History Music / TheRamones

->''"Well! It's good to be here on TV Tropes and it's good to see all of you again, '''take it, Dee Dee!'''"''
->''"'''1-2-3-4!'''"''

Despite this, ''Animal Boy'' was one last grab at a pop crossover. Richie left in 1987 after the release of ''Halfway to Sanity'', upset that he wasn't given a share of the t-shirt sales after years with the band. Luckily, Marky was newly sober, and returned to the band, just in time for longtime bassist and songwriter Dee Dee Ramone to leave the band in a miserable haze of addictions and an eating disorder. Dee Dee still continued to contribute songs to the band, however, but he embarked on an infamous series of odd career moves, including putting out ''rap music'' under the name Dee Dee King, and briefly performing with shock rocker Music/GGAllin. Dee Dee was officially replaced by CJ Ramone, who the band later credited as giving the band youthful energy again.

One of the more tragic facts about the band, is that they're now arguably [[VindicatedByHistory far more famous and are given more credit now than when they ever were performing]], and after [[DeadArtistsAreBetter every founding member has died]]. Their legacy lives on through the enduring influence of their own music as well as punk rock itself, plus one of the most iconic logos in rock history. (You've seen the shirts.)

In July of 2016, a 40th anniversary deluxe edition of ''Ramones'' was released, featuring the album in stereo and mono mixes, outtakes, and an unreleased live album. Similar deluxe editions followed for ''Leave Home'' and ''Rocket To Russia,'' both of which contain outtakes, alternate takes and unreleased live recordings.

* Adorkable: Joey. Unlike many Punk rock singers who were big on playing up their toughness, Joey's image was built around his socially awkward but endearing personality.

** "Chain Saw" was based on ''[[Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974 The Texas Chain Saw Massacre]]''.

* ShoutOut: The name ''Ramone'' was one, taken from "Paul Ramon", the pseudonym Music/PaulMcCartney used to check into hotels during Music/TheBeatles' touring days.
** Creator/JohnCusack's character Jake Anderson is wearing a Ramones T-shirt in a scene from ''Film/MustLoveDogs''.
** And one Teenage Bottlerocket song has the singer giving a girl his Ramones sweatshirt.
** Also, one of Sylar's victims in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' wore a Ramones T-shirt — which Sylar later wears to pass off as the guy just before Mohinder comes to pay him a visit.
** Within the Ramones' music itself, "Judy Is A Punk" references "I'm Henry VIII, I Am" by Music/HermansHermits, of all songs. "Second verse, same as the first!!"

** Dee Dee sings like this on most of the song, where he did the lead vocals.

* CreepyGraveyard: The titular graveyard in ''Pet Sematary'' is absolutely lousy with undead and goblins. Of course, in the book it was UnholyGround, so there's that.

* HauntedGraveyard: The titular graveyard in ''Pet Sematary'' is absolutely lousy with undead and goblins. Of course, in the book it was UnholyGround, so there's that.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking[=/=]BreadEggsMilkSquick: "I'm Against It" goes back and forth with these tropes, as Joey rejects [[PoliticsTropes politics]], [[DirtyCommunists communists]], games and fun, [[TheFundementalist Jesus freaks]], circus geeks, summer and spring, [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll sex and drugs]], waterbugs, playing ping pong, the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Viet Cong]], [=Burger King=], anyone and anything.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Joey and Johnny Ramone — the two were polar opposites politically and philosophically, Johnny's fascination with Nazism led to endless [[DudeNotFunny anti-Semitic jokes]] at Joey's expense, and Joey constantly vetoed Johnny's edgier songs. Nonetheless, the two remained professionally inseparable, and when Joey died in 2001 Johnny was reportedly devastated and entered a prolonged depression.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking[=/=]BreadEggsMilkSquick: "I'm Against It" goes back and forth with these tropes, as Joey rejects [[PoliticsTropes politics]], [[DirtyCommunists communists]], games and fun, Jesus freaks, circus geeks, summer and spring, [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll sex and drugs]], waterbugs, playing ping pong, the [=Viet Cong=], [=Burger King=], anyone and anything.

