The Ramones were instrumental (no pun intended) in squashing the formula arena rock that was saturating the mid-70s with bombastic theatrics.
I don't the Ramones had that big of an immediate effect on the bloated corpse that rock was becoming or had become at the time of their first record. They were more like the little warm blooded mammals that took over when the dinosaurs bit the dust.
However, I think their influence was more ideological than musical. Punkmusic requires an audience to work. Has anybody on this list or in the knownuniverse for that matter ever put on a Ramones LP and listen to it start to finish?
I have. Punk can function as music in and of itself. I think Joe Strummer, Mick and Steve Jones, and all the rest were more interested in the music. What ideology really existed at that time?
When I think of the influential bands of the 70's, I think of bandslike Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The Clash and Joy Division. I daresay, Ihear Hawkwind's Quark, Strangness and Charm in more 80s music than I hearthe Ramones 3 chord speed riffs (Actually, that has changed in the late 90'sand 00s). I always hear about the "seminal band" Television being an influence but I have never heard another band like them. Where are all the bands with twin lead guitars? Thin Lizzy? Allman Brothers? Quicksilver? Judas priest? Wishbone Ash? Moby Grape? It seems Television was the last of an era as opposed to the beginning.
Well, influence is hopefully more than just aping the riffs of the aforementioned bands. It's taking those concepts introduced by whatever band and expanding upon it. There will never be another band that is going to sound like Television just as there will be no other band that will sound like the Replacements or whatever ad infinitum. A band might be able adopt some stylistic element of a band's sound but it will never be the total package.
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