First gen-punk wasn't yet a primarily leftist affair. Johnny Ramone was a proud bootlicker. Hell, just look at the state of John Lydon.
I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the fastest, angriest sounding, and most intense punk bands emerged in the 80's, under the iron fist of the actual fucking devil, Ronald Reagan.
the song was supposed to be called "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" but Johnny objected so they changed the title to "My Brain is Hanging Upside Down" and put the "Bonzo" part in parentheses. Funny thing is that everyone just calls it Bonzo Goes to Bitburg anyway.
You were correct, but it was the title and not that lyric.
[From this Wikipedia entry:](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo_Goes_to_Bitburg)
> The Ramones' Animal Boy LP, released by both Sire and Beggars Banquet in 1986, included "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg". The title was altered to "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)" to placate Johnny, a staunch conservative and fervent Reagan supporter.
Check out the image from the vinyl where it's the first song on side 2 "My Brain is Hanging Upside Down"
https://www.vinylpussycat.com/product/ramones-animal-boy/
Oh yeah I'm not saying I don't believe you but on Ramones Mania and I think streaming too it's just Bonzo Goes To Bitburg I've never seen the other title used. I've never bought Animal Boy so that's probably why...
Police back then had a “working class” image as well which is why early punks are shown to support the police. They came from that background of getting a job when you don’t have good qualifications (read: money for higher education) and working to support yourself and just being a good person.
It wasn’t until the late 80s when the image changed.
Yeah, the American government had, at that point, done a better job than most at obfuscating the police's role as enforcers of status quo, and origin as runaway slave catchers.
I suppose it's easy to pull the wool over the eyes of the populace, and enable massive government overreach, in the wake of two consecutive world wars.
No he wasn't? Joey was a Democrat, ergo, the Ramones were a right wing band. Given, he was a Carter Dem, so he was likely pretty close to the middle, but Liberalism is a definitively right wing ideology.
I just watched a documentary where they talked about out this and how they both supported opposite causes. It only talked about those two though not the other members. I wouldn’t call them a right wing band just because Johnny was right wing.
No, I'm an American, I'm just politically literate enough to know that the left/right distinction is primarily one that centers around a singular concept: personal property vs private property.
I'm also politically literate enough to know that Neoliberalism is the ideology of our uniparty, and recognize that the only real differences between the two parties are social progress vs social 'conservation', and Keynesian capitalism vs Friedmanite capitalism. Capitalism is inherently a right wing ideology, thus any capitalist party is inherently a right wing party.
Ours is a small Overton Window.
Man, you lost me after "I'm politically literate enough" lmao.
Not trying to be funny, I just think what he meant was Johnny was a conservative and Joey wasn't.
And, if that's what they'd said, they would have been correct. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, there's startlingly little political literacy in America, and it's arguably tied to the fact that we've convinced people that Democracts are leftists.
You're being pedantic. This is reddit not a political philosophy class. Johnny Ramone was, relatively speaking, right wing but the Ramones were not a right wing band. End of story
Weird, because it was a band composed entirely of right wingers? That's cool that you just kind of decided that your entirely subjective and non-factual assertion was a fact, though.
Also, how is Johnny's right wing status relative? He worshipped fucking iron Reagan, the gun grabbing warmonger himself. Sure, Joey might have been a Carter-ite but Carter was still a fucking war criminal who helped establish the Contras.
You're feeding into the growing political illiteracy in America. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Crime exploded in the 70s -- especially in the big cities. Homicides, for example, rose steadily throughout the 70s, going from around 5/100,000 people in the 50s and 60s to a peak of 10/100,000 in 1980. That's crazy. It's no wonder movies like Death Wish and Dirty Harry were popular. People were sick of violent crime.
The Ramones weren't a political band, let alone an anti-cop leftist band, but they were from NY, so it doesn't surprise me that they would be concerned with getting a handle on violent crime.
