How Did I Get Here?: Defining New Wave

Ramones Postcard, Danny Fields Collection on the Ramones, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The Ramones are not an oldies group, they are not a glitter group, they don’t play boogie music and they don’t play the blues… Their sound is not unlike a fast drill on a rear molar.

Ramones Press Release, circa 1975. Danny Fields Collection on the Ramones, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Hailing from Queens, the Ramones cemented themselves in the NYC punk/new wave scene as equal parts boisterous and ridiculous.

Often, the band resorted to fighting on stage, even calling off performances halfway through. But their rough, oddball demeanor proved to be popular in the scene.

Ramones Bottom Line Performance Flyer, Danny Fields Collection on the Ramones, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

But many music executives in the 1970’s wouldn’t have touched the Ramones with a ten-foot pole. Sire Records’ co-founder Seymour Stein was also weary of the band, reluctantly signing them in 1976 after the behest of their manager, Danny Fields. Fields would co-manage the group alongside Stein’s wife Linda.

The Ramones’ style was simple and brash, with songs barely reaching the two-minute mark. Listen to this live performance to hear what those in the late 70’s heard in New York, a few years after the band was signed. Ramones performing “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment” at the Palladium in New York City, January 7th, 1978, James Brawley Collection, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Originally, Sire distributed their albums through ABC Records, including the Ramones’ eponymous debut. But ABC proved to be less than willing to move Ramones records, leading Fields to express his concern with ABC to Stein.

TO SEYMOUR STEIN
RE: TOWER RECORD BERKLEY RAMONES IN STORE APPEARANCE
STARUDAY JULY 30

IT xxx IS APPARENT THAT ABC RECORDS IS NOT CONCERNED WITH SELLING RAMONES PRODUCT PLEAE BE ADVISED THAT WE CONSIDER OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH ABC RECORD TOTALLY UNSATISFACTORY

DANNY FIELDS
RAMONES MGR

Letter from Danny Fields to Seymour Stein, Danny Fields Collection on the Ramones, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This pushed Stein to break ties with ABC, shopping around for distributors before settling on Warner Music Group. Like Sire’s other recording artists, the Ramones were at times pushed under the new wave label during Warner’s “Don’t Call It Punk” campaign, but not as much as Richard Hell or Talking Heads.

This poster advertises the Ramones and Talking Heads, both signed to Sire, as new wave bands. All three bands were recording under Warner Music Group. “New Wave Invasion! Poster,” Danny Fields Collection on the Ramones, Library and Archives, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Nowadays, calling the Ramones a new wave band would seem ridiculous, especially as the band would go on to be obstenibly seen as the origin for the style and attitudes for American punk rock movement over Richard Hell and Patti Smith. Yet the Ramones’ story highlights the unique leaps Sire made to push smaller artists, and how Sire and Warner pushed for the new wave moniker, regardless of the music in question.

Click here to return to the main page.