Illustration: John Pound
 
Hearing The Ramones’ debut album for the first time ranks right up their with getting my cherry popped, my first acid trip and watching my daughter’s birth. There are certain touchstones in one’s life that mark the point at which something switches on in your body chemistry that alters you forever. For me, these changes are generally induced by sex, drugs and/or rock and roll.

In the mid-70s I was living in the heart of John Denver country. The rock and roll scene in the Boulder/Denver area was dire. Hippie shit still ruled the airwaves and Deadheads in tye-dyed t-shirts and Jesus spats shuffled through the streets and parks on a perpetual Rocky Mountain high. I read Bukowski, listened to Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets compilation and leered through my window at the freaks contentedly loping along like those dumb multi-colored bears you see on Grateful Dead beer cozies. What were they so fucking happy about? Rock and roll was dead and I wasn’t feeling so good myself. Something had to change.

The change came with the arrival of The Ramones. The boys from Queens returned rock to its roots: short catchy tunes played fast with maximum energy. In 35 minutes they distilled the music I loved to its essence. I pulled out my dust-covered Telecaster with its rusting strings and started writing songs again. I was inspired and reminded that two or three chords is all it took to change the world or to at least make it a bit more inhabitable.

35 years later and the band that many considered a joke when they came on the scene are finally recognized as rock and roll legends. Their music has only gotten better with age. The first three Ramones’ albums are indisputable classics and those of us who defended them and supported them have gotten the last laugh.

In 1976 had you told me that almost four decades later The Ramones would be heroes to kids all across America, I would have loved the notion but thought it improbable. But that’s exactly where things are at. The Ramones rule America’s suburbs now more than ever. And it’s a beautiful thing.

One evening while doing Youtube research on The Ramones I came across several videos of kid bands covering “Blitzkrieg Bop.” As I continued to scroll through Youtube, the several became dozens and it was then I realized that the kid band/‘Blitzkrieg Bop” thing was a bona-fide phenomenon. In the time it takes to listen to a Ramones’ album, I discovered more than a hundred videos of teenybopper combos covering “Blitzkrieg.” The song is an anthem for children who are no bigger than the instruments they’re playing. And some of these pre-teen punks are as good as many of the bands I saw at CBGB on audition night.

I gathered some of the videos together for your listening pleasure. The only stipulations I made regarding which bands qualified for this little overview of Blitzkrieg mania are the groups had to appear to be under 16 years of age and had to actually be playing instruments. There are a couple of videos where the bands are augmented by a backing track or, in one case, an adult (Sami Yaffa from Hanoi Rocks). I made an exception for those because the kids performing are so damned good or so damned charming. There is a particularly sweet acoustic performance in the mix. And I threw in one band covering “I Wanna Be Sedated” because I liked their style.

‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ is pure, simple, infectious rock and roll with a chorus that won’t quit. It appeals to the kid in all of us and “the kids are losing their minds.”

So here they are: the future Ramones of America. And some of the brothers are sisters! “Hey, ho, let’s go!”
 

How delightfully odd that the Ramones have Thorazine stumbled into the hearts of the youth so plentifully. I grew up in 80’s and 90’s. Although the Misfits were and are my punk poison of choice; the Ramones were the sugar smacks to the misfits sour milk.

Oh man!
Genius idea.
The Ramisfits.

I have to go. I have a punk band to form.

Thanks for sharing.

Nice piece. I, too lived in CO (Still do) in the mid 70’s, saw an ad for the first Ramones CD on the back cover of Cream and ... bam!  Did you happen to see The Ramones at Ebbetts Field in 1977?  What a show!  Must have seen them 6-8 times total, all out here in CO.

Any child under the age of 7 could learn the ramones one song and probably play it better. Never has a one trick band been so overhyped. they were considered a joke because they were a fucking joke. Even complete retards can get lucky you know, as they more than proved. And no they are not considered legends 30 years later. They are just a tshirt logo worn by people who have never heard one bum note of their tuneless dirge. In fact most people that wear those ghastly tshirts aren’t even aware that it’s a bands logo. What a horrible overused and wrongly used word LEGEND is anyway.

Oh, so damn heart-warming, even though it’s not very PUNK ROCK to admit as much!

I also remember how my chest swelled with pride when my young son’s band finally kicked out a wobbly version of that song.

Wish I had’ve recorded it, but alas, it’s lost to the sea of time….

That first Ramones LP was a great teacher; you quickly learn that you can simply pan the balance one way or another to virtually eliminate either the bass or guitar, giving you a unique <i>music-minus-one</i> experience.

I think this proves that the Ramones were always pretty tame, not that kids are punk rock.  If kids were covering “My War” or something, it’d be a bit more surprising.

@ Joey’s rusty infected needle

It never fails to amaze me how as soon as someone posts something music related on DM there’s always some jerk who has to post a message telling the world why it’s crap. I was first aware of it on a Flying Lotus post a while back that had a whole host of pond life scuttling out to explain exactly why it was shit and why they could do better. I have no problem at all with people saying that they don’t like something and then explaining succinctly and coherently why, but when you resort to terms like ‘complete retard’ you lose everyone’s respect. And maybe look past the music to the cultural and sociological relevance before blasting a band. I agree with you that the word ‘legend’ is vastly overused but try formulating your argument with a little more intelligence in future. This place is becoming more and more like YouTube every day. Lecture over.

Thank you! These put a big goofy smile on my face.

@Ora Agree! If a post is put up with respect as this one is, what’s the point of ranting about the source material?

I find the value, apart from the music, in pondering the transfer of culture between generations, and what it might mean to the new performers.

