Their debut album begins with “Blitzkrieg Bop,” for fuck’s sake! It’s still one of the iconic punk songs of all-time. Their legacy and signature sound was intact the moment they released their first album into the world. However, what is worth noting that, from the get go, they were the Ramones. The Ramones were majorly influential - if you’ve paid any attention to rock and roll music in the last 40 years, you know that. Forty years ago on April 23, the Ramones released their self-titled debut album. One such seminal album, an album that helped change the face of music, was made by four scraggly, scrawny dudes from Queens whose main goal seemed to be, at times, to finish a song as soon as it started. People have to point the finger toward you and say, “You made this happen,” and a musician can’t really control that. You have to get to that innovative sound before anybody else and you have to leave a substantial influence. You have to do something new and unique and wonderful, for starters, and on top of that, in order to really leave your mark on music, there must be a confluence of events beyond your control. Making an album that changes the very landscape of music is nearly impossible. That void-filling continues to this day, and likely will continue to do so for generations to come.Making a great album is hard. By translating raw emotion into unconventional lyrics using the direct minimalism of words shouted-as they would be in real life-the Ramones began to fill a cultural void.” “Upon hearing this album, discovered they weren’t alone. “ Ramones had a tremendous impact on people who wanted to express their thoughts with that type of freedom and honesty, but feared it would be unacceptable,” according to Leigh, co-author of I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Punk Rock Family Memoir. Mick Jones and Joe Strummer of the Clash would introduce themselves as fans and the Ramones had arrived. later that same year, the crowd sang along with every word (when they weren’t lobbing spitballs). Two singles were released, “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend ” and while the album did not chart well, it was (and still is) loved by critics. There were a few hiccups, such as Stein’s strong aversion to songs involving Nazis, glue sniffing, and beating children but eventually-with genius engineering coupled with backing vocals from Leon, Joey’s brother Mickey Leigh, and the recording engineer (along with some very creative mixing)-the band’s first affront on the unsuspecting public was in the can. The guys began recording Ramones in January, 1976. Craig would eventually invite the band up to Sire to meet Seymour Stein, who went on to sign the Ramones in 1975 (after his late ex-wife Linda had fallen in love with them first). Eventual co-engineer, backing vocalist of Ramones, and early Sire employee Craig Leon would see the band for the first time playing for “a handful” of people at CBGBs in August of 1974. Lisa Robins of Hit Parader caught an early Ramones gig in the city and got soon-to-be manager Danny Fields in touch with the band. Ramones was an oddly collaborative effort. Thanks to Sire Records, the world beyond New York City would soon be introduced to Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy. While the band (arguably) may not have written the first punk song ever, it’s undeniable that 44 years ago this week (April 23, 1976) the genre would be pioneered by the Ramones’ debut release, Ramones.
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