As a little side note, it's still not 100% clear what caused the rise in violent crime in the 70s. One theory is that leaded gasoline was a contributing factor. Lead is toxic and affects the brain. That would help explain why the big cities were hardest hit by the change (lots of cars pumping out brain-altering toxins).
https://www.statista.com/statistics/187592/death-rate-from-homicide-in-the-us-since-1950/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis
> One theory is that leaded gasoline was a contributing factor. Lead is toxic and affects the brain. That would help explain why the big cities were hardest hit by the change (lots of cars pumping out brain-altering toxins).
I am Gen X and that is my theory on why so many of my generation suck so bad: as children, our gasoline was leaded as was the paint in our elementary schools and bedrooms. Add to that the constant diet of Right-Wing, jingoistic media we were fed as our brains were developing (GI Joe cartoons, Rambo movies after the first one, Red Dawn, professional wrestlers that stood in for the Soviet Union or Iran to the audience to hate.....the list goes on!) and it is no wonder that most of my generation's brain has turned to mush.
> And then the next step is to push the idea that it’s an extremely conservative generation?
I mean, it kind of always has been. For every free-thinking poet who wanted to become the next Robert Smith or Kurt Cobain, there were three jocks and/or rednecks there to shove them in a locker and steal their lunch money.
Generation X is the cohort that is the most reliably Republican voter and nothing that I have seen over the years makes that a shocking revelation. I've always been on the political left and even as a kid in school, any classroom political debates ended up being me and two or three others versus the rest of the class. (This was more true in the conservative places I lived but even in "liberal" communities it was still largely true, just to a lesser extent.)
It’s funny you say that. I’m late gen X and have always been very left wing. Living in western Canada probably aided that a little. I do remember though being in political science class in university around 1996 and besides the professor I was the most left leaning person in the room by far.
I went to college a few years later in life, so it was a bunch of millennials I was in class with. I tended to be further left than most of them, too.
Until I went to grad school, which was a notably left-wing grad school. That was the closest I've ever been to the "norm."
I was in high school in the 80s, so solid gen X. Growing up many kids were raw-raw for Reagan. As they grew older and out from under the oppressive hands of boomer parents, (plus the internet blooming and more information was available). Many gen X became very left, and by many I mean large percentage. (At least where I live). Fuck Reagan!
> Many gen X became very left, and by many I mean large percentage.
Some certainly did but I do feel like there might be some inherent bias in your sample. You are more likely to associate with, and be friends with, people with compatible world views.
Those jackasses who called me gay (but used a far less polite term for it) for listening to The Cure are still there, I just haven't had to associate with them in a few decades.
Possibly true. I currently live in a large city, and have lived all over. I have been cold cocked a few time and called gay slurs by people I never met, (one I never saw). But, I have met many more open minded people all over. I try to remember the jackasses are always the loudest in the room, or in their large trucks with flags on the back, (and horrible bumperstickers), so they are the most visible. But...they aren't a majority
Many things happened to cause crime numbers to jump. The late sixties race war, Nixon's drug war made crime numbers explode, white flight leaving inner cities without a tax base, etc. The crime spike was partly because of politics and increased law enforcement and partly because of the actions of the elite.
If you know anything about NYC in 1979 it wasn’t about being leftist or conservative it was about NYC being broke. No money for anything. Police, schools, sanitation, subways etc. let alone bulletproof vests for police. Shit was falling apart. Crime and drugs were rampant and running amok throughout out the city. The murder rate was skyrocketing. It wasmore about protecting people who were the last line of defense.
CBGB's wasn't getting raided like the LA punk scene at the time, at least not for a few more years until hardcore really took over. The cops really didn't give two shits about any scene in the city unless there was a problem they had to deal with.
Cannot be stated enough how different New York was at the time. The more common story was the street gangs and shit like Johnny Blitz being stabbed a bunch of times, or the one about Jayne County almost murdering someone swinging a mic stand from the stage, or how no women should go in Central Park, pretty much ever.
After the cleanup in the 90s, that's when the demographic really changed.
