All of the band members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname "Ramone", though none of them were related. They performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years. In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played a farewell concert and disbanded. By a little more than eight years after the breakup, the band's three founding members—lead singer Joey Ramone, guitarist Johnny Ramone, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone—had died. Drummer Tommy Ramone, the last surviving original member, died in 2014.
Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania. However, recognition of the band's importance built over the years, and they are now cited in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone list of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time and VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2002, the Ramones were ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin magazine, trailing only The Beatles. On March 18, 2002, the Ramones—including the three founders and drummers Marky and Tommy Ramone—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2011, the group was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Formation: 1974–1975
Forest Hills High School, attended by the four original members of the Ramones
The original members of the band met in and around the middle-class neighborhood of Forest Hills in the New York City borough of Queens. John Cummings and Tamás Erdélyi had both been in a high-school garage band from 1966 to 1967 known as the Tangerine Puppets. They became friends with Douglas Colvin, who had recently moved to the area from Germany, and Jeffry Hyman, who was the initial lead singer of the glam rock band Sniper, founded in 1972.
The Ramones began taking shape in early 1974, when Cummings and Colvin invited Hyman to join them in a band. The initial lineup featured Colvin on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Cummings on lead guitar, and Hyman on drums. Colvin, who soon switched from rhythm guitar to bass, was the first to adopt the name "Ramone", calling himself Dee Dee Ramone. He was inspired by Paul McCartney's use of the pseudonym Paul Ramon during his Silver Beatles days. Dee Dee convinced the other members to take on the name and came up with the idea of calling the band the Ramones. Hyman and Cummings became Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone, respectively.
A friend of the band, Monte A. Melnick (later their tour manager), helped to arrange rehearsal time for them at Manhattan's Performance Studios, where he worked. Johnny's former bandmate Erdélyi was set to become their manager. Soon after the band was formed, Dee Dee realized that he could not sing and play his bass guitar simultaneously; with Erdélyi's encouragement, Joey became the band's new lead singer.
Dee Dee would continue, however, to count off each song's tempo with his signature rapid-fire shout of "1-2-3-4!" Joey soon similarly realized that he could not sing and play drums simultaneously and left the position of drummer. While auditioning prospective replacements, Erdélyi would often take to the drums and demonstrate how to play the songs. It became apparent that he was able to perform the group's music better than anyone else, and he joined the band as Tommy Ramone.
The Ramones played before an audience for the first time on March 30, 1974, at Performance Studios. The songs they played were very fast and very short; most clocked in at under two minutes. Around this time, a new music scene was emerging in New York centered around two clubs in downtown Manhattan—Max's Kansas City and, more famously, CBGB (usually referred to as CBGB's). The Ramones made their CBGB debut on August 16. Legs McNeil, who cofounded Punk magazine the following year, later described the impact of that performance: "They were all wearing these black leather jackets. And they counted off this song...and it was just this wall of noise.... They looked so striking. These guys were not hippies. This was something completely new."
The band swiftly became regulars at the club, playing there seventy-four times by the end of the year. After garnering considerable attention for their performances—which averaged about seventeen minutes from beginning to end—the group was signed to a recording contract in late 1975 by Seymour Stein of Sire Records. Stein's wife, Linda Stein, had seen the band play at CBGB; she would later co-manage them along with Danny Fields. By this time, the Ramones were recognized as leaders of the new scene that was increasingly being referred to as "punk". The group's unusual frontman had a lot to do with their impact. As Dee Dee explained, "All the other singers [in New York] were copying David Johansen [of The New York Dolls], who was copying Mick Jagger.... But Joey was unique, totally unique."
All the Away
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Makes me so high
I love all the monitor men
But why are they alive
The van is making me crazy
It's just like being in the navy
Doomsday, doomsday's coming-1981
But until things blow
The bubble's going to explode
Probably never live to get old
But I just wanna have some fun
Probably won't see no money
I just wanna have some fun
Before they throw me in the sanitarium
Feedback blasting out my ears
Makes me so high
I love all the monitor men
But why are they alive
Well Monte's making me crazy
It's just like being in the navy
The Ramones’ “All the Way” is a song about the joys and frustrations of touring as a musician. The song describes the experience of being on the road, with feedback blasting out of the monitors, making the singer feel high as he performs. He loves the monitor men who control the sound, but wonders why they’re still alive, given the stress of the job. The van they travel in is driving him crazy, leading him to compare it to being in the navy. The singer knows that doomsday is coming in 1981, but until then, he’s going to have fun. The bubble is going to explode, but he just wants to enjoy himself before he’s too old or thrown in a sanitarium.
The lyrics of “All the Way” provide a window into the life of a touring musician, and the Ramones infused the song with their trademark punk energy. The repetitive, driving rhythm of the song mirrors the experience of being on the road, with its constant movement and sensory overload. The singer’s frustration and sense of impending doom are also common themes in punk music, reflecting the dissatisfaction and disillusionment of the era.
Line by Line Meaning
Feedback blasting out my ears
The loud sound coming from the singers is hurting my ears
Makes me so high
The loud sound is giving me a rush of adrenaline
I love all the monitor men
I appreciate the sound technicians who are controlling the sound levels
But why are they alive
I just wonder how those guys can manage to survive working in such a loud environment every day
The van is making me crazy
Traveling in this van for so long is driving me insane
It's just like being in the navy
This cramped and uncomfortable van is just like being on a military ship
Doomsday, doomsday's coming-1981
I'm worried that the end of the world is coming soon, since it's already 1981
But until things blow
However, until something drastic happens, I'm going to enjoy myself
I'm gonna have some fun
I'm going to make the most of my time here
The bubble's going to explode
I know our rock and roll lifestyle is unsustainable and will come to an abrupt end
Probably never live to get old
I'm probably not going to live a long life due to my reckless behavior
But I just wanna have some fun
Despite the risks, I just want to enjoy myself while I can
Probably won't see no money
I know I probably won't make a lot of money doing this
I just wanna have some fun
But as previously stated, I'm doing it for the joy of it all
Before they throw me in the sanitarium
Before I'm deemed insane and put in an institution
Well Monte's making me crazy
Monte, a member of the band, is driving me insane
It's just like being in the navy
Being in close quarters with Monte is like being on a military ship
Contributed by Noah A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Racheal Plymale
on I Wanna Be Sedated (Live)
My Alltime favorite band!!!!!!!!! Joey Ramone was yummmy!!!!!