* CatchPhrase: ''ONETWOTHREEFOUR!''; "HEY! HO! LET'S GO!"; "Gabba Gabba Hey!""

* CoverVersion: Plenty. Almost every album (except ''Pleasant Dreams'', ''Too Tough to Die'', ''Animal Boy'' and ''Halfway to Sanity'') features at least one. The entirety of ''Acid Eaters'' consists of this. Further, the band covered their '60s pop influences throughout their career. On their very first album, otherwise all original material, the boys included a cover of "Let's Dance" (Chris Montez), and their last album started with Music/TomWaits' "I Don't Want to Grow Up" from Waits' ''Music/BoneMachine''. Other notable covers included:

* MohsScaleOfLyricalHardness: Their most dark-humored stuff can reach 8, but stuff like "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" can go as low as 2.

* GreatestHitsAlbum: All kinds of 'em! ''Ramones Mania'', All The Stuff (And More!)'' volumes 1 & 2, the double-disc ''Hey! Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology, Ramones Mania 2,'' ''Loud Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits'' and many more. A three-disc box set named ''Weird Tales Of The Ramones'' was released in 2005.

* OdeToIntoxication: "I Wanna Be Sedated."

* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: A borderline TropeCodifier. Almost every song was this trope - sometimes, two chords. Which could be attributed to Johnny Ramone's hatred of guitar solos. They were originally started because they "had gotten bored with everything else" and described '70 rock as overextended jams.

-->''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons "Hey, I think they liked us!]]''

* LackOfEmpathy: "I Don't Care" is like this trope's theme song.

* OutOfGenreExperience: They were usually PunkRock, but "Do You Remember Rock 'N Roll Radio" sees them experimenting with RockAndRoll. There's also "Baby, I Love You", a FolkRock song

-->''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons "Hey, I think they liked us!"]]''

* HarshVocals: Richie Ramone sings exlusively in this style in his solo material. It could probably best be described as "Joey Ramone meets Music/HenryRollins".

* SingerNamedrop: "The Return of Jackie and Judy":

* AlliterativeName: '''R'''ichie '''R'''amone.

* CoverVersion: The entirety of ''Acid Eaters'' consists of this. Further, the band covered their '60s pop influences throughout their career. On their very first album, otherwise all original material, the boys included a cover of "Let's Dance" (Chris Montez), and their last album started with Music/TomWaits' "I Don't Want to Grow Up" from Waits' ''Music/BoneMachine''. Other notable covers included:

* SubduedSection: "Blitzkrieg Bop" of course.

* TeenageDeathSongs: "7-11". "53rd & 3rd".

After the band made a guest appearance in Creator/RogerCorman's cult movie Film/RockAndRollHighSchool, the band got in touch with famous 1960s pop producer Phil Spector in 1980, to create an attempt at a breakthrough album, ''Music/EndOfTheCentury.'' The sessions were fraught with tension between the band (who were always the 'get in, get out' types) and Spector (a notoriously meticulous ControlFreak). The sessions did pay off in an album that charted at #44, their highest charting album ever, but its got a mixed reputation, among fans and the band itself, for presenting a [[LighterAndSofter slicker, poppier Ramones.]] Oddly enough, their cover of "Baby I Love You" did huge business in the UK.

After the band made a guest appearance in Creator/RogerCorman's cult movie Film/RockAndRollHighSchool, the band got in touch with famous 1960s pop producer Phil Spector in 1980, to create an attempt at a breakthrough album, ''Music/EndOfTheCentury.'' The sessions were fraught with tension between the band (who were always the 'get in, get out' types) and Spector (a notoriously meticulous ControlFreak). At one point in the recordings, Spector pulled a gun on Johnny and forced him to play the same riff over a hundred times. The sessions did pay off in an album that charted at #44, their highest charting album ever, but it's got a mixed reputation, among fans and the band itself, for presenting a [[LighterAndSofter slicker, poppier Ramones.]] Oddly enough, their cover of "Baby I Love You" did huge business in the UK.