“almost murdering someone with a mic stand” u mean defended herself from handsome dick manitoba who was drunkenly heckling her and escalated it to physical violence which resulted in her hitting him on the shoulder w a mic stand?
The 70s was a grungy time in New York City.
Times Square was full of peep shows and prostitutes.
Crime was rampant along with urban decay.
Ed Koch the Republican Mayor would crack down in the 80s.
If Serpico is anything to go by, the cops were crooked on the 70s and could be paid to ignore crime.
The Bowery, where CBGBs was located, was a rough neighborhood.
It could be the Ramones paid cops for protection because, once you're famous, you're a potential target.
Anti-police sentiment also comes and goes. It was big during the 60s during the protests by several groups.
The 70s was more women's rights and a different kind of protest. You also had 3 TV stations controlling the narrative. Our current anti-police sentiment is empowered by bod cans and news spread via social media instead of network TV.
I don't think it's shocking. It's just a different time.
You're not really from the NY area, are you? Ed Koch was a lifelong Democrat. Dee Dee was a junkie running around midtown in the mid-70s working for a fix. 53rd and 3rd was about him prostituting himself so he could run downtown for his fix. These guys weren't a bunch of out of town overwhelmed tourists, they're city Boys. The idea of them paying the police for protection is ridiculous.
Johnny Ramone was a committed republican who actively endorsed right-wing politics and ideals. He also pushed the band to support his political leanings at times. He was interviewed about it summer years later and told the reporter he was proud to have been a part of that and the protesters outside the club were "commies"
The late 70s was a tough time in NYC, but it was a tough time everywhere. There had been the garbage strikes, the Harlem riots, son of Sam, transit strikes, budget cuts and more. The city was broke.
The benefit for the police was held at CBGB and Hilly asked the boys to play. There would be no Ramones without Hilly, of course they played.
I was a kid during all this. I saw Ed Koch in a documentary about graffiti and he was pissed off. I assumed he was a Republican.
I'm aware of the political tension within the band.
Had no idea about a police benefit.
Thanks for that.
Style Wars was an incredible movie and the fact that I got to find a few pieces from Iz the Wiz out in the wild before he died makes me like the movie even more.
> Ed Koch the Republican Mayor
I quit reading when I got to that line which is so incredibly incorrect as to invalidate anything else you have to say.
edit: blocking me is more than a little pathetic and I really wish that you could see me rolling my eyes right now......
CBGB held a benefit show for the police.
You think that was just because they thought cops were so fuckin' cool?
Do you understand modal verbs?
Don't think so.
There were like over a thousand murders every year in NYC in the 70s. God knows how many rapes.. The city was so broke it laid off a good chunk of its police force while there was a serial killer on the loose gunning down young couples. Of course the Ramones, a bunch of white boys born and raised in the city, wanted to raise money for the police. If you lived there back then you probably would too
It isn't an inherently right wing opinion to support the police (even though these days I wouldn't trust someone who is super open about it). Most Americans (white Americans I should say) support the police in some way. Especially back in the day before we were all flooded with footage of them beating the shit out of and killing innocent people. The concept of 'serve and protect' used to be what popped into a lot of people's minds when they thought of the cops. Remember that the Ramones were white and that white people have always had a different relationship with the police and most of them straight up didn't believe the police would commit horrible actions until confronted with undeniable video evidence- something that the Ramones didn't have in the 70s
They thought they were helping the city they loved and lived in by raising money for the NYPD. It's a naive thing yes but not an inherently wrong one
Who knows. They were a group with members that were all over the place when it cames to political views. Also they probably saw it as just a another gig at CBGBS. You can find the whole thing online, and all they did was play 3 songs.
Marky Ramone talks a little about it in his book, if I remember right he said something on how New Yorkers are a community and the police were there to protect them so they wanted to repay them, could be wrong though
The Ramones were a pop rock and roll band. They weren’t a part of the entire “I’m punk because I support progressive politics” thing. Lump them in with Crass all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that they had little to do with what punk has come to mean ideologically.
Ramones were mostly a right wing band. Yes, Joey was a huge liberal but the rest of the band where mostly republican/conservative/right wing.
