Ramones were a punk rock band that formed in Queens, New York, United State… Read Full Bio ↴Ramones were a punk rock band that formed in Queens, New York, United States, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk group. Despite achieving only limited commercial success, the band was a major influence on the punk rock movement both in the United States and the United Kingdom.
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 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."
Don't Come Close
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know it's generally known
You got everything at home
Kisses out of desperation
Bring you more aggravation
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
You bring out your souvenirs
Soak them wet with your tears
You lose your imagination
Out of more aggravation
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
You turn red with rage
But act your age
Only thing that you regret
You need more time to forget
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
You got everything at home
Kisses out of desperation
Bring you more aggravation
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
You bring out your souvenirs
You lose your imagination
Out of more aggravation
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
You turn red with rage
But act your age
Only thing that you regret
You need more time to forget
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
The lyrics to the Ramones’ song Don’t Come Close express a dissatisfaction with a certain relationship. The opening line suggests that this is a commonly understood situation: “You know it’s generally known.” The singer then characterizes the other person in the relationship as having “everything at home,” which might imply a certain level of material comfort or a stable domestic situation. However, their “kisses out of desperation” seem to cause more problems than they solve, “bring[ing] more aggravation” than pleasure. This repetition of frustration becomes a refrain in the chorus: “And you don't come close / You don't come close / You don't come close.”
Line by Line Meaning
You know it's generally known
Everyone knows
You got everything at home
You have everything you need at home
Kisses out of desperation
You kiss out of desperation
Bring you more aggravation
It just makes you more frustrated
And you don't come close
But you still can't get close to what you really want
You bring out your souvenirs
You bring out your memories
Soak them wet with your tears
And cry over them
You lose your imagination
You lose your creativity
Out of more aggravation
Due to more frustration
And you don't come close
But still can't get close to what you really want
You turn red with rage
You get angry
But act your age
But you need to act like an adult
Only thing that you regret
The only thing you regret
You need more time to forget
Is that you need more time to forget
And you don't come close
But still can't get close to what you really want
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Douglas Colvin, Jeff Hyman, John Cummings
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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@chakkrit1402
You know it's generally known
You got everything at home
Kisses out of desperation
Bring you more aggravation
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
You bring out your souvenirs
Soak them wet with your tears
You lose your imagination
Out of more aggravation
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
You turn red with rage
But act your age
Only thing that you regret
You need more time to forget
And you don't come close
You don't come close
You don't come close
@juanmartinfazio7513
In my country (Argentina), Ramones is kind of a local band. You can buy t-shirts with Ramones emblem even in kid´s stores... Glad they were a big success here, filling soccer stadiums in the 90´s. Somehow their music caught part of argentinian soul.
@jimbohi3648
Glad to hear that Juan they never had huge commercial success here in America but I was so happy I saw them in the '90s with blondie escape from New York tour great great memories I'll always have
@manuelgallardo7694
All major bands love Argentina Oasis, acdc etc. Silly foo😎
@wallyd1822
Ahii... Él... Hablando en inglés. Jajaja
@wallyd1822
@CJ Comparto respecto en lo musical. En lo que concierne a las drogas desde ya no. Ni tampoco la idea del reviente (Tanto para el artista como la del seguidor). Tantos músicos muertos por adicciones da pena. No por la muerte en sí misma, sino por la buena futura música que nos perdimos.
@shredrik
They were from New York so that's not really at all local to anywhere near Argentina, but I think what you meant is that they are well respected there, and the same can be said about anywhere in the world!! R A M O N E S RAMONES!
@robertkosica2059
The Ramones were one of those bands that everyone could relate to. Their music could lift you up from a bad day and put a smile on your face .
❤️
@scottwillie9914
You are absolutely right!
@juanmartinfazio7513
Sure!
@eddyiscariote5
I feel blessed that RHINO are uploading lost treasures 👏👏👏