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 Business Is Killing Me
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm a nervous wreck
This business is killing me
You know
This business is killing me
You know
It's really killing me
Yeah
Oh no oh no oh no
Oh no oh-no oh no
Oh no oh-no oh no
On no ho
This business is killing me
And so they say
Run around, run around
Love giving you
The run around
It really makes you crazy
Run around, run around
Love giving you
The run around
Oh no oh no oh no
Oh no oh no oh no
Oh no oh no oh no
On no ho
This business is killing me
And so they say
Hey, hey
You work, you work
You write all night
Until the early morning light
Can't please all the people
All the time
All the people
All the time
But then they don't
Please me
Well I can't take it no more
No, I can't take it no more
Run around, run around
Well I can't take it no more
No, I can't take it
The lyrics of Ramones's song “This Business Is Killing Me” express an artist's frustration with the music industry. The singer is sick to death, a nervous wreck, feeling destroyed by the business he is in. He repeats the phrase "This business is killing me" several times to emphasize his point, as if to say that the business has sucked the life out of him. The phrase "And so they say" suggests that others have warned him about the toll the industry would take on him, indicating that it is a common theme among artists in the music industry.
The second verse highlights the run-around that artists experience, as they chase after success and try to please everyone. The repetition of "run around, run around" implies a frenzied and chaotic experience, and the phrase "it really makes you crazy" confirms just how exhausting it all can be. The line "Can't please all the people, all the time" suggests that the artist knows that he cannot keep everyone happy, but he seems unable to accept this fact. Finally, the artist reaches his breaking point and declares that he can no longer take it.
The song's lyrics show the artists' frustration with the music industry and how it can push successful people to the brink. It highlights the pressure put on artists to create and deliver a product that will be loved by millions. At the same time, it underscores how this pressure can take a toll on their physical and mental health.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm sick to death
I'm so exhausted, it feels like I'm about to die
I'm a nervous wreck
I am so stressed and anxious that it's causing physical and mental problems
This business is killing me
My job is causing me so much stress and exhaustion that it feels like it's literally killing me
You know
You understand what I'm going through
This business is killing me
My job is causing me so much stress and exhaustion that it feels like it's literally killing me
You know
You understand what I'm going through
It's really killing me
My job is causing me intense suffering and distress
Yeah
I am agreeing with my own statement that this job is killing me
Oh no oh no oh no
Expressing distress and fear about the job
Oh no oh-no oh no
Expressing distress and fear about the job
Oh no oh-no oh no
Expressing distress and fear about the job
On no ho
Vocalization of distress and fear
This business is killing me
My job is causing me so much stress and exhaustion that it feels like it's literally killing me
And so they say
Others recognize the harm that my job is causing me as well
Run around, run around
This job requires constant activity and movement
Love giving you
The job enjoys causing you
The run around
Making things difficult by requiring a lot of effort and activity
It really makes you crazy
The stress and constant activity of the job can cause extreme mental distress
Run around, run around
This job requires constant activity and movement
Love giving you
The job enjoys causing you
The run around
Making things difficult by requiring a lot of effort and activity
Oh no oh no oh no
Expressing distress and fear about the job
Oh no oh no oh no
Expressing distress and fear about the job
Oh no oh no oh no
Expressing distress and fear about the job
On no ho
Vocalization of distress and fear
This business is killing me
My job is causing me so much stress and exhaustion that it feels like it's literally killing me
And so they say
Others recognize the harm that my job is causing me as well
Hey, hey
Vocalization of frustration and desperation
You work, you work
I am working hard and putting in a lot of effort
You write all night
Working through the night to meet work demands
Until the early morning light
Working until the sun comes up
Can't please all the people
It is impossible to satisfy everyone
All the time
Continuously
All the people
Every person
All the time
Continuously
But then they don't
But those people don't
Please me
Satisfy or make me happy
Well I can't take it no more
I am at a breaking point and can no longer tolerate this job
No, I can't take it no more
I am at a breaking point and can no longer tolerate this job
Run around, run around
This job requires constant activity and movement
Well I can't take it no more
I am at a breaking point and can no longer tolerate this job
No, I can't take it
I am at a breaking point and can no longer tolerate this job
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DEE DEE RAMONE, DOUGLAS COLVIN, JEFFREY HYMAN, JOEY RAMONE, JOHN (RAMONE) CUMMINGS, JOHNNY RAMONE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Racheal Plymale
on I Wanna Be Sedated (Live)
My Alltime favorite band!!!!!!!!! Joey Ramone was yummmy!!!!!