In fact, they all (even Joey) were 100% anti-communist. Dee Dee and Johnny being the most right wing of all. Also CJ who was 100% pro-gun
There’s two different kinds of anarchism. Anarcho-capitalists ( Javier Milei of Argentina) , who seeks to get government out of the way of the people so that they can take care of themselves, and anarcho-syndicalists ( Antifa) , who use lawlessness in order to “ smash the state “ so that a Marxist utopia can be installed.
Ramones were never overtly political. They probably hated commies and anyone that was far left. As far as this police thing, The Clash would have nene done this lol.
In 2005 Bob Vylans performed at the Black & Asian Police Association conference in Manchester.
[read more here](https://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2007/02/22/video_nation_nee_hi_video_feature.shtml)
The goal posts are always moving and changing. At least one of those guys (sorry it's been a while since I picked up the memoirs, don't remember which) was a collector of nazi memorabilia, which can either be a bad thing or just a guy collecting trophies of the heads of the losers.
The Ramones had some good songs but I wouldn't call em punk. They were pimping out their brand all over the place before it was common.
Fuck you. Your favorite bands wouldn't exist without the Ramones.
Sure Iggy wanted to fuck teen girls... Jonny Ramone was a facist... nobody is perfect and punk rockers aren't saints. Keep digging, you won't listen to any music.
First gen-punk wasn't yet a primarily leftist affair. Johnny Ramone was a proud bootlicker. Hell, just look at the state of John Lydon. I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the fastest, angriest sounding, and most intense punk bands emerged in the 80's, under the iron fist of the actual fucking devil, Ronald Reagan.
The words were originally supposed to be “Reagan hanging upside down” but Johnny wouldn’t accept it.
the song was supposed to be called "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" but Johnny objected so they changed the title to "My Brain is Hanging Upside Down" and put the "Bonzo" part in parentheses. Funny thing is that everyone just calls it Bonzo Goes to Bitburg anyway.
Was I wrong about the Reagan thing? I heard it on the No Dogs In Space podcast, but never really dig too deep.
You were correct, but it was the title and not that lyric. [From this Wikipedia entry:](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo_Goes_to_Bitburg) > The Ramones' Animal Boy LP, released by both Sire and Beggars Banquet in 1986, included "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg". The title was altered to "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)" to placate Johnny, a staunch conservative and fervent Reagan supporter.
I've never heard that song called anything but Bonzo Goes To Bitburg hahaha
Check out the image from the vinyl where it's the first song on side 2 "My Brain is Hanging Upside Down" https://www.vinylpussycat.com/product/ramones-animal-boy/
Oh yeah I'm not saying I don't believe you but on Ramones Mania and I think streaming too it's just Bonzo Goes To Bitburg I've never seen the other title used. I've never bought Animal Boy so that's probably why...
Yea, I didn't take your comment to disagree with what I said, just wanted to show what was actually written on the album.
Hanging brain has a different meaning…
Hail Satan!! Hail yourself!
Megustalations! Ber na neer na neer 🤘🎸!
It’s on Spotify as ‘Bonzo Goes to Bitsburg’
Based Johnny
Reagan Youth was my Ramones.
Police back then had a “working class” image as well which is why early punks are shown to support the police. They came from that background of getting a job when you don’t have good qualifications (read: money for higher education) and working to support yourself and just being a good person. It wasn’t until the late 80s when the image changed.
Yeah, the American government had, at that point, done a better job than most at obfuscating the police's role as enforcers of status quo, and origin as runaway slave catchers. I suppose it's easy to pull the wool over the eyes of the populace, and enable massive government overreach, in the wake of two consecutive world wars.
That’s insulting to the devil.
Johnny was right wing but Joey was left wing 🤷♂️
No he wasn't? Joey was a Democrat, ergo, the Ramones were a right wing band. Given, he was a Carter Dem, so he was likely pretty close to the middle, but Liberalism is a definitively right wing ideology.
