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."
No Go
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yeah I got a call late Saturday night alright
Beat, dead, burnt out from the night before
I wanted to go but couldn't take it no more
Beat, dead, burnt out you know what I mean
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't scream
Oh oh oh oh
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't go
Let's fly, let's fly
Yeah you and I
Oh my my my
Oh oh oh
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't fly
Hey
I wanted to go
Oh no
I wanted to go
Oh no
I wanted to go
Oh no
Oh no ho
Let's fly
The Ramones' "No Go" is an ode to the struggle of trying to muster the energy and motivation to go out and have a good time, even when feeling burnt out from the night before. The song opens with the singer receiving a call late on a Saturday night, presumably from a friend inviting them to hang out. However, the singer is too exhausted and worn out from the previous night's festivities to even consider going out again. Despite feeling like their brain is racing with excitement, they can't seem to get their feet to move.
The chorus of the song is a repetitive chant of "Let's go, let's go" that is juxtaposed against the singer's inability to physically go anywhere. It creates a sense of frustration and tension that is mirrored in the forceful guitar riffs and pounding drums of the song. As the song progresses, the singer becomes increasingly agitated and conflicted about their inability to go out and have fun.
Overall, "No Go" is a high-energy punk rock song about the struggles of trying to push through exhaustion and burnout to make the most of a night out with friends. It encapsulates the relentless spirit of the Ramones and the punk rock movement while also tapping into the universal experience of feeling too tired to keep the party going.
Line by Line Meaning
I got a call late Saturday night alright
I received a phone call on a late Saturday night
Yeah I got a call late Saturday night alright
I confirmed having received a phone call on a late Saturday night
Beat, dead, burnt out from the night before
I was exhausted from the previous night's activities
I wanted to go but couldn't take it no more
I desired to go out but was physically unable to do so
Beat, dead, burnt out you know what I mean
I'm excessively tired and can't go on anymore, it's a common feeling we all know
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't scream
My mind was excited but my body refused to show it
Let's go let's go
I'm motivated to get going, so let's do it
Oh oh oh oh
I'm showing my enthusiasm by chanting
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't go
My thoughts were active but my body wasn't able to move
Let's fly, let's fly
I'm suggesting we quickly leave the place and head somewhere else
Yeah you and I
We should go together
Oh my my my
I'm so eager to leave that I'm repeating the phrase
Oh oh oh
I'm still showing excitement and chanting again
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't fly
I was mentally ready to leave but physically unable to do so
Hey
A casual greeting
I wanted to go
I really desired to leave
Oh no
An expression of disappointment
I wanted to go
Reiterating how much I wanted to leave
Oh no
Still feeling down that I wasn't able to leave
I wanted to go
Final expression of my desire to leave
Oh no ho
Repeating the disappointment again with a little more emphasis
Let's fly
Let's hurry up and leave
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DEE DEE RAMONE, JOEY RAMONE, JOHNNY RAMONE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Tom Bingham
I got a call late Saturday night alright
Yeah I got a call late Saturday night alright
Beat, dead, burnt out from the night before
I wanted to go but couldn't take it no more
Beat, dead, burnt out you know what I mean
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't scream
Let's go let's go
Oh oh oh oh
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't go
Let's fly, let's fly
Yeah you and I
Oh my my my
Oh oh oh
My brain was racin' but my feet wouldn't fly
Hey
I wanted to go
Oh no
I wanted to go
Oh no
I wanted to go
Oh no
Oh no ho
Let's fly
Rodrigo Muñoz
Best best the ramones la mejor banda del universo
Diman Harun
I cant stop my leg when i hear this song
Brian Frey
This should have been on End of the Century. Spector would have liked producing this one
STV (Stupid TV)
Elvis would be jealous of this song.
Belén Ginebra
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