Why the Ramones Matter

Music Matters

by Donna Gaines

The central experience of the Ramones and their music is of being an outsider, an outcast, a person who’s somehow defective, and the revolt against shame and self-loathing. The fans, argues Donna Gaines, got it right away, from their own experience of alienation at home, at school, on the streets, and from themselves. This sense of estrangement and marginality permeates everything the Ramones still offer us as artists, and as people. Why the Ramones Matter compellingly makes the case that the Ramones gave us everything; they saved rock and roll, modeled DIY ethics, and addressed our deepest collective traumas, from the personal to the historical.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History

167 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Donna Gaines is a Pastor’s wife, Bible teacher, author of four books, (Choose Wisely, Live Fully: Life Lessons from the Two Women of Proverbs, Leaving Ordinary: Encounter God Through Extraordinary Prayer, Seated: Living From Our Position in Christ and There’s Gotta Be More) and editor of A Daily Women’s Devotional. She is a disciple maker who fervently desires to see the lives of women transformed as they encounter God through His Word and prayer. Embracing God's missional calling on her life, Donna mobilizes women to practically live out their faith through both inner city and international efforts. She is the Founder and President of the Board for ARISE2Read, a nonprofit that focuses on literacy in the inner city (arise2read.org). She is the mother of four and "Nonna" to 10 grand children. Donna enjoys Memphis Barbecue, Alabama football and anything you can douse with salsa.

Reviews

[Nestor Rychtyckyj · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this short little 150-page book Donna Gaines attempts to answer a question that seems both superfluous and impossible to answer. Of course, the Ramones matter – it’s impossible for me to imagine a world without the Ramones – a world where my only memories of rock & roll include Styx and Led Zeppelin. The Ramones impacted everything – they connected to us on a level where we knew how to dress, we knew who our real friends were and we learned how to go through life because the Ramones existed. The last Ramones concert was in 1996, the original four members have all passed away and yet the Ramones are more popular than they ever were when all of us found our own way to buy their records and attend their concerts.

Donna Gaines tries to explain the significance of the Ramones through her personal experiences with Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy and Marky; she talks to fans of the band – many of whom became fans without ever seeing the band live and she does a lot of scientific research to understand why these 4 guys from Forest Hills actually did change the world.

The book is chock full of stories about the Ramones and how they became such an important part of so many people’s lives. All of us can remember the first time the we heard the Ramones and the first time that we were lucky enough to see them in concert. Donna manages to skillfully blend those personal moments along with a description of the mosaic that encompassed life in America in the 1970s and 1980s. Besides introducing punk rock the Ramones also fostered a spirit of hard work and showed that people can succeed if they followed their dreams.

In a few places, the sociological and cultural discussions get a little too heavy for those of us didn’t quite follow that line of studies, but the book quickly reverts to something that we can all agree on – the Ramones were the most important band of our generation and Donna Gaines has done a wonderful job in making that clear. Of course – the Ramones matter – we all know that!

[Scott Satterwhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great history and memoir of the Ramones. I thought the section on how they dealt with their politics was very interesting.

[Mikey · Rating 3 out of 5]

LITERATURE in PUNK ROCK - Books #69-71
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BOOK:
- Ramones (33 1/3 series)
- Why The Ramones Matter
- On the Road with the Ramones
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The Ramones were an American punk rock band. Formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974, they are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Though achieving little commercial success, the band is today seen as highly influential.
The first two books were elongated cultural studies paper bereft of intimacy. On the Road with Ramones by Tour Manager Monte Melnick comparatively was a heartfelt, intimate, multi-perspective exposition. The book employed an open discussion format of numerous individuals from across the decades.
My plan was to end the year reading (nearly) every book on the Ramones. That changed soon upon reading the On the Road with the Ramones. A surprisingly often-quoted, roadie/guitar-tech was the father of a close childhood friend.
Tomorrow would be your 39th Birthday, Trevor. We miss you.