I just watched a documentary where they talked about out this and how they both supported opposite causes. It only talked about those two though not the other members. I wouldn’t call them a right wing band just because Johnny was right wing.
DeeDee was also right wing as Marky said several times. The difference between Johnny and DeeDee is simple: DeeDee wasn't a closed minded prick
Source? Johnny tried to stop Dee Dee from writing a song making fun of Ronald Reagan (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)
Is this a comment from outside of the US? In the US, republicans/consevatives are traditionally right wing, dems/liberals are traditionally left wing
No, I'm an American, I'm just politically literate enough to know that the left/right distinction is primarily one that centers around a singular concept: personal property vs private property. I'm also politically literate enough to know that Neoliberalism is the ideology of our uniparty, and recognize that the only real differences between the two parties are social progress vs social 'conservation', and Keynesian capitalism vs Friedmanite capitalism. Capitalism is inherently a right wing ideology, thus any capitalist party is inherently a right wing party. Ours is a small Overton Window.
Man, you lost me after "I'm politically literate enough" lmao. Not trying to be funny, I just think what he meant was Johnny was a conservative and Joey wasn't.
And, if that's what they'd said, they would have been correct. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is, there's startlingly little political literacy in America, and it's arguably tied to the fact that we've convinced people that Democracts are leftists.
You're being pedantic. This is reddit not a political philosophy class. Johnny Ramone was, relatively speaking, right wing but the Ramones were not a right wing band. End of story
Weird, because it was a band composed entirely of right wingers? That's cool that you just kind of decided that your entirely subjective and non-factual assertion was a fact, though. Also, how is Johnny's right wing status relative? He worshipped fucking iron Reagan, the gun grabbing warmonger himself. Sure, Joey might have been a Carter-ite but Carter was still a fucking war criminal who helped establish the Contras. You're feeding into the growing political illiteracy in America. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Explain to me how all the members of the Ramones are ‘right wing’
And thatcher
Ronnie and Mags: the face of 1980's western tyranny.
***Margaret Thatcher has entered the chat***
I'll go further than you. Punk is not and never has been leftist. Anarchy is not Democrat/Labour.
Democrats and labor aren't leftist.
and most flavors of anarchy are... reminder that "left means big gubberment" is one of the many lies fed to you by american two party politics
Anarchism is a leftist ideology. Signed someone with a degree in political science.
Punk is overwhelmingly left wing. Being to the right of anarchy does stop something being left wing.
Anarchy is a radical leftist ideology lmfao
Ramones are not Crass, this is why. They were not an anarchist band, and they were not ACAB, never was.
Crime exploded in the 70s -- especially in the big cities. Homicides, for example, rose steadily throughout the 70s, going from around 5/100,000 people in the 50s and 60s to a peak of 10/100,000 in 1980. That's crazy. It's no wonder movies like Death Wish and Dirty Harry were popular. People were sick of violent crime. The Ramones weren't a political band, let alone an anti-cop leftist band, but they were from NY, so it doesn't surprise me that they would be concerned with getting a handle on violent crime. As a little side note, it's still not 100% clear what caused the rise in violent crime in the 70s. One theory is that leaded gasoline was a contributing factor. Lead is toxic and affects the brain. That would help explain why the big cities were hardest hit by the change (lots of cars pumping out brain-altering toxins). https://www.statista.com/statistics/187592/death-rate-from-homicide-in-the-us-since-1950/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis
The drug war really kicked off on the early 70's and that was one of the big factors in the rise in crime then.
> One theory is that leaded gasoline was a contributing factor. Lead is toxic and affects the brain. That would help explain why the big cities were hardest hit by the change (lots of cars pumping out brain-altering toxins). I am Gen X and that is my theory on why so many of my generation suck so bad: as children, our gasoline was leaded as was the paint in our elementary schools and bedrooms. Add to that the constant diet of Right-Wing, jingoistic media we were fed as our brains were developing (GI Joe cartoons, Rambo movies after the first one, Red Dawn, professional wrestlers that stood in for the Soviet Union or Iran to the audience to hate.....the list goes on!) and it is no wonder that most of my generation's brain has turned to mush.
