{"id":70251,"date":"2026-08-11T14:48:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/11\/the-ramones-took-on-the-punk-skeptics-in-los-angeles\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:48:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:48:40","slug":"the-ramones-took-on-the-punk-skeptics-in-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/11\/the-ramones-took-on-the-punk-skeptics-in-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ramones Took on The Punk Skeptics in Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBy the time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/the-ramones\/\" id=\"auto-tag_the-ramones\" data-tag=\"the-ramones\">the Ramones<\/a> traveled to Los Angeles in August 1976 to play their very first West Coast concerts, they\u2019d already established themselves as the vanguard act of the thriving New York City punk scene, signed a deal with Sire Records, released their groundbreaking debut album, gigged up and down the East Coast, and even played a couple of landmark gigs in London a month earlier that had a seismic impact on the burgeoning underground rock scene that had recently birthed the Clash, the Sex Pistols, the Damned, and many others.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"RAMONES - BEATING BRATS IN L.A. &amp;apos;76 FULL ALBUM - LIVE AT THE ROXY 1976 LOS ANGELES - FULL CONCERT\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y3UY8zMLW5A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBut punk hadn\u2019t quite made its way out to California at this point, even though the Runaways had formed, and the press was still quite skeptical of the Ramones and the entire movement they represented. \u201cThe album cover photo [of their debut] \u2014 which looks as if taken from a post office wanted poster \u2014 shows four young toughs wearing black leather jackets and old, wrinkled jeans,\u201d wrote the noted <em>Los Angeles Times<\/em> critic Robert Hilburn on Aug. 1, 1976, just 10 days before the Ramones made their L.A. debut at the Roxy. \u201cTwo of the guys are wearing dark glasses and smirking in the slightly perverse way that would make even the sadistic gang from <em>A Clockwork Orange<\/em> consider crossing the street to avoid a confrontation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHilburn continued by pointing out that their songs contain references to street hustlers, drug use, and even Nazism. \u201cThe Ramones would have faced much resistance in 1956,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe question facing us now is whether the group is acceptable even in 1976. If not, the reasons for rejection will be vastly different. Whereas the Ramones may have been too much of a threat to parents in the 1950s, the group may be too much of a joke now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tHe ultimately concluded they lack the \u201cimagination\u201d of Patti Smith, the \u201cart\u201d of Bruce Springsteen, the \u201cmusical affection\u201d of Dr. Feelgood, and the \u201cfury and growl\u201d of Aerosmith. \u201cAs long as the group sticks so religiously to the punk-rock mold, the Ramones music (and image) is easy to like, but difficult to believe,\u201d he writes. \u201cAnd authenticity has always been a crucial fact in rock.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn some ways, Hilburn was correct. Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, and Aerosmith all had much brighter futures in the world of popular music. (Dr. Feelgood are largely a tiny footnote in America.) But he was wrong, and he\u2019d probably be the first to admit it today, when he said that the Ramones lacked authenticity. They may have given themselves fake names, but Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/tommy-ramone\/\" id=\"auto-tag_tommy-ramone\" data-tag=\"tommy-ramone\">Tommy Ramone<\/a> all had a deep and genuine love for the stripped-down music they were making, and real disdain for the mainstream rock of the day. (<em>Frampton Comes Alive!<\/em> topped the <em>Billboard <\/em>200<em> <\/em>when the Ramones touched down in L.A., \u201cDon\u2019t Go Breaking My Heart\u201d by Elton John and Kiki Dee was on top of the Hot 100, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/yes-peter-frampton-concert-riot-1976-1235592921\/\">Yes were headlining stadiums.<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Ramones played back-to-back shows at the Roxy on Aug. 11 and 12, 1976. <em>The Los Angeles Times<\/em> listed those dates in tiny print on their calendar page near upcoming public lectures like \u201cPractical Applications of Self-Hypnosis,\u201d \u201cWho Killed John Kennedy,\u201d and \u201cHow Relationships and Sexual Enhancement Really Happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tOn the club scene, there was Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter at Golden Bear, jazz pianist Mose Allison at Lighthouse, and jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard at Starwood. The were all dwarfed that month by major events like Jethro Tull and Robin Trower at the L.A. Coliseum; Kiss with Ted Nugent, Montrose, and Bob Seger at Anaheim Stadium; and Aerosmith with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jeff Beck, Rick Derringer, and Starz, also at Anaheim Stadium.