The Ramones
The Ramones were a four-member New York punk band formed in 1975. All taking the adopted surname of "Ramone," original members included Joey, Johnny, Tommy, and Dee Dee Ramone. Tommy was replaced by Mark Bell of the New York art-punk group The Voidoids, who became Marky Ramone. Dee Dee left the band in the mid 1980s, and was replaced by C.J. Ramone.
Songs were typically introduced with a simple count of "1-2-3-4!" The band played extremely fast, and with minimal ostentation. This set the stage for future punk acts, who took cues from the Ramones' utilitarian approach. Early on, the band's sets were rarely longer than 30 minutes, however these expanded as songwriting improved.
The band contained members widely at variance in their personal philosophies (Joey was a hippie, Johnny was a Republican ex-marine). In one instance, Johnny Ramone forced a song written by Dee Dee lambasting popular American president Ronald Reagan, entitled "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg," to have it's title changed to "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down" before it was released. The band used these differences constructively to generate a synergistic effect, their basic lyrics and fast-played music managing to somehow transcend their sound's apparent simplicity.
Later in their career, the Ramones made surf-themed and psychedelic records, as well as developing a heavier, more metallic sound, though never abandoning their endearing no-nonsense approach.
Though chart success eluded them to some extent, one Ramones song sounding much like another, the band were nevertheless extremely popular, and today are among the best-loved of all American bands, regularly placing highly in listener polls. [1]
A film, Rock'n'Roll High School, featuring the Ramones was made in 1979.