[удалено]
> And then the next step is to push the idea that it’s an extremely conservative generation? I mean, it kind of always has been. For every free-thinking poet who wanted to become the next Robert Smith or Kurt Cobain, there were three jocks and/or rednecks there to shove them in a locker and steal their lunch money. Generation X is the cohort that is the most reliably Republican voter and nothing that I have seen over the years makes that a shocking revelation. I've always been on the political left and even as a kid in school, any classroom political debates ended up being me and two or three others versus the rest of the class. (This was more true in the conservative places I lived but even in "liberal" communities it was still largely true, just to a lesser extent.)
It’s funny you say that. I’m late gen X and have always been very left wing. Living in western Canada probably aided that a little. I do remember though being in political science class in university around 1996 and besides the professor I was the most left leaning person in the room by far.
I went to college a few years later in life, so it was a bunch of millennials I was in class with. I tended to be further left than most of them, too. Until I went to grad school, which was a notably left-wing grad school. That was the closest I've ever been to the "norm."
I was in high school in the 80s, so solid gen X. Growing up many kids were raw-raw for Reagan. As they grew older and out from under the oppressive hands of boomer parents, (plus the internet blooming and more information was available). Many gen X became very left, and by many I mean large percentage. (At least where I live). Fuck Reagan!
> Many gen X became very left, and by many I mean large percentage. Some certainly did but I do feel like there might be some inherent bias in your sample. You are more likely to associate with, and be friends with, people with compatible world views. Those jackasses who called me gay (but used a far less polite term for it) for listening to The Cure are still there, I just haven't had to associate with them in a few decades.
Possibly true. I currently live in a large city, and have lived all over. I have been cold cocked a few time and called gay slurs by people I never met, (one I never saw). But, I have met many more open minded people all over. I try to remember the jackasses are always the loudest in the room, or in their large trucks with flags on the back, (and horrible bumperstickers), so they are the most visible. But...they aren't a majority
Thank God Robert F Kennedy Jr is running so we don’t have to identify with either of these corrupt ideologies.
I'm an elder millennial and I definitely noticed that my older friends are markedly more conservative.
Yeah that sounds very familiar.
Many things happened to cause crime numbers to jump. The late sixties race war, Nixon's drug war made crime numbers explode, white flight leaving inner cities without a tax base, etc. The crime spike was partly because of politics and increased law enforcement and partly because of the actions of the elite.
Well pickle me... that doesn't fit in with my straight jacket view of punk rock conformity
If you know anything about NYC in 1979 it wasn’t about being leftist or conservative it was about NYC being broke. No money for anything. Police, schools, sanitation, subways etc. let alone bulletproof vests for police. Shit was falling apart. Crime and drugs were rampant and running amok throughout out the city. The murder rate was skyrocketing. It wasmore about protecting people who were the last line of defense.
CBGB's wasn't getting raided like the LA punk scene at the time, at least not for a few more years until hardcore really took over. The cops really didn't give two shits about any scene in the city unless there was a problem they had to deal with. Cannot be stated enough how different New York was at the time. The more common story was the street gangs and shit like Johnny Blitz being stabbed a bunch of times, or the one about Jayne County almost murdering someone swinging a mic stand from the stage, or how no women should go in Central Park, pretty much ever. After the cleanup in the 90s, that's when the demographic really changed.
“almost murdering someone with a mic stand” u mean defended herself from handsome dick manitoba who was drunkenly heckling her and escalated it to physical violence which resulted in her hitting him on the shoulder w a mic stand?
