Johnny Ramone
Joey Ramone may have been the frontman, but it could be argued that guitarist Johnny Ramone was every bit as much the "voice" of The Ramones. The brutal simplicity of Johnny's legendary buzzsaw guitar style influenced not only latter-day punks but also thrash-metal bands, power-pop combos and, for all we knew, modern religious thought. When critics, fans and A&R execs use the term "Ramones-style punk," they're usually referring to the relentless chop of Johnny's axe.
Born John William Cummings in Long Island, New York, in 1948, Johnny Ramone was raised on a diet of early rock and horror movies – gestating the aesthetic that would inform the Ramones' cartoonish style. The band first hit the stage of legendary punk/new-wave club CBGB in the summer of '74, clad in leather jackets and barreling through a set of songs that averaged about two minutes in length. The punk era had begun. Sire Records signed The Ramones the following year; their debut LP hit store shelves in early '76.
Though American rock radio wasn't yet ready for them, the band's tour of the U.K. was hugely influential. Bands like The Sex Pistols and The Clash are simply unthinkable without the American outfit's blazing, no-nonsense example, but the existence of this international "movement" helped The Ramones achieve more mainstream visibility, and they continued to grow in influence well beyond their final show in 1996.
Johnny died in 2004, after a five-year bout of prostate cancer; he is memorialized with an appropriately rocking shrine at Hollywood Forever cemetery. And the power of his elemental guitar style continues to inspire rock musicians, regardless of genre.
Our Johnny Ramone T-shirts are fully licensed, endorsed and made from the softest, prewashed and shrunk cotton jesery. We faithfully reproduce the original article as tracked down by Worn Free from archive images.
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Johnny Ramone T-Shirts
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