Quoted from pezpunk:thanks for raising the hostility level of the discourse for no good reason.
as i said, the Ramones were not chart toppers and i don't expect Stern to make a Ramones pin. But their influence on rock is completely outsized, especially compared to their record sales.
The Ramones had been around since '74. their first album came out in April '76 and was a huge influence on all of those UK bands -- it's not a stretch because they all said so themselves. Sid Vicious learned to play bass by playing along to Ramones first album. He regularly played Blitzkrieg Bop during soundchecks. In fact, in 1976, the Ramones were much bigger deal in the UK, where they were selling out big venues, than they were in the U.S., where they were only playing for 150 people at a time in NYC. honestly, i wonder if there's a certain amount of revisionism that's gone on in the last couple decades, partly fueled by a sense of nationalism -- Brits seem intent on downplaying how much their scene was inspired by the first Ramones album and those two July gigs, and the tour that came the following year.
"Even before I joined the Pistols I idolized the Ramones." Sid Vicious - Cream April 1978
"When their album came out all the English groups tripled speed overnight. Two minute songs very fast."
Tony James - Punk: The Illustrated History Of A Music Revolution.
hell, here's Joe Strummer saying the UK scene couldn't have happened without the Ramones:
» YouTube video
The New York Dolls played sloppy hard rock, like a low rent Rolling Stones. They wore spandex pants and platform boots, and had huge glam rock haircuts. they were an influence on both the Sex Pistols and Ramones, but it is the Ramones' look and sound that affected everything that came after, not the New York Dolls.
Leeds