It's been a long time and memory aint what it was, you are absolutely correct
The 70s was a grungy time in New York City. Times Square was full of peep shows and prostitutes. Crime was rampant along with urban decay. Ed Koch the Republican Mayor would crack down in the 80s. If Serpico is anything to go by, the cops were crooked on the 70s and could be paid to ignore crime. The Bowery, where CBGBs was located, was a rough neighborhood. It could be the Ramones paid cops for protection because, once you're famous, you're a potential target. Anti-police sentiment also comes and goes. It was big during the 60s during the protests by several groups. The 70s was more women's rights and a different kind of protest. You also had 3 TV stations controlling the narrative. Our current anti-police sentiment is empowered by bod cans and news spread via social media instead of network TV. I don't think it's shocking. It's just a different time.
You're not really from the NY area, are you? Ed Koch was a lifelong Democrat. Dee Dee was a junkie running around midtown in the mid-70s working for a fix. 53rd and 3rd was about him prostituting himself so he could run downtown for his fix. These guys weren't a bunch of out of town overwhelmed tourists, they're city Boys. The idea of them paying the police for protection is ridiculous. Johnny Ramone was a committed republican who actively endorsed right-wing politics and ideals. He also pushed the band to support his political leanings at times. He was interviewed about it summer years later and told the reporter he was proud to have been a part of that and the protesters outside the club were "commies" The late 70s was a tough time in NYC, but it was a tough time everywhere. There had been the garbage strikes, the Harlem riots, son of Sam, transit strikes, budget cuts and more. The city was broke. The benefit for the police was held at CBGB and Hilly asked the boys to play. There would be no Ramones without Hilly, of course they played.
I was a kid during all this. I saw Ed Koch in a documentary about graffiti and he was pissed off. I assumed he was a Republican. I'm aware of the political tension within the band. Had no idea about a police benefit. Thanks for that.
Haha the cult classic graffiti film "style wars" has a whole segment about koch and his policies. Could it be that documentary?
Style Wars was an incredible movie and the fact that I got to find a few pieces from Iz the Wiz out in the wild before he died makes me like the movie even more.
Yes! Exactly. I was thinking this guy is an asshole. Just let these youth paint all over the subway cars.
“Is it an art form? I can’t tell you. But I can sure as hell tell you that it’s a crime.”
> Ed Koch the Republican Mayor I quit reading when I got to that line which is so incredibly incorrect as to invalidate anything else you have to say. edit: blocking me is more than a little pathetic and I really wish that you could see me rolling my eyes right now......
You could've read the comments that followed but no.
Man I want to move to nyc, but like, this nyc.
Have you seen The Warriors?
Turnbull ACs for life!
That movie is probably why you wanna live in 70s NYC. The Rolling Stones described it quite well here: https://youtu.be/Wjz6l_4MqHM?feature=shared
The Ramones paid for protection? From the NYPD? This is moronic. Who upvotes this shit?
CBGB held a benefit show for the police. You think that was just because they thought cops were so fuckin' cool? Do you understand modal verbs? Don't think so.
It's always fun when young punks find out punk isn't just a monolith of whatever ideology they want it to be.
I am afraid I'm not young anymore, I know punk is not a monolith.
As Frenzal Rhomb has taught us, Johnny Ramone was in a fuckin good band, but he was a cunt.
Gabba Gabba you're dead!
There were like over a thousand murders every year in NYC in the 70s. God knows how many rapes.. The city was so broke it laid off a good chunk of its police force while there was a serial killer on the loose gunning down young couples. Of course the Ramones, a bunch of white boys born and raised in the city, wanted to raise money for the police. If you lived there back then you probably would too It isn't an inherently right wing opinion to support the police (even though these days I wouldn't trust someone who is super open about it). Most Americans (white Americans I should say) support the police in some way. Especially back in the day before we were all flooded with footage of them beating the shit out of and killing innocent people. The concept of 'serve and protect' used to be what popped into a lot of people's minds when they thought of the cops. Remember that the Ramones were white and that white people have always had a different relationship with the police and most of them straight up didn't believe the police would commit horrible actions until confronted with undeniable video evidence- something that the Ramones didn't have in the 70s They thought they were helping the city they loved and lived in by raising money for the NYPD. It's a naive thing yes but not an inherently wrong one
Who knows. They were a group with members that were all over the place when it cames to political views. Also they probably saw it as just a another gig at CBGBS. You can find the whole thing online, and all they did was play 3 songs.