Two further albums, ''Music/LeaveHome'' and ''Music/RocketToRussia'', followed in 1977. While the former did even worse than the debut, ''Rocket To Russia'' was their best seller to date, hitting #49, and the single "Rockaway Beach" hit #66 - the highest charting single the band would ever have. By this time, Tommy stepped down as drummer for good, but remained friends with the band and would go on to produce for them. His replacement was Marc Bell, aka Marky Ramone, who recorded 1978's ''Music/RoadToRuin'' with the band.

The band soldiered on with a few more pop crossover attempts, with relationships in the band straining further. Most notably, around the early 80s, Johnny stole Joey's girlfriend, Linda, which Joey never got over for many years, and they rarely spoke to each other since. Despite this, the band never slowed down, still playing hundreds of concerts a year. Marky, who was abusing alcohol, got fired from the band and replaced with Richard Reinhardt[=/=]Richie Ramone, who debuted on the 1984 album ''Too Tough To Die,'' a more rock-oriented album featuring Tommy Ramone behind the boards alongside old school Ramones producer Ed Stasium.

Despite this, ''Animal Boy'' was one last grab at a pop crossover. Richie left in 1987 after the release of ''Halfway To Sanity,'' upset that he wasn't given a share of the t-shirt sales after years with the band. Luckily, Marky was newly sober, and returned to the band, just in time for longtime bassist and songwriter Dee Dee Ramone to leave the band in a miserable haze of addictions and an eating disorder. Dee Dee still continued to contribute songs to the band, however, but he embarked on an infamous series of odd career moves, including putting out ''rap music'' under the name Dee Dee King, and briefly performing with shock rocker Music/GGAllin. Dee Dee was officially replaced by CJ Ramone, who the band later credited as giving the band youthful energy again.

The band reunited again with producer Ed Stasium and released ''Mondo Bizarro,'' which did huge in Brazil, but the band were embittered by this point of never breaking through in America. By 1995's ''¡Adiós Amigos!'', they declared they were hanging it up unless the album did huge numbers (again, it didn't), but nonetheless they embarked on the longest farewell tour in the history of rock & roll, going over two years and spawning two live albums. Their last show was in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, in August 1996, after which the band unceremoniously went their separate ways.

* ShoutOut: The name ''Ramone'' was one, taken from "Paul Ramon", the pseudonym [[Music/PaulMcCartney Paul [=McCartney=]]] used to check into hotels during Music/TheBeatles' touring days.

* SingleStanzaSong: They were quite partial to this one. Examples include "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You," "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," "Listen To My Heart," "It's A Long Way Back."

** Ever since ''Subterranean Jungle'' and the song "Time Bomb," the band made a point to invoke this. Dee Dee averaged a couple songs on each album until he left the band, and then the tradition was passed onto CJ.

* TeenageDeathSongs: "7-11," "53rd & 3rd."
* TitleTrack: ''Too Tough To Die'' and ''Animal Boy'' both had these.

* TitleOnlyChorus: Quite a few songs with this trope... such as "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker", "Rock n' Roll High School", "Somebody Put Something In My Drink", "Mama's Boy", "I'm Affected" and so on.
* TodayXTomorrowTheWorld: "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World."

* VitriolicBestBuds: Joey and Johnny Ramone — the two were polar opposites politically and philosophically, Johnny's fascination with Nazism led to endless [[DudeNotFunny anti-Semitic jokes]] at Joey's expense, Joey constantly vetoed Johnny's edgier songs, and the two ultimately stopped speaking to each other after Johnny stole Joey's girlfriend, and ultimately married her (which inspired Joey to write "The KKK Took My Baby Away", as a veiled TakeThat towards Johnny). Nonetheless, the two remained professionally inseparable, and when Joey died in 2001 Johnny was reportedly devastated and entered a prolonged depression.
* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: Joey adopted something of a British accent on earlier albums, which he dropped by the 80s.

