About U2: Influences: The Ramones*

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HelloAngel

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By Daniel Walker
2004.10



"When we first formed the band, Adam and I were 16, Edge was 15, and Larry was 14, and we were fans of the Ramones. They kind of stopped the world long enough for bands like U2 and others to get on." This was how Bono described The Ramones when eulogizing the late Joey Ramone for TIME Magazine in 2001. He made it obvious that U2 owes a great debt to the seminal New York punk rock band. Bono has never been one to mince his words and the man clearly is in awe of how The Ramones "stopped the world" in those early days. Anyone with that globe-halting ability would be of interest to the nascent Bono, but who exactly are The Ramones and how did this punk band come to have such an affect on the younger, and current, U2?

The Ramones story began in the conservative, middle-class enclave of Forest Hills, New York, in Jan. 1974. The band was formed by guitarist John Cummings, bassist Doug Colvin and drummer Jeff Hyman. These three, in an act of artistic genius, decided to change their names to Johnny, Dee Dee and Joey Ramone, respectively, taking the last name "Ramone" from a pseudonym often used by Paul McCartney at the height of Beatlemania. The ragamuffin group, promoting itself as "a bunch of three-chord playing idiotic morons," played its first gig at the Performance Studio in New York just two months later. Not satisfied with the original lineup, band manager Tommy Erdleyi suggested a change in which Tommy himself took the drum seat and Joey took on full vocal responsibilities. This was the lineup the band to continue with for a number of years.

After signing to Sire Records in late 1975, The Ramones released its eponymous debut album in the spring of 1976. Within 20 months, the group had followed that record with two more, "Leave Home" and "Rocket to Russia." However, it was not The Ramones' LPs but its explosive live appearances that were gaining the group worldwide recognition. The group's headlining gig at London's Roundhouse in 1976 with the Flamin' Groovies is said by many to have been a huge influence on the burgeoning U.K. punk scene. The band was also a regular act at CBGB in New York City, playing with such luminaries Television and Patti Smith, artists that also strongly influenced U2.

In 1977, drummer Erdleyi quit the band in order to pursue another passion of his, music production. The band waited until the next year to announce a replacement, Marc Bell (now known as Marky Ramone), former drummer for the band Dust. He stayed with the band for 15 years, drumming on a total of 11 Ramones studio albums.

Towards the latter part of the 1980s, The Ramones flame started to wane and the band soon became a cult act. Although still releasing records at a steady rate, the band was pushed to the sidelines of popular music as the cultural topography changed. It took a succession of sad losses for a resurgence of interest in the band to begin. Joey died in April 2001 from lymphatic cancer, a disease he had been fighting for nearly seven years. Dee Dee followed just one year later, dying of a drug-overdose. Finally, in September of this year, Johnny died after a five-year battle with prostate cancer.

Although the band's original trio has all passed away, their legacy survives. Many high-profile artists, such as Pearl Jam and R.E.M., have professed their admiration for the band. The members of U2 have also been vocal about The Ramones' influence on their music, even participating in the "We're a Happy Family" tribute CD in 2003, covering “Beat On The Brat.” But how exactly have The Ramones influenced U2?

Early on in U2's career, The Edge proclaimed his sickness with the "white blues rock thing which was just anathema" and how he "wanted to create something new." From these comments, one would assume that musically U2 and The Ramones would be poles apart, and on the surface it is hard to argue against that suggestion. It's difficult to hear anything of "Blitzkrieg Bop," a song that, like most of The Ramones catalog, took its cues from rock of the late '50s and early '60s, in early U2 numbers like "Out of Control" of "I Will Follow." While not always completely apparent, the links between U2 and The Ramones have been there throughout the younger band's career.

The Ramones influenced the attitude of U2 throughout its musical journey. Bono himself recognized in his eulogy for Joey that The Ramones "stood for the idea of making your limitations work for you" and that "anyone can play those four chords." These lines sound eerily similar to a comment he had made 14 years earlier in "Rattle and Hum" when in the middle of performing Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower," Bono roars "All I've got is a red guitar, three chords and the truth." The whole band took this feeling of freedom into the recording sessions for "Boy" and the results are plain to see. The band produced something that sounds simple while also sounding complex, that while made by four young lads searching for an identity also sounds as though it is made by confident and assured professionals. However, most importantly, the punk attitude learned from The Ramones gave the young members of U2 the confidence to try in a music world that may have suggested they shouldn't.

Without the cleansing influence of the punk movement spearheaded by The Ramones, the louder and more abrasive tracks of "Achtung Baby" could never have come to fruition. For example, it is tough to imagine the snarling guitar in "The Fly" and "Zoo Station" existing without taking into account the influence punk rock had on popular culture. Before punk there was little "angular" or "crunchy" music for U2 to site as precedent, therefore, the directional change that so colored the 1990s for U2 would not even have been an option without pioneering bands like The Ramones.

It is also important to consider the impact that The Ramones have had on U2's image. It is true that in its formative years the band was not an image band, rather than being preoccupied with their appearance, the members were focused on what they were saying to the world. However, as the years passed, the importance placed on image by U2 has increased. Whether it be The Edge's beanie hat, Adam's camouflage pants, Larry's short hair or Bono's sunglasses, the band is conscious of its appearance, a sentiment really first explored by the band during the ZooTV tour. Therefore, it is no surprise that aspects of The Ramones' image have transferred to U2's own.

The members of The Ramones were famous for their trademark black, leather biker jackets, matching bowl haircuts and garments that "were in a sense so anti-fashion that they made an even bigger statement." While the majority of the members of U2 have never resorted to the bowl haircut as a fashion statement, they have faithfully followed the great tradition of the black leather jacket. Night after night on the Elevation tour Bono dressed very much like a Ramone—leather jacket and unruly hair in tow. This image may not have been consciously linked to the '70s band but the jacket does feel like a nod to one of the bands that made punk so famous. U2 may not have burst onto the scene in quite the same stylish manner as The Ramones but it is clear that it has absorbed the earlier band's lessons on image.

Now in late 2004 comes the release of the new U2 album "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," an album title that is reminiscent of The Ramones' "Rocket to Russia." First single "Vertigo" offers irrevocable proof that The Ramones did indeed influence U2 greatly. The Edge's stinging guitar riff bursts in, Bono sings an urgent vocal and the rhythm section sounds raw and angry. The band rip through a recording that sounds almost live, before disappearing almost as soon as they arrived, a raucous three minutes left behind them. Even this late in the band's career one cannot help but be reminded of the simple, barre chord songs composed by that seminal influence of U2's—The Ramones.

Information for this article was gathered from TIME Magazine, Ramones.com, The MusicWeb Encyclopaedia of Popular Music, "Diary of Punk" by Jamer Murray, WorldHistory.com, Ramones Discography, the Associated Press, Aversion and Spitbrother.
 
Very nice tribute of the Ramones and their influence on U2, Daniel!:wink:

I was always touched by the fact that the last song Joey Ramone was listening to on this earth was "In a Little While".:hug:

Undoubtedly that was a huge compliment to the music of U2.

IN A LITTLE WHILE....:adam: :larry: :edge: :bono: :love:
 
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