The truth that haunts the Ramones: 'They sold more T-shirts than records'

Post by card_zero » Thu, Mar 26, 2026, 9:14 AM UTC

curtisblaine wrote: post #35

keeganpoppen wrote: post #23

[flagged]

They didn't. What happened is that one of them (Johnny) was a staunch conservative, so, like Sex Pistols with Johnny Rotten, they are routinely "cancelled" from the punk scene (e.g. they are not real punk, their music sucks etc). Other bands with less musical prowess (like the Exploited) are still idolatred by the punk scene because they were largely anarchists. It's fun that, after 50 years, Ramones and SP are the o…

Post by donkeybeer » Thu, Mar 26, 2026, 9:24 AM UTC

pfannkuchen wrote: post #38

mtts wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they were terrible musicians Not only are the songs they wrote really good and catchy, Ramones are one of those bands where it sounds so easy anyone can do it but if you give it a try, you quickly find out it’s difficult to get the nuances right and your results, unlike theirs, sound crude and obviously amateurish. They’re like AC/DC in that respect. Or Melvins.

But have you tried recording your version and also playing it in public and promoting it for decades? It’s possible that’s what is making the one thing sound like it has something hard to name, and the other one not. Like if you are sloppy there is an element of randomness in the output, and any particular randomness will be difficult to replicate.

Post by rubzah » Thu, Mar 26, 2026, 9:33 AM UTC

deeg wrote: post #7

If the Ramones put their name on all sorts of merchandise does that make them sellouts? I joke, of course, and I'm a big Ramones fan. I've had numerous iterations of that shirt over the years. I often use them as an example when discussing "what is good art?" They are one of the most influential bands of all time and yet they were terrible musicians.

Post by nizbit » Thu, Mar 26, 2026, 9:43 AM UTC

schnitzelstoat wrote: post #54

I was wondering the same thing about Iron Maiden the other day - they seem more of a merch company than a heavy metal band these days. You can get Iron Maiden beer, Iron Maiden wine, Iron Maiden sunglasses etc. let alone the common merch like T-shirts. Given many more people can buy merch than can buy a concert ticket (which has inherently limited numbers) I wonder how the two revenue sources compare.

Post by dalmo3 » Thu, Mar 26, 2026, 9:55 AM UTC

schnitzelstoat wrote: post #54

I was wondering the same thing about Iron Maiden the other day - they seem more of a merch company than a heavy metal band these days. You can get Iron Maiden beer, Iron Maiden wine, Iron Maiden sunglasses etc. let alone the common merch like T-shirts. Given many more people can buy merch than can buy a concert ticket (which has inherently limited numbers) I wonder how the two revenue sources compare.