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."
Scatter Gun
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To cover me when I sleep, cover me in my dreams
Carry a smooth bore
Scattergun, steal from me there'll be no time to run
I got the bead on you, she fires true
Take what you want and I'll do what I have to do
Smooth bore, scattergun, scattergun, scattergun
Cut any man right off at the knees
Don't need to bother the police,
I've got my Mossberg 590
Smooth bore, scattergun, you are the only one
To cover me when I sleep,
Cover me in my dreams carry a smooth bore
Scattergun, steal from me there'll be no time to run
I got the bead on you, she fires true
Take what you want and I'll do what I have to do
Smooth bore, scattergun, scattergun, scattergun
Smooth bore, scattergun, you are the only one
To cover me when I sleep,
Cover me in my dreams carry a smooth bore
Scattergun, scattergun, scattergun
The Ramones' song "Scatter Gun" is a tribute to the power and protection of a shotgun, specifically a smooth bore scattergun. The lyrics describe the gun as the only one that can cover the singer's vulnerability when he sleeps and appears in his dreams as a source of comfort and protection. The scattergun is portrayed as a weapon that can take down any threat quickly and effectively, with Triple-O buckshot being the only type of shot the singer needs to cut any man right off at the knees.
The lyrics express the idea that the singer is capable of defending himself without having to rely on the police, with his trusty Mossberg 590 shotgun as his constant companion. The repetition of the line "Smooth bore, scattergun, scattergun, scattergun" emphasizes the power and importance of the weapon in the singer's life.
Line by Line Meaning
Smooth bore, scattergun, you are the only one
The singer is declaring their loyalty and dependence on their weapon, a smooth bore scattergun, to protect them.
To cover me when I sleep, cover me in my dreams
The singer wants their weapon to offer protection even when they are asleep or unconscious.
Carry a smooth bore Scattergun, steal from me there'll be no time to run
The singer warns that anyone who tries to steal from them will face swift retribution from their weapon that they always carry with them.
I got the bead on you, she fires true
The artist claims to have an accurate aim on their target and their weapon always works flawlessly.
Take what you want and I'll do what I have to do
The artist is willing to use their weapon to defend their possessions and interests, and will not hesitate to take action when necessary.
Triple-O bucks the only shot for me, Cut any man right off at the knees
The singer prefers specific ammunition type (Triple-O bucks) and boasts that their weapon is powerful enough to disable a person by shooting their legs.
Don't need to bother the police, I've got my Mossberg 590
The singer doesn't need to rely on the police for protection because their weapon, a Mossberg 590, is powerful enough to offer adequate defense.
Scattergun, scattergun, scattergun
The artist repeats their weapon's name as a declaration of their reliance on it for protection and security.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: IAN FRASER KILMISTER, MICHAEL RICHARD BURSTON, PHILIP TAYLOR, PHILIP ANTHONY CAMPBELL, PHILIP JOHN TAYLOR, RICHARD BURSTON MICHAEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Racheal Plymale
on I Wanna Be Sedated (Live)
My Alltime favorite band!!!!!!!!! Joey Ramone was yummmy!!!!!