* [[invoked]]WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs — dramatically inverted in "Wart Hog" Not only were the [[ProtestSong ranting]], PoesLaw inducing lyrics the product of a ''very'' bad trip according to WordOfGod, the song ''explicitly mentions'' this fact. Twice. In separate verses. One verse contains the lines:

Two further albums, ''Music/LeaveHome'' and ''Music/RocketToRussia,'' followed in 1977. While the former did even worse than the debut, ''Rocket To Russia'' was their best seller to date, hitting #49, and the single "Rockaway Beach" hit #66 - the highest charting single the band would ever have. By this time, Tommy stepped down as drummer for good, but remained friends with the band and would go on to produce for them. His replacement was Marc Bell, aka Marky Ramone, who recorded 1978's ''Music/RoadToRuin'' with the band.

The band reunited again with producer Ed Stasium and released ''Mondo Bizarro,'' which did huge in Brazil, but the band were embittered by this point of never breaking through in America. By 1995's ''¡Adiós Amigos!'', they declared they were hanging it up unless the album did huge numbers (again, it didn't), but nonetheless they embarked on the longest farewell tour in the history of rock & roll, going over two years and spawning two live albums. Their last show was in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, in August of 1996, after which the band unceremoniously went their separate ways.

One of the more tragic facts about the band, is that they're now arguably [[VindicatedByHistory far more famous and are given more credit now than when they ever were performing]], and after [[DeadArtistsAreBetter all of the founding members have died]]. Their legacy lives on through the enduring influence of their own music as well as punk rock itself, plus one of the most iconic logos in rock history. (You've seen the shirts.)

* Marc Bell (Marky Ramone) - drums (1978–1983, 1987–1996)

* '''Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone)''' - bass, backing and lead vocals, guitar, synthesizer (1974-1989, died 2002)
* '''John Cummings (Johnny Ramone)''' - guitar (1974-1996, died 2004)
* '''Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy Ramone)''' - drums (1974-1978, died 2014)
* '''Jeffery Hyman (Joey Ramone)''' - lead vocals, drums (1974-1996, died 2001)
* Richard Reinhardt (Richie Ramone) - drums, backing and lead vocals (1983-1987)
* Christopher Joseph Ward (C.J. Ramone) - bass, backing and lead vocals (1989–1996)

* 1984 - ''Too Tough To Die''

* 1987 - ''Halfway To Sanity''

* BlackComedy: The band always had some pretty dark songs, but "Beat On The Brat," "We're A Happy Family," "Teenage Lobotomy" and "Wart Hog" just wallow in this trope.
* BrokeTheRatingScale: Once, WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead watched the video for "I Wanna Be Sedated," and it is one of, if not ''the,'' only videos that actually got the boys to shut up and rock out for a change.

* DontTouchItYouIdiot: "You Should Never Have Opened That Door."
* DownerEnding: On so many levels. From all accounts, Joey and Johnny never did resolve their differences. The band never did achieve the big hits they were chasing for 20 years. The band were thoroughly dissatisfied with how their last show came off. Joey succumbed to lymphoma in 2001, Dee Dee died of a heroin overdose just over a year later, and Johnny died in 2004 from prostate cancer. The band's first drummer and the last surviving original member, Tommy Ramone lived for several years after his former bandmates, but subsequently died of bile duct cancer in 2014.

** "Chain Saw" was based on ''[[Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]''.

* LargeAndInCharge: Joey Ramone was the leader of the band and stood at 6'5.

One of the more tragic aftereffects of the band, is that they're now arguably [[VindicatedByHistory far more famous and are given more credit now than when they ever were performing]], and after [[DeadArtistsAreBetter all of the founding members have died]]. Their legacy lives on through the enduring influence of their own music as well as punk rock itself, plus one of the most iconic logos in rock history. (You've seen the shirts.)