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."
We
Ramones Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ain't gonna take it, it's our time
We want the world and we want it now
We're gonna take it, anyhow
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves, baby
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
Where's your guts and will to survive?
Don't you want to keep rock and roll music alive?
Mister programmer, I got my hammer for to smash my, smash my radio
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves, baby
If rock is gonna stay alive
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, baby
The Ramones' song "We Want The Airwaves" is an anthem to the struggle against a music industry that the band believed consisted of corporations that dictated what type of music was played on the radio. The lyrics speak of a desire for a level playing field in the music world, one where independent and underground acts are at the forefront. The song offers a rallying cry for a generation of rock fans who were tired of hearing the same songs and bands repeated on the radio, and who were ready for something different. The chorus "We want the airwaves, baby, if rock is gonna stay alive" is a plea for diversity and for more independent artists to be given a chance on mainstream radio.
The first verse of the song speaks of the daily grind, represented by the nine to five workday, and the desire for something more meaningful. The second verse gets more confrontational in its call to action, asking "Where's your guts and will to survive?" and calling out the "mister programmer" for his role in perpetuating the status quo. The bridge of the song is a call to arms, with the singer proclaiming "Mister programmer, I got my hammer for to smash my, smash my radio." This violent imagery underscores the frustration that many young people felt at the time, of being forced to listen to the same corporate-approved music day in and day out.
Overall, "We Want The Airwaves" is a rallying cry for a more diverse and inclusive music scene, and a condemnation of an industry that places profits before artistic expression. The Ramones were at the forefront of the punk rock movement, a genre that emerged in the late 1970s as a reaction to the commercialization of rock and roll. The band's message and music were often controversial, but they remained true to their beliefs until the end.
Line by Line Meaning
Nine to five and five to nine
We are not going to live our lives according to the rigid structure of the traditional workday
Ain't gonna take it, it's our time
We refuse to accept the status quo and we are determined to take control of our own lives and destiny
We want the world and we want it now
We have big aspirations and we want to achieve them as soon as possible
We're gonna take it, anyhow
We are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve our goals and make our dreams a reality
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want to control the cultural conversation and be the ones who dictate what people listen to
If rock is gonna stay alive
We believe that rock and roll music is an important cultural force that needs to be preserved
Where's your guts and will to survive?
We challenge those who do not share our passion and drive to question their own motivations and purpose
Don't you want to keep rock and roll music alive?
We implore those who do not share our values to consider the importance of preserving the cultural legacy of rock and roll music
Mister programmer, I got my hammer for to smash my, smash my radio
We reject the notion that we should passively consume whatever media is fed to us, and are willing to take action to assert our own preferences and artistic vision
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We emphasize the importance of controlling the cultural conversation, and reiterate our demand for a platform to make our voices heard
Oh yeah, well, all right
We express our shared enthusiasm and commitment to our cause
Let's rock, tonight, all night
We call for a shared experience of cultural rebellion and artistic expression, free from the constraints of societal norms and expectations
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JEFFREY HYMAN, JOEY RAMONE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@KennethMcGrath
LYRICS
Nine to five and five to nine
Ain't gonna take it, it's our time
We want the world and we want it now
We're gonna take it, anyhow
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves, baby
If rock is gonna stay alive
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
Where's your guts and will to survive?
Don't you want to keep rock and roll music alive?
Mister programmer, I got my hammer for to smash my, smash my radio
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves (that's right, that's right)
We want the airwaves, baby
If rock is gonna stay alive
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
Oh yeah, well, all right
Let's rock, tonight, all night
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, airwaves
We want the airwaves, baby
@luciok-po5401
2023 and those boys still are the best...
@DaYNe69
Aguante los ramones y flema loco
@user-ui8sb8mz2k
Yeaaa🖐️☯️🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘👍 Jon
@AidenLopez-yd2hq
Rest in peace Ramones🕊
@jeffreywilliams2240
TROOF!!!!
@sergiogabrielortega4071
@@DaYNe69⁰0
@herkkoerkko9608
These dudes are my heroes. They came from nothing and just give the finger for the hole music industry.
@Ninineonangel77
They are mine too honestly! They really are the best band that'll ever exist.
@user-yp7pq7co5s
🎉
@herchelleonwood7463
@@Ninineonangel77 piss's me off to this day that the Ramones NEVER got the airplay they deserved, the record companies new that as soon as the mass's were exposed to the Ramones that traditional rock would be history, like the dinosaur..