Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

english.elpais.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

161–170 of 232 posts

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

#161

Post by saalweachter »

pc86 wrote: post #136
neutronicus wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, the naming of Blockbuster[1] makes more sense with that context. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbusting

Because Blockbuster Video played a pivotal role in early-1900s segregation in the United States? I think it's much more likely it's just a reference to extremely popular and economically successful movies but happy to be proven wrong.

The movie term derives from a different piece of slang, a WWII term for a large bomb that could destroy an entire block.

Before movies bombing was a bad thing, a successful movie was "exploding" like a blockbuster bomb.

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

#162

Post by throw4847285 »

Arkhaine_kupo wrote: post #151
throw4847285 wrote: post #143

I highly recommend Simon Reynold's history of post-punk, Rip It Up and Start Again. An oversimplified version of his argument is that punk as a movement barely existed. It was an extremely brief cultural moment, represented by a small number of bands, the most influential of which (The Sex Pistols) was basically manufactured. There wasn't enough to that initial punk sound other than energy and posturing. What punk re…

I thought about it a lot growing up, as I loved both the ethos, sound and culture of punk. Radical acceptance, the grotesque denial of the aesthetism that is used to sell products etc was all appealing back then. The "betrayal" of finding how much of the sound was manufactured happened roughly at the same time as I figrued out how everyone at punk concerts could afford 200£ new doc martens when my shoes were falling…

I wasn't even alive at the time, so I've only experienced the whole punk and post-punk scene after the fact. I always found myself way more drawn to post-punk music, and it's nice to know that you really did have to be there to experience how radical punk felt, regardless of its origins. The waves of musical scenes that spread out from that initial punk moment took that energy and ran with it in some radically different directions.

For example, I love the B52s, and it's easy to forget that they were responding to punk. This video of a show from 1980 is one of my favorite concert videos ever, as it captures that energy that is missing from the studio albums: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVXfkG7q_0s

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

#163

Post by languagehacker »

Man it's really too bad that that's the headline, because it's a great tribute to Arturo Vega, and I don't understand why it has to come at the expense of such a seminal band. If what Eno said about the Velvet Underground is true, then album sales don't account for much in the grand scheme of things anyway.

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

#164

Post by bobro »

My favorite example of this is Joy Division. They’re the band with that cool white-on-black ridge line plot shirt. If you haven’t listened to their music before, go check it out. You probably won’t like it very much. I don’t know how many records or shirts they sold, but their ratio of shirts sold to records sold has to be one of the wildest.

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

#165

Post by MengerSponge »

abap_rocky wrote: post #87

I was reading an interview with the band "Agriculture" recently and they had a really interesting take on this. From this interview https://www.treblezine.com/agriculture-interview-quiet-viole... : "DM: We exist as a band because we sell t-shirts. Our job is that we sell t-shirts and the way we promote those t-shirts is by playing music. If we were talking strictly economically, that’s just a fact. LL: Weirdly, it’s…

In the same way, LeBron James has earned more money from selling shoes than playing basketball.

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

#166

Post by foobar_______ »

Insanity wrote: post #108

I’m a big fan of rock and metal music and often go to concerts. I’ll always buy a t-shirt of the main band I go to see, even if I don’t particularly vibe with the design, because I know it’s an additional way to support a band I like. In my opinion that alone is worth it, but it is a fun piece of memorabilia. Although I don’t wear most of them in my day to day, especially the older ones. I’ve got shirts from about 20…

why don't they have donate pages or venmo QR codes at the concert? I am serious. I don't want more stuff. I don't need tshirts. I don't need trinkets. I legitimately love music and want to support, but it is so difficult. Best I can find is digital sales of an album that doesn't cost them any manufacturing/shipping costs.

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

#167

Post by rdiddly »

ModernMech wrote: post #110

I think that’s probably just a universal truth in many industries. How many people have donated to the Linux foundation versus how many people have bought some sort of Tux merch? And why should that fact be haunting? The point of being in a band isn’t to sell records, but to make music. The only reason the t-shirts sold is because the music was good and they were iconic. Where is the ghost?

The ghost is in the clickbait machine.

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

#168

Post by rdiddly »

jbstack wrote: post #49
locallost wrote: post #45

I don't mean to be crude, but how can it haunt them, when they're all dead?

Wikipedia says 3 of them are still alive (Marky, Richie, C.J.).

It's the inverse of Spinal Tap - only the drummers survive!

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

#169

Post by sertsa »

analog8374 wrote: post #146
JKCalhoun wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In short, selling out is when your art takes a back seat to making money (when it had previously been the other way around).

consider it from the perspective of those who have no art. it's like a threat of decapitation for people who never had a head. headlessness is the norm and carries no fear

Tangent? - https://www.headless.org/on-having-no-head.htm

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

#170

Post by deeg »

DeathArrow wrote: post #36
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.

>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. This makes me to wonder why do you and other people like them and why were them influential? Isn't a band's purpose to produce good music and aren't peopl…

And that's the question, right? I like the ramones because they are loud, fast, and catchy. Is that enough to call it good music?

They were influential because they ushered in a new style of playing music. I remember reading an interview with The Clash and someone (Strummer?) mentioned that when the Ramones first played in london it was like a bomb going off. They were amazed that a band could play so fast and they all went home and tried to replicate it.

Originality is part of it. Today a band that sounded exactly like the ramones probably wouldn't go far because it's already been done.

Its a fascinating topic for me.

Post reply on HN