The music was fast and it was loud, with short, stripped-down songs that had an immense impact on the future of music.
For many, the punk pioneers Ramones in their leather jackets, tight worn-out jeans and old sneakers defined the sound and the rebellion of the movement.
“To me, they are the seminal band, even more important than the Sex Pistols,” said Bob Santelli, executive director of the Grammy Museum, which recently opened a new exhibition called “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk.”
“It wasn’t just the music: It was the attitude, it was the fashion,” he added.
The exhibit will be on display at the downtown venue through February.
It includes photographs, posters, videos, handwritten lyrics, T-shirts emblazoned with the band’s iconic logo and other personal items that cover the band’s remarkable career.
It also includes educational programs, such as the upcoming discussions on Oct. 11 and 25 organized by the museum’s Education Department exploring the roots of punk and the role the New York band played in the creation of the genre and its lasting legacy on pop culture.
The exhibit is co-curated by the Queens Museum, where another version of the show opened in April and ran through July to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the release of the Ramones’ 1976 self-titled debut album, which launched the band’s prolific 22-year career.
“That record and that band redefined rock ’n’ roll at a time when rock ’n’ roll needed redefining,” Santelli said.
“It put rock ’n’ roll back on a track that got it away from the complexity and convolutedness of what progressive rock was all about and took it back basically to three chords and the truth.”
The Ramones were formed in 1974 by Jeff Hyman (Joey Ramone), John Cummings (Johnny Ramone), Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee Ramone) and Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy Ramone) in Forest Hills, New York. There were some lineup changes throughout the years that included later members Marc Bell (Marky Ramone), Richard Reinhardt (Richie Ramone), and Christopher Joseph Ward (C. J. Ramone).
The band released 21 studio and live albums and played more than 2,200 concerts until its final performance in L.A. in 1996.
Linda Ramone, who met the band at New York City’s CBGB club in 1976 when she was about 16 years old, was witness to most of the band’s career.
Dressed like a punk-rock princess in a silky blue short dress, knee-high black boots and a tiara and short black studded cape, she was at the Grammy Museum a day before the public opening. She strolled through the exhibit and relived her years with the band, first as Joey’s girlfriend and then when she married Johnny.
“I think it’s amazing that they’re being recognized like this,” she said as she checked out such items as guitars, leather jackets, jeans and shoes worn by the band members. “I think the whole time they were in the band they never really knew until later when they retired how much they influenced people. So to see this now, it’s a great feeling because they were so important in rock ’n’ roll history. Johnny would love it.”
Also part of the exhibition are handwritten fliers promoting their shows at CBGB, song lyrics penned in hectic handwriting, concert posters and paintings of the band members by artist Shepard Fairey, which cover one wall of the exhibit floor.
“I love the Johnny, of course,” Linda Ramone said as she pointed to the painting that depicts Johnny Ramone leaning back with his legs wide apart jamming on his guitar.
Some of the items on display came from people who knew the band intimately and provided such things as backstage passes, a tour itinerary and posters from shows around the world.
“They played all over the world,” Monte Melnick, their tour manager, said while checking out the exhibit. “They were a worldwide group, and their music influenced so many other groups that heard them as kids.”
Many items on display came from Linda Ramone’s collection as well, such as Johnny’s Rickenbacker guitar.
“It’s very rare,” she said. “I bought that back in an auction, and he used it in the early days, then he put it away and never used it. He traded it to one of his friends, and I just purchased it back this year.”
Below the guitar was Johnny’s iconic black leather motorcycle jacket.
“It was probably from the ’80s,” she said. “I think this is the third one he had because the first one they stole it, the second one he traded.”
Next to the jacket was the group’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Award, handed to them after they were inducted in 2002.
“Johnny had a great time at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because he never thought they’d ever get in,” she said.
