[On August 25th, 1976, the rock band Boston released their self-titled debut album. It would go on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time, so for its 50th anniversary this week I wanted to pay rocking tribute by AmericanStudying what a handful of iconic 70s bands can tell us about the nation. Leading up to a crowd-sourced weekend post through which I hope we can keep on rockin’ in the free(ish) world!]
On three visual and multi-media texts that help chart the arc of the iconic and incredibly influential punk band.
- The Logo (c. 1974-6): New York City artist Arturo Vega was friends with founding band members Joey Ramone (real name: Jeffrey Hyman) and Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), and created their iconic logo for both band merch (and so possibly as early as 1974 when they began performing) and the back sleeve of their debut album Ramones (which was released in 1976). I can’t sum up more succinctly what that Americana-inspired logo highlights about this influential 70s rock band than Vega himself did in a later interview: “I saw them as the ultimate all-American band. To me, they reflected the American character in general—an almost childish innocent aggression…I thought, ‘The Great Seal of the President of the United States would be perfect for the Ramones, with the eagle holding arrows—to symbolize strength and the aggression that would be used against whomever dares to attack us—and an olive branch, offered to those who want to be friendly. But we decided to change it a little bit. Instead of the olive branch, we had an apple tree branch, since the Ramones were American as apple pie. And since Johnny was such a baseball fanatic, we had the eagle hold a baseball bat instead of the Great Seal’s arrows.” Ain’t that America?
- Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979): “Ramones fanatic and delinquent Riff Randell battles it out with the strict new principal of Vince Lombardi High School, Miss Togar, with the help of the Ramones.” That’s the tagline for Allan Arkush and Joe Dante’s co-directed film, produced by legendary B-movie king Roger Corman; and “with the help of the Ramones” isn’t a metaphor, as the band appeared in the film playing themselves. In some ways that was nothing new, as of course the Beatles—who were idols of the Ramones and had inspired them all to take the last name Ramone due to Paul McCartney having used the pseudonym Paul Ramon at times—appeared as themselves in a number of films, to name just one particularly famous example of the trend. But those films were more or less an excuse for the Beatles to be on screen, and generally not much in the way of actual storytelling; while High School, if just as B as all of Corman’s B-movies, has a definite story and punk ethos, and thus was a perfect fit for a film in which the Ramones would appear as part of that story and tone—in a moment that also clearly reflects just how big this punk band had gotten in that scene.
- “Rosebud” (1993): I had no idea before researching this post that the Ramones remained together and active until the mid-1990s, releasing their 14th and final studio album Adios Amigos! in 1996. But I might have known if I were a bigger Simpsons fan, as the band once again appeared as themselves in this 1993 episode of the long-running animated show. In some ways that was a career culminating moment, as the band were (according to the show’s EP David Mirkin) “gigantic, obsessive Simpsons fans.” In other ways, though, it could be seen as a moment of self-parody, or at least a reflection of a band who had gone from punk rebels to punk icons to the contradictory concept of punk elder statesmen. But no one who creates anything really believes it’s better to burn out than fade away—and in any case the Ramones appearing on one of the 1990s biggest shows makes clear that one of the 70s boldest and most innovative rock bands hadn’t faded away at all.
Crowd-sourced post this weekend,
Ben
PS. So one more time: what do you think? Thoughts on this band or other iconic ones (from the 70s or not) you’d add into the conversation?
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