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."
This Ain't Havana
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There was troubles and I had 'em too
Just 'cause you're so strung out
Don't mean it can't work out
Ba-ba-banana, this ain't Havana
Do you like bananas, ba-ba-bananas
You ask them for your mercy
Just like the cats in the garbage cans
When's their time coming, man
You better offer some resistance
You better give up on my insistence
Things happen overnight
You don't give up without a fight
Ba-ba-banana, this ain't Havana
Do you like bananas, ba-ba-bananas
You say you're poor and uneducated
You ain't gotta chance 'cause you're hated
You're on your way to life's promotion
You hinder it with emotion
Ba-ba-banana, this ain't Havana
Do you like bananas, ba-ba-bananas
The Ramones's classic punk song This Ain't Havana was released in 1985 and features lyrics that encourage perseverance, resistance, and defiance in times of adversity. The song is about overcoming obstacles and not being limited by one's circumstances or society's expectations.
The first verse suggests that the singer and the listener are not so different, having both faced troubles in their lives. However, the chorus asserts that they are not in Havana, where bananas are commonplace, but rather somewhere else where success is attainable with effort and determination. The second verse addresses the listener's sense of victimhood and the idea that society has stacked the odds against them. The singer challenges the listener to push back against these perceived limitations and not give up without a fight. The final verse addresses the listener's feelings of inadequacy and societal rejection, arguing that they are hindering their own progress with their emotions.
Overall, the song is a rallying cry for those who might have been dealt a difficult hand in life, encouraging them to persevere and resist the forces that would hold them back. It emphasizes the importance of fighting for one's dreams and not accepting limitations or defeat.
Line by Line Meaning
I had no advantage over you
I am not better than you in any way
There was troubles and I had 'em too
I faced difficulties in life just like you did
Just 'cause you're so strung out
Even though you may be struggling with addiction
Don't mean it can't work out
It doesn't mean that you can't turn your life around
Ba-ba-banana, this ain't Havana
Hey, listen up, this is not Cuba
Do you like bananas, ba-ba-bananas
Just a random question about bananas
Say you're a victim of society
If you believe that society has wronged you
You ask them for your mercy
And you plead for their understanding
Just like the cats in the garbage cans
Just like the cats that scrounge for food in the trash
When's their time coming, man
When will they have their turn to live a better life?
You better offer some resistance
You need to fight back against injustice
You better give up on my insistence
Don't let me force you to give up
Things happen overnight
Good things can just suddenly happen out of nowhere
You don't give up without a fight
Don't give up easily, put up a good fight
You say you're poor and uneducated
If you think you're disadvantaged because of your lack of wealth and education
You ain't gotta chance 'cause you're hated
And you believe that people don't like you and that will hold you back
You're on your way to life's promotion
You have the potential to succeed in life
You hinder it with emotion
But sometimes your emotions can get in the way
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Douglas Colvin, Jeff Hyman, John Cummings
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ratkomartinovic65
Joey s voice...incredibile
@jimfrazzitta4218
"You better offer some resistance
You don't give up on my insistence
Things happen over night
You don't give up without a fight..."
@firefoxsonico5427
Hablé de this a vananá este disco lp Ramones no me i no porta. Lo que quiera el el estado gente libre buena pascuas para ustedes dios es más grande que no soros ,saludos desde chile ,me encanta su música,thankkkkkkkss