2011

afroblanco: Hell, even the Ramones got sick of their own style. Nobody listens to their 80s and 90s stuff,

Oh man, I was so with you till you wrote that. Their 80s stuff, while not up to the genius of the First Five Albums, still has enough gems that it'll keep you happy for a long long time.
posted by Infinite Jest at 1:40 AM on April 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

If you think drumming for the Ramones is easy try listening to the two shows that Clem Burke lasted with them .
posted by stuartmm at 1:42 AM on April 4, 2011

If you think drumming for the Ramones is easy try listening to the two shows that Clem Burke lasted with them .

Did someone in this thread say that drumming for the Ramones is easy?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:03 AM on April 4, 2011

The Ramones played in Indy only once (that I know of), and I made damned sure I was there. Easily one of my top two shows evar. There is nothing about any of their recordings that can adequately prepare you for the assault of being there live in a small club.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:09 AM on April 4, 2011

One thing the Ramones definitely did was convince a lot of people you don't need to be a virtuoso player to play rock 'n' roll. I'll leave it up to the reader to decide if that was a good thing or not.
posted by tommasz at 6:14 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'll leave it up to the reader to decide if that was a good thing or not.

Personally, I think that was basically a good thing.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:20 AM on April 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Saw them only once; at the Palladium in Hollywood. Brother and I were there at 3:30 for a 7:00 show and ran into them when they drove up in a van. Best show ever, General Admission and sat through 2 very bad bands just stay up front; so worth it.
posted by Jaymzifer at 7:23 AM on April 4, 2011

FWIW, this was recorded a week after the London stands that produced "It's Alive."
posted by mwhybark at 12:38 AM on April 4

Which is one of the ten albums in my collection I'd save in a fire. And certainly the only live album.
posted by Decani at 7:41 AM on April 4, 2011

lobotomy.

that is all.
posted by victors at 10:29 AM on April 4, 2011

Thorzdad: "The Ramones played in Indy only once (that I know of), and I made damned sure I was there. Easily one of my top two shows evar. There is nothing about any of their recordings that can adequately prepare you for the assault of being there live in a small club."

Too Tough To Die tour at the Patio? I was there. I swear they played once more in the later 80s. I missed the Bloomington show in '81, as I was out of the country. Dammit. Then once or twice more in Seattle, the last time outdoors at Bumbershoot, what, mid-90s. It was, uh, bittersweet.
posted by mwhybark at 6:54 PM on April 4, 2011

Googling 'Ramones Indianpolis' surfaces gigs at the Vogue stretching from 1979 (!) to 1995. And there is a 1988 at the Vogue also, so I think I am mistaken and it was at the Vogue, not the Patio. There are surprising numbers of bootlegs for many of these shows.
posted by mwhybark at 6:56 PM on April 4, 2011

i've heard good things about The Ergs
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:28 PM on April 4, 2011