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."
My-My Kind of a Girl
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You could make my life complete
Baby yeah, yeah, yeah
You're my-my kind of a girl
And when I saw you by the jukebox, ooh ooh
You put a quarter in and played my favorite song too
Baby yeah, yeah, yeah
I think we'd look pretty good together
Walking through a winter wonderland
And this time I think it's forever
I hope your parents understand
When I saw you by the peppermint lounge
You we're last but you've been found
Baby yeah, yeah, yeah
You're my-my kind of a girl
And when I saw you by the jukebox, ooh ooh
You put a quarter in and played my favorite song too
Baby yeah, yeah, yeah
You're my-my kind of a girl
I think we'd look pretty good together
Walking through a winter wonderland
And this time I think it's forever
I hope your parents understand
You're my-my, my-my, my-my kind of a girl
When I saw you on 8th street
You could make my life complete
Baby yeah, yeah, yeah
You're my-my kind of a girl
And when I saw you by the jukebox, ooh ooh
You put a quarter in and played my favorite song too
Baby yeah, yeah, yeah
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
You're my-my kind of a girl
"My-My Kind of a Girl" is a classic love song by punk rock band The Ramones. The song was written by Joey Ramone, the lead singer of the band, and it was released on their 1981 album, Pleasant Dreams. The song is a simple and straightforward expression of love, with the singer describing his feelings for a girl he has just met.
The song begins with the singer describing how he first saw the girl on 8th street and how she could make his life complete. He then goes on to describe how he saw her at the jukebox and she played his favorite song too. The singer is clearly smitten with the girl and he repeats the chorus, "You're my-my kind of a girl" several times throughout the song.
The second verse of the song has the singer imagining what it would be like to be with the girl. He thinks they would look good together walking through a winter wonderland and he hopes their relationship will be forever, but he worries that her parents might not approve.
Overall, "My-My Kind of a Girl" is a sweet and simple love song that captures the excitement and joy of falling in love.
Line by Line Meaning
When I saw you on 8th street
I first noticed you on the street, and from that moment, you caught my attention.
You could make my life complete
You have the ability to fill a void I did not know I had and to make my life feel whole.
Baby yeah, yeah, yeah
An expression of enthusiasm and satisfaction with the situation.
You're my-my kind of a girl
You embody everything I am looking for in a partner.
And when I saw you by the jukebox, ooh ooh
I was even more drawn to you when I saw you at the jukebox.
You put a quarter in and played my favorite song too
The fact that you knew and played my favorite song shows that we have something in common and that you care about my interests.
I think we'd look pretty good together
I believe that as a couple, we would have good chemistry and look attractive together.
Walking through a winter wonderland
A metaphor for experiencing joy and love together.
And this time I think it's forever
I am hopeful and confident that our relationship will last forever.
I hope your parents understand
An acknowledgement that parental approval can sometimes be a challenge when it comes to relationships.
You we're last but you've been found
You may have been unnoticed or overlooked before, but now that I have found you, your worth has been recognized.
You're my-my, my-my, my-my kind of a girl
A repetition of the chorus to reinforce the idea that this person is the perfect partner.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JOEY RAMONE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Racheal Plymale
on I Wanna Be Sedated (Live)
My Alltime favorite band!!!!!!!!! Joey Ramone was yummmy!!!!!