"A band like the Ramones doesn't come along once in a lifetime. They come along once." So said Sire Records' Seymour Stein of the band he signed in 1976, and, in doing so, changed music forever. Few bands have ever had the impact the biker-jacket wearing, brat-beating band of (fake) brothers had on rock and roll... and all of those bands sold far more records (except maybe the Velvet Underground).
They aren't even the most famous band to attend Forest Hills, Queens High School (
that distinction goes to Simon & Garfunkel). So, it's understandable that, despite the legacy and lasting impact of the Ramones, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction.
~Jens T. Carstensen