Their simple yet effective brand of music inspired the formation of countless bands, and they are generally considered the first true "punk" band. claims that "Joey Ramone's signature bleat was the voice of punk rock in America." ĭespite limited commercial success, the Ramones would prove to be massively influential. His signature cracks, hiccups, snarls, crooning, and youthful voice became one of punk rock's most recognizable voices. Joey Ramone's vocal style was unorthodox in that he had no formal training in an era where vocal proficiency was a normality for most rock bands. I thought, "This is much more planned out than it appears to be." Recently, I read an interview where they said, "We figured out what we would look like before we figured out what to play." This was like a high-concept packaged-band thing, but they did it to themselves. Arturo had these giant pop-art posters of supermarket signs. There was a loft right around the corner that we could all visit and hang out. Joey and Arturo worked very closely together. The whole image was dress-up rebellion… They were the only band I knew of that had an art director. As David Byrne of the Talking Heads (one of the Ramones' fellow bands in the New York punk scene) remembers: Despite the general perception of the band as somewhat primitive or simple-minded due to the subject matter of songs like, "I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," "The KKK Took My Baby Away," and "Teenage Lobotomy," and the simplicity of their instrumentation, the band actually carefully crafted their image and approach. Rolling Stone magazine noted: "the Ramones shaped the sound of punk rock in New York with simple, fast songs, deadpan lyrics, no solos, and an impenetrable wall of guitar chords."Įvery member of the band took a stage name with Ramone as their last name, and adopted the unified visual aesthetic of black leather jackets, long black hair and ripped jeans. In response, they created a strikingly stripped-down, simple, and extremely energetic brand of rock and roll, devoid of guitar solos or drum fills. They united around their mutual distaste for what they perceived as the bloated and over-blown brand of rock music popular at the time (embodied by bands like Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and Led Zeppelin). Dee Dee Ramone was actually the Ramones' original vocalist, but proved to be unsuited for the position, losing his voice after only a few songs, so upon Tommy Ramone's suggestion, Joey switched to vocals. Joey had actually been lead singer for a glam rock band called Sniper before joining Tommy, Johnny, and Dee Dee in forming the Ramones in 1974, and playing their first gig on March 30, 1974, at a rehearsal facility in Manhattan. His first instrument was the drums, which he played throughout his teen years, and he was actually the original drummer of the Ramones. Joey was also a big fan of The Who, among other bands (particularly pre- Beatles rock groups and the Phil Spector produced "Girl Groups"). Joey met the other future members of the Ramones growing up together in Forest Hills, and knew them as fellow members of the same general music scene, interested in the more primitive rock sounds of bands like the New York Dolls and the Stooges. Mickey Leigh, who became a musician of his own). His mother, Charlotte Lesher, remarried and encouraged an interest in music in both him and his brother Mitchell (a.k.a. His parents divorced in the early 1960s, and he struggle to relate to several father figures. In his youth, he was something of an outcast and a non-conformist. Hyman was born and grew up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York, of Jewish heritage. His quest to bring out the soul of punk rock created a form of music which more clearly portrayed a personal and intimate transformation of himself and his band. As the voice of the Ramones, he played a pivotal role in the establishment and formation of punk rock, and thus in the creative revitalization and flowering of musical styles that followed from it. A member from their inception in 1974, until their retirement in 1996 (he and bandmate Johnny Ramone were the two original members to never leave the band), he was an iconic figure in Rock and Roll history. Joey Ramone (– April 15, 2001), born as Jeffry Ross Hyman, was a singer and songwriter, lead vocalist of the legendary punk rock group The Ramones.
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