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Roxy seats about one percent as many people as the Angels\u2019 ballpark. But it sounded pretty full when the Ramones took the stage for the Aug. 12 show and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/joey-ramone\/\" id=\"auto-tag_joey-ramone\" data-tag=\"joey-ramone\">Joey Ramone<\/a> blared out, \u201cGood evening, we\u2019re the Ramones, and if you\u2019re a loudmouth, baby, you better shut up.\u201d (Unlike night one, this show survives on tape.) Over the next 33 minutes, they played 13 of the 14 songs from their debut at breakneck speed, leaving out only \u201cI Don\u2019t Wanna Go Down to the Basement,\u201d along with \u201cI Remember You\u201d and \u201cGlad to See You Go,\u201d from their upcoming album <em>Leave Home.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cThe New York street rockers\u2019 extreme primitivism, posited as a love-\u2019em-or-hate-\u2019em proposition, is marked by a pure, authentic inanity and a genuine inescapable energy that burrows beneath the foundations of current rock\u2019s pretensions and contrivances,\u201d reads a review in <em>The Los Angeles\u00a0Times<\/em> by Richard Cromelin. \u201cIts deadpan, wimpy delivery is endearing, and its repetition is allayed by its incredible rapid-fire pace. Each number begins with an obsessive \u2018one-two-three-fah!\u2019 (once they got all the way up to seven), some songs, contrary to detractors\u2019 accusations, have as many as five chords, and while there\u2019s a bit of variation in tempo and structure, it\u2019s not enough to mollify the relentless assault.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tCromelin\u2019s focus on the \u201cpure, authentic inanity\u201d of the Ramones seems like a direct response to Hilburn\u2019s assertion earlier in the month that the Ramones were inauthentic. But Cromelin had the benefit of experiencing the Ramones live in the flesh at the Roxy. Hilburn was going only on the album, and the relentless hype coming out of New York, which was easy to dismiss because the New York Dolls, the most direct antecedent to the Ramones, had flamed out after just two records.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ramones - California Sun + Pinhead (Live at The Roxy in 1978) [4K + Lyrics]\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cBfZ2qldheE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBut Hilburn and other doubters would have plenty more chances to change their minds in the two decades that followed. The Roxy was the first of 180 shows the Ramones would play in California before splitting up in 1996. They filmed concert scenes for their 1979 movie <em>Rock and Roll High School<\/em> back at the Roxy, hit just about every club on the Sunset Strip several times over, performed the Greek Theater on a stacked bill in 1990 that included Debbie Harry, the Tom Tom Club, and Jerry Harrison, and even played the 2,263rd and final show of their career at L.A.\u2019s Palace Theater on Aug. 6, 1996. It was a marathon set that included guest appearances by Eddie Vedder, Lemmy Kilmister, Chris Cornell, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/dee-dee-ramone\/\" id=\"auto-tag_dee-dee-ramone\" data-tag=\"dee-dee-ramone\">Dee Dee Ramone<\/a>, who had left the band seven years earlier.<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ramones - FINAL SHOW - August 6, 1996 &quot;We&amp;apos;re Outta Here!&quot; (VHS - 1997)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KSoQB35MZ1E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIt seemed odd that maybe the most quintessential New York band in rock history, rivaled only by the Velvet Underground, would wrap up their career in Los Angeles. But it was their second home by that point. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/johnny-ramone\/\" id=\"auto-tag_johnny-ramone\" data-tag=\"johnny-ramone\">Johnny Ramone<\/a> moved there right after the Ramones broke up. Dee Dee Ramone died there in 2002, and is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, not far from a monument to Johnny that draws fans from all over the world. (Joey is buried back east in New Jersey, and Tommy\u2019s final resting place is on Long Island.)<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tTo commemorate the 50-year anniversary of the first Ramones record, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/billie-joe-armstrong-supergroup-ramones-anniversary-show-1235590395\/\">one-time-only supergroup<\/a> featuring Green Day\u2019s Billie Joe Armstrong, blink-182\u2019s Travis Barker, Rancid\u2019s Tim Armstrong, and C.J. Ramone (Dee Dee\u2019s replacement) are playing a concert on Aug. 30 of this year. With every member of the original lineup now dead, it\u2019s about as close to an actual Ramones concert as we\u2019re going to get these days. But it\u2019s not taking place at the former CBGB site, which is now a John Varvatos store that holds occasional concerts, or anywhere else in New York City. They\u2019re staging it at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, just four miles from the Roxy, where the entire saga of the Ramones in L.A. began.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/50-years-ago-today-ramones-west-coast-debut-1235606340\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By the time the Ramones traveled to Los Angeles in August 1976 to play their very first West Coast concerts, they\u2019d already established themselves&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":70252,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}