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."
Come on Now
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Come on now
We got no wheels to race
Come on now
Come on now
Police are every place
Come on now
We got no skirts to chase
I'm just a junk food guy
Now I am telling you why
I am living at the matinee, yeah
I just want to sleep and play
Come on now
Come on now
When the folks are not around
Come on now
Come on now
Nagging 'about the sound
Come on now
Come on now
To turn that racket down
I'm just a comic book boy
There's nothing scary to enjoy
Freak admission stroll inside
I was born on a roller coaster ride
Come on now
Come on now
Police are every place
Come on now
Come on now
We got no skirts to chase
I'm just a comic book boy
There's nothing scary to enjoy
Freak admission stroll inside
I was born on a roller coaster ride
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah come on now
The Ramones' "Come On Now" is a song that speaks to the seemingly aimless teenage life of the singer. The opening lines "Come on now, come on now, we got no wheels to race" highlights the feeling of boredom and lack of purpose. The singer and his friends seem to have nothing to do, no one to race against, and nowhere to go. The presence of police everywhere adds a layer of tension and danger to their impulsive actions.
The chorus repeats the phrase "come on now" multiple times, almost as if the singer is trying to convince himself to find something to do. He reminisces about the opportunity to chase girls around, but that too seems to have come to a halt. The second verse highlights the singer's love for simple pleasures, like sleeping and playing when his parents are not around. However, he faces the constant nagging to turn the music down, making him feel restricted and frustrated.
The song captures the ennui of teenage life, the desire to find something exciting to do and the frustration of being limited by authority figures. The repeated phrase "come on now" can be seen as both pleading and demanding, as if the singer is desperate to break free from the constraints of his current situation.
Line by Line Meaning
Come on now
Encouragement to take action, start something.
We got no wheels to race
We have no access to fast or expensive cars.
Police are every place
Police are everywhere and could interfere if we do something frowned upon.
We got no skirts to chase
There are no attractive girls present.
I'm just a junk food guy
I don't have a sophisticated palate for food.
Now I am telling you why
I am going to share my reasoning with you.
I am living at the matinee, yeah
I spend my days watching movies in the cinema.
I just want to sleep and play
All I want to do with my time is rest and engage in leisure activities.
When the folks are not around
When parents, caretakers, or other authority figures are absent.
Nagging 'about the sound
Being annoyed at the noise level of music or other sounds.
To turn that racket down
Lower the volume of the music or noise being made.
There's nothing scary to enjoy
I don't find anything genuinely frightening, though I may be drawn to horror themes or imagery.
Freak admission stroll inside
A unique or unusual attraction that can be seen by entering a specific venue or location.
I was born on a roller coaster ride
Life has been a wild and unpredictable journey for me so far.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah come on now
Strongly encouraging action or initiation of some sort.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DEE DEE RAMONE, DOUGLAS COLVIN, JEFFREY HYMAN, JOEY RAMONE, JOHN (RAMONE) CUMMINGS, JOHNNY RAMONE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Racheal Plymale
on I Wanna Be Sedated (Live)
My Alltime favorite band!!!!!!!!! Joey Ramone was yummmy!!!!!