@ Henry: Clearly you weren’t around in ‘76/‘77.  There wouldn’t have been a Black Flag .. or a Clash, or a Fugazi, etc, etc, etc without the Ramones.  In 1976, they were anything but tame ... whatever the hell THAT means.  Is Mozart “tame”, ie, wothless to you?

Yep, born in 1972, so I came of age with Black Flag, and the Ramones never spoke to me.  “I wanna be sedated” just not as cathartic to me as “You’re one of them.”  To me, they seemed like a punk rock KISS.  I understand their place in music history, just never my thing.

I’ve also got an 8-year-old kid who participated in one of these Blitzkrieg Bop performances - and, trust me, it’s tame.

I hear ya, the “I’m angrier than you” version of punk bored me by mid 1982. Why listen to music to get angrier?

Mike,

Thanks for jumping in and giving The Ramones their due.

Nearly 40 years ago The Ramones were definitely not tame. Ask Johnny Rotten/Lydon. It’s a well-documented fact that he was so spooked by the band he wouldn’t visit them backstage. He thought he’d get beat up. The perception at the time among many folks is that “the brothers” from Queens were a bunch of juvenile delinquents not to be fucked with.

My band opened for The Ramones in 1977 at Ebbet’s Field in Denver, a small club not a field. I got to hang around with the band and they were not tame. They were intense. Nothing warm and cuddly about The Ramones. Though Dee Dee was very funny, the rest of the band and their girlfriends were kind of surly and mostly silent. I don’t know how much of it was theater. I later became friends with Joey and he was a sweetheart.

The Ramones not only influenced punk and hardcore bands, they had a big impact on groups like U2, Chili Peppers, Metallica, not to mention countless neo-punk bands like Green Day, Rancid etc.

And yes they are legends.

“I’ve also got an 8-year-old kid who participated in one of these Blitzkrieg Bop performances - and, trust me, it’s tame.”

I hope so. They’re fucking 8 years old. What do you want? A bunch of pre-pubescent GG Allin’s hurling shit at the audience?

The first time I saw The Ramones was when I was on the bill with them. My 18 year old roadie, Eric, was so knocked out by The Ramones and their energy that it was a turning point in his life. A year later he changed his name and founded his own band called The Dead Kennedys. Jello did not consider the Ramones “tame.” Nor did I. They were, at that time, the most intense thing I’d ever seen on a stage. Tight, loud, powerful, pure.

Dude, if the Ramones weren’t tame, kids wouldn’t be covering them. That’s it.

They’re formin’ in a straight line
They’re goin’ through a tight one
The kids are losin’ their minds
The Blitzkrieg bop
They’re pilin’ in the back seat
They generate steam heat
Pulsatin’ to the back beat
The Blitzkrieg bop

This is sweet stuff, really. I’m sure they were intense and all and they broke open music, but at core the Ramones were a pop band.  Compare that to Dead Kennedy’s “Police Truck” and it’s sorta different.  Though this is fucking cool:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YAqstduXmI

“shoot em in the back now”

Henry,

punk was pop. Think about it. The Ramones, Blondie, Devo, The Clash (Janie Jones, White Riot), The Buzzcocks, The Undertones, The Vibrators, The Dictators, The Heartbreakers, X Ray Spex, Suicide Commandos, The Dickies, The Damned….

DK’s bored me from day one. I’ve always considered Jello to be a self absorbed, self-important loudmouth. Talking about politics, particuarly in the context of popular music is boring, pointless, self-serving; we get it, you CARE more than we do.

Was X tame for not talking about politics? Was the Clash tame for releasing “Train In Vain”?

I agree, but my daughter also performed Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” with a chorus of kids and it was way more disturbing:

As He Came Into The Window
It Was The Sound Of A Crescendo
He Came Into Her Apartment
He Left The Bloodstains On The Carpet
She Ran Underneath The Table
He Could See She Was Unable
So She Ran Into The Bedroom
She Was Struck Down, It Was Her Doom

I agree with Mark, that is.  DK, I like.

My Bloody Valentine arecloser to what I’d call dangerous - you could lose your hearing.  The Black Angels(now)and Brian Jonestown Massacre (5-7 yrs ago)just sound evil. Haven’t cared much about lyrics since early Lou Reed.

“DK’s bored me from day one. I’ve always considered Jello to be a self absorbed, self-important loudmouth. Talking about politics, particuarly in the context of popular music is boring, pointless, self-serving; we get it, you CARE more than we do.”

I agree. One of my biggest problems with Jello, and he’s my friend, is that he’s always on a soapbox, even in private conversation. I’ve known him off and on for 35 years and I still don’t know if he has a girlfriend…but I do know where he stands on all kinds of social issues. And I’ve seen his record collection, which is pretty fucking impressive.

As soon as bands get overtly political they lose me. Mostly because rock and rollers are not my first choice for insight on world issues. The Who lost me with Tommy because I also don’t go to rock bands for spiritual insight. To paraphrase Madness: “fuck politics and religion, let’s dance!”

“If a post is put up with respect as this one is”

That’s the problem; there was no respect in this post, just a slam of John Denver, Grateful Dead, and hippies. Why do we have to tear down other music to make a point about other music? That’s the real question, not whether people like or dislike the Ramones. You are always going to have people who dislike a band or think they’re overrated, but the post cast the first stone in that department.

Somewhere back there it says “if it weren’t tame, kids wouldn’t be doing it”  Ridiculous!  Kids respond to raw energy and intensity - that’s why we loved it then and that’s why they are drawn to it now.

At least these kids have an excuse! to tell the truth, they sound better than the ramones.