When Ramones were in their prime, their gigs were like military operations. Usually only punctuated by bassist Dee Dee Ramone’s frantic “one-two-three-four!” count-ins, the band rattled through one classic punk-pop song after another, leaving audiences in no doubt they’d just witnessed something unique. However, the group only attained this level of precision through constant performing, so it’s no surprise to discover they weren’t quite the finished article when they made their live debut at New York City’s famed CBGB club on 16 August 1974: an event which divided opinion both on and off the stage.
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The backstory: “These guys were not hippies”
In a 1978 NME interview, Ramones’ original drummer, Tommy Ramone, remembered how ramshackle the group’s live debut at CBGB had been: “Dee Dee would shout ‘one-two-three-four’ and everybody would start playing a different song.” Punk magazine co-founder Legs McNeil was notably more impressed, recalling in the documentary End Of The Century: The Story Of The Ramones, “They looked so striking. These guys were not hippies. This was something completely new.”
Ramones were certainly out to create something new, though it wouldn’t be labelled “punk” until the release of their influential, self-titled debut album in 1976. In fact, when they first began playing together, early in 1974, guitarist John Cummings, wannabe vocalist and guitarist Douglas Colvin and putative drummer Jeff Hyman had little to go on except enthusiasm and a collective love of classic 60s pop. They had, however, decided on a name.
Colvin (or, as he would soon dub himself, Dee Dee Ramone) recalled in a 2014 Record Collector interview, “There was a book my sister gave me by Hunter Davies about The Beatles. I read that Paul McCartney used to call himself ‘Paul Ramone’. That’s where I got [the name Ramones]. I was always infatuated with the early Beatles, when they had their leather jackets and they were playing Good Golly Miss Molly.”
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He added, “There were not many good bass players at that time, [McCartney] was definitely innovative. He played more like a rock star than a bass player in those days.”
Despite choosing McCartney as his role model, Dee Dee initially wanted to sing and play guitar rather than bass. With John Cummings now rechristened Johnny Ramone, and Hyman going as Joey Ramone, the New York trio drafted in another friend, Richie Stern, to play bass. However, after a few tentative rehearsals, it was obvious Stern had little musical ability. When he dropped out, Dee Dee switched to bass and another friend, Tommy Erdelyi, took over as Ramones’ manager.
The first public rehearsal: “Dee Dee stepped on his bass guitar and broke its neck”
Tommy – who had played with Johnny in a high-school garage band called Tangerine Puppets during the late 60s – co-founded a rehearsal space known as Performance Studios on Manhattan’s East 20th Street, along with future Ramones tour manager Monte Melnick. As a result, the fledgling Ramones – with Joey still on drums – played their first, chaotic gig cum public rehearsal at this venue on 30 March 1974.
By this point, Johnny, Joey and Dee Dee had worked out rudimentary versions of what would become some of the best Ramones songs, including I Don’t Wanna Go Down To The Basement, I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With You and Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue, but it was obvious they still weren’t ready to make their proper live debut. Dee Dee couldn’t handle a full set of lead vocals, while Joey clearly wasn’t going to give Keith Moon a run for his money.