[Thomas Thieme · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in why the Ramones matter, you probably either own this book or plan to own it. This author is a sociologist who is better known for a book called Teenage Wasteland about teen subcultures. She is a Superfan who made it a point to get as close as possible to each member of the group so you will get anecdotes and impressions of her encounters. She makes interesting contentions that punk is a reaction to the Greatest Generation's insistence we pay endless homage to them for saving the world in WWII. She points out why Nazi iconography and references are frequently made in punk music, especially by Jewish rockers. As she is a sociologist, the book returns again and again on how the Ramones' image of being outsiders who don't fit in anywhere still resonates with each generation of new fans. Each member and their particular contributions get special attention and for those who are not already committed fans, there may be some surprises. She goes into length to explain their DIY appeal, how the group takes pains to keep their music as rudimentary as possible, a challenge to maintain for twenty years of making records. The immense popularity of the Ramones outside of America is discussed, bringing to mind that Biblical quote "Truly I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown". Ain't that the truth when it comes to the Ramones who have probably sold more t-shirts than records in their own country. This book will probably inspire you to check out some of the autobiographies of band members as well as the one by their beleaguered road manager who drove them everywhere for years in their tour van, in their assigned seats (Johnny's rule) with no food allowed (Also Johnny's rule). So, yes, if you're still debating the book's merits, the Ramones matter and she will not only convince you of that, she will likely entice you to buy more of their music and dvds.

[James Biser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great explanation of who the Ramones were and are and how they formed and still exist. It gives excellent insight into how they viewed themselves as part of and apart from the world in which we live. It is fascinating how "the Ramones" discovered by the punks kids in the cities of 1970's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania are almost identicle to "the Ramones" loved by the punk kids of twenty-first century Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[max · Rating 3 out of 5]

lol i've listened to them for so long but kind of refused to learn who was who or much of their origin story behind the cbgb stuff. this was interesting, i appreciated her perspective as a journalist who had known some of the members pretty closely. however. i was frustrated a little bit about how the far-right / racist opinions of some of them were approached. idk what i expected from a fan-driven book but yeah

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark gave me this book to read on my trip to Hawaii. I finished it in the LA airport, after reading it on my tow flights. It’s my favorite Ramone’s book. I loved her characterization of the Ramones and punk as a backlash to disco and glam (like the New York dolls) and the Ramones as a DIY version of rock and roll.

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure this book is great for someone who doesn't know and wants an enthusiastic re-telling of the characters. At one point the author says "Why do the Ramones matter? If you're reading this and already know, you're like, DUH! They're the Ramones!" (I'm paraphrasing) -- but I couldn't agree more.

I'm learning I just don't like to read about things I've lived through...

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't a Ramones fan, but the bands I love are. And this little book is so interesting. This band influenced a lot of others.... Just, read this book. And listen to Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, and Blitzkrieg Bop.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Read! I enjoyed every bit of this book. It left me with a deeper appreciation of this foundational, iconic punk band 🎶 Glad to have read this one!

[Shawn Robare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books on the Ramones, whether they're by the band and managers, or just biographies, so I was pretty sure I'd at least appreciate this slim entry. What I didn't expect was that it was written by someone who knew the band, had interviewed them in the past, and learned a crucial lesson from the punk scene, which is to keep it short and cut to the bone. This book is part of a series by multiple writers about things that matter, and since it was relatively short I was expecting a lot of fluff, but what Ms Gaines does is get right to the heart of the artists and not dawdle.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of preaching to the choir involved here, but the book was a nice, if concise, summation of why the Ramones continue to be relevant and vital. Knowledge of most of the Ramones catalog and background is presumed. The book does not present a history of the band - it focuses only on the social impact of the band and their status as deities in a pseudo religion. The book left me with a hopeful feeling that we will continue to find comfort in the band's rejection of pretense in favor of fun and hope, and in other bands that follow that blueprint in the future.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

It read like a very long magazine article, which was ok, but a bit too jargony for a full length book. It is basically a mini-biography, which was good and insteresting, but the title really made me expect more of an explanation of, what it claimed to be the point of the book. I felt it did not spend enough time explaining "why the Ramones matter". As a quick biography, it is fine though. Might not be as infomative for more devoted fans who have already read about the band before.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve drafted a fairly detailed glowing review of this book but am setting it aside and being brief.

I love The Ramones for all the reasons Gaines writes and then some. This manifesto of why The Ramones are magnifient and matter is near perfect.

The writing is excellent and I found the sociological spin to be interesting and applicable to their music, to them as a singular band, to each of them as individuals and to us their loyal and steadfast fans.

Read this, you won’t be sorry.