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."
Palisades Park
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To a place called Palisades Park
To have some fun, to see what I could see
That's where the girls are
I took a ride on the shoopty shoop
The girl I sat with almost, almost puked
And when it stopped, she was holding hands with me
Down, like a roller coaster
Fast, like a loopty loop
Then around, like a merry-go-round
We even at a hot dog stand
Slam danced to a rockin' band
And when she winked, I gave that girl a hug
In the tunnel of love
You'll never know how good it just can feel
'Til it stops at the top of the Ferris wheel
I fell in love, down at Palisades Park
Last night I took a walk in the dark
To a place called Palisades Park
To have some fun, to see what I could see
That's where the girls are
I took a ride on the shoopty shoop
The girl I sat with almost, almost puked
And when it stopped, she was holding hands with me
My arms were flying up, like a rocket ship
Down, like a roller coaster
Fast, like a loopty loop
Then around, like a merry-go-round
We even at a hot dog stand
We danced around to a rockin' band
And when she winked, I gave that girl a hug
In the tunnel of love
You'll never know how good it just can feel
'Til it stops at the top of the Ferris wheel
I fell in love, down at Palisades Park
The Ramones's song Palisades Park is a nostalgic look back at a place where teenagers went to have some fun and escape from their lives. The lyrics describe a night spent at Palisades Park, an amusement park located in New Jersey that was popular during the 1960s. The singer takes a ride on the "shoopty shoop," an old-fashioned spinning ride that is responsible for making the girl he's with almost puke. Afterwards, they hold hands and continue exploring the park, even dancing to a rockin' band at a hot dog stand. The singer falls in love at Palisades Park, a place where he and the girl can forget about the world outside and just be carefree teenagers.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night I took a walk in the dark
The singer mentions his recent trip to Palisades Park, which he took at night.
To a place called Palisades Park
The singer is referring to the amusement park Palisades Park.
To have some fun, to see what I could see
The singer went there to have a good time and enjoy what the park had to offer.
That's where the girls are
The artist acknowledges that the park is a good place to find girls.
I took a ride on the shoopty shoop
The artist went on a ride at the park called the shoopty shoop.
The girl I sat with almost, almost puked
The girl sitting next to the singer on the ride nearly got sick.
And when it stopped, she was holding hands with me
After the ride, the girl and narrator ended up holding hands.
My arms were flying up, like a rocket ship
The artist's arms were in the air during the ride, like a rocket ship.
Down, like a roller coaster
The ride went down like a roller coaster.
Fast, like a loopty loop
The ride went very fast, like a loop-de-loop.
Then around, like a merry-go-round
The ride then went around like a classic merry-go-round.
We even at a hot dog stand
The artist and the girl even grabbed a hot dog at the park.
Slam danced to a rockin' band
The singer and the girl danced to a live band at the park.
And when she winked, I gave that girl a hug
After the dance, the girl winked at the singer and he gave her a hug.
In the tunnel of love
The singer and the girl had a romantic moment in the tunnel of love ride.
You'll never know how good it just can feel
The artist is saying that you won't know how great the feeling is unless you experience it yourself.
Til it stops at the top of the Ferris wheel
The artist is referring to the thrilling feeling of reaching the top of a ferris wheel.
I fell in love, down at Palisades Park
The singer fell in love at the amusement park Palisades Park.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: CHUCK BARRIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@stardust1083
Such a underrated song with the little carnival guitar riff incredible...
@SteveGamlin
Killer version!! Also loved their version of California Sun. These songs were ripe for the punking.
@Eldorado66779
God Bless the RAMONES
@jackwood6379
Absolutely love the Ramones version of this song, I love the Ramones ❤
@fauconnoir4475
Ramones always and forever
@pooatpauls10
Heard the original on Love and Death and reminded me how great this version is!
@djfaded420
Mafia 3 brought me here
@marilynm111
❤ love:)
@renatotassi3574
Thank you Chuck Barris
@jimenaseery7068
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