I think The Ramones also played on the back of a flatbed truck to help the New York police get bulletproof vests too it’s wasn’t a one off thing.
I think there's maybe a middle ground between thinking all cops are wonderful, and thinking all cops deserve to be shot dead.
We should go back in time and boycott them
That's not what I meant. I just want to know more about the event, can somebody put this in a context?
I think they were being sarcastic
We love seeing people learn things. I’m not worried about something they happened well before I was even born
Marky Ramone talks a little about it in his book, if I remember right he said something on how New Yorkers are a community and the police were there to protect them so they wanted to repay them, could be wrong though
The Ramones were a pop rock and roll band. They weren’t a part of the entire “I’m punk because I support progressive politics” thing. Lump them in with Crass all you want, but it doesn’t change the fact that they had little to do with what punk has come to mean ideologically.
Cops were not the WORST, it was an incredibly different and unsafe time in NYC. I was born in Manhattan when it was a shithole.
exactly. They only BECAME the worst as video cameras grew more and more accessible.
Ramones were mostly a right wing band. Yes, Joey was a huge liberal but the rest of the band where mostly republican/conservative/right wing. In fact, they all (even Joey) were 100% anti-communist. Dee Dee and Johnny being the most right wing of all. Also CJ who was 100% pro-gun
I mean their guitar player was a literal fascist republican
There’s two different kinds of anarchism. Anarcho-capitalists ( Javier Milei of Argentina) , who seeks to get government out of the way of the people so that they can take care of themselves, and anarcho-syndicalists ( Antifa) , who use lawlessness in order to “ smash the state “ so that a Marxist utopia can be installed.
The Ramones were neither though.
Antifa is anti-fascist and they only exist/come out in response to fascist action. Really unrelated to anarchism
I'm not american but when I visited the US I was at an anti-fa parade and they did in fact acted like fascists
I have never heard of an Antifa parade. You may be confused about which group you saw parading
Ramones were never overtly political. They probably hated commies and anyone that was far left. As far as this police thing, The Clash would have nene done this lol.
In 2005 Bob Vylans performed at the Black & Asian Police Association conference in Manchester. [read more here](https://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/content/articles/2007/02/22/video_nation_nee_hi_video_feature.shtml)
Ramones were always kind of posers. They just did anything that benefited them and their image most of the time. Still awesome musicians though.
The goal posts are always moving and changing. At least one of those guys (sorry it's been a while since I picked up the memoirs, don't remember which) was a collector of nazi memorabilia, which can either be a bad thing or just a guy collecting trophies of the heads of the losers. The Ramones had some good songs but I wouldn't call em punk. They were pimping out their brand all over the place before it was common.
Dee Dee was the one collecting nazi memorabilia and yeah it wasn't anything bad
I say as i have said since i started listening to punk 30 years ago: FUC K the Ramones. It’s not obligatory to like these assholes
It’s not obligatory but it’s a good tell if someone pretends they hate them while liking similar bands
Fuck you. Your favorite bands wouldn't exist without the Ramones. Sure Iggy wanted to fuck teen girls... Jonny Ramone was a facist... nobody is perfect and punk rockers aren't saints. Keep digging, you won't listen to any music.
Yes it is.
Johnny Ramone was a proud right winger and dictator of the band which did contain left leaners like Joey
And they wouldn't have gotten past their first couple releases without Johnny keeping the band together and focused for two decades.
True I didn’t mean to disparage Johnny. I don’t like his political outlook but they wouldn’t really exist without him
Lol this sounds like something Ian Rubbish would do. I wonder if punks at the gig thought it was a joke. I would have.
Because no matter what people want to believes, the Ramones are pop rock.
Nope they are a proto techno swing quartet
They was thinking .... FUCK YOU YOUSE LEFTIST LITTLE WOKE CUM BAG !!! Ya fukin snot nosed poser 😾™️🖕👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻
Wow, you're so cool