Frogtoon Music

Pleasant Dreams (Album) by Ramones

Artist Biography For Ramones


Ramones Were A Punk Rock Band That Formed In Queens New York United States In 1974. They Are Often Cited As The First Punk Group. Despite Achieving Only Limited Commercial Success The Band Was A Major Influence On The Punk Rock Movement Both In The United States And The United Kingdom. All Of The Band Members Adopted Pseudonyms Ending With The Surname "Ramone" Though None Of Them Were Related. They Performed 2 263 Concerts Touring Virtually Nonstop For 22 Years. In 1996 After A Tour With The Lollapalooza Music Festival The Band Played A Farewell Concert And Disbanded. By A Little More Than Eight Years After The Breakup The Band's Three Founding Members—lead Singer Joey Ramone Guitarist Johnny Ramone And Bassist Dee Dee Ramone—had Died. Drummer Tommy Ramone The Last Surviving Original Member Died In 2014. Their Only Record With Enough U.S. Sales To Be Certified Gold Was The Compilation Album Ramones Mania. However Recognition Of The Band's Importance Built Over The Years And They Are Now Cited In Many Assessments Of All-Time Great Rock Music Such As The Rolling Stone List Of The 50 Greatest Artists Of All Time And VH1's 100 Greatest Artists Of Hard Rock. In 2002 The Ramones Were Ranked The Second-Greatest Band Of All Time By Spin Magazine Trailing Only The Beatles. On March 18 2002 The Ramones—including The Three Founders And Drummers Marky And Tommy Ramone—were Inducted Into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. In 2011 The Group Was Awarded A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Formation 1974–1975
Forest Hills High School Attended By The Four Original Members Of The Ramones The Original Members Of The Band Met In And Around The Middle-Class Neighborhood Of Forest Hills In The New York City Borough Of Queens. John Cummings And Tamás Erdélyi Had Both Been In A High-School Garage Band From 1966 To 1967 Known As The Tangerine Puppets. They Became Friends With Douglas Colvin Who Had Recently Moved To The Area From Germany And Jeffry Hyman Who Was The Initial Lead Singer Of The Glam Rock Band Sniper Founded In 1972. The Ramones Began Taking Shape In Early 1974 When Cummings And Colvin Invited Hyman To Join Them In A Band. The Initial Lineup Featured Colvin On Lead Vocals And Rhythm Guitar Cummings On Lead Guitar And Hyman On Drums. Colvin Who Soon Switched From Rhythm Guitar To Bass Was The First To Adopt The Name "Ramone" Calling Himself Dee Dee Ramone. He Was Inspired By Paul McCartney's Use Of The Pseudonym Paul Ramon During His Silver Beatles Days. Dee Dee Convinced The Other Members To Take On The Name And Came Up With The Idea Of Calling The Band The Ramones. Hyman And Cummings Became Joey Ramone And Johnny Ramone Respectively. A Friend Of The Band Monte A. Melnick Later Their Tour Manager Helped To Arrange Rehearsal Time For Them At Manhattan's Performance Studios Where He Worked. Johnny's Former Bandmate Erdélyi Was Set To Become Their Manager. Soon After The Band Was Formed Dee Dee Realized That He Could Not Sing And Play His Bass Guitar Simultaneously With Erdélyi's Encouragement Joey Became The Band's New Lead Singer. Dee Dee Would Continue However To Count Off Each Song's Tempo With His Signature Rapid-Fire Shout Of "1-2-3-4!" Joey Soon Similarly Realized That He Could Not Sing And Play Drums Simultaneously And Left The Position Of Drummer. While Auditioning Prospective Replacements Erdélyi Would Often Take To The Drums And Demonstrate How To Play The Songs. It Became Apparent That He Was Able To Perform The Group's Music Better Than Anyone Else And He Joined The Band As Tommy Ramone. The Ramones Played Before An Audience For The First Time On March 30 1974 At Performance Studios. The Songs They Played Were Very Fast And Very Short Most Clocked In At Under Two Minutes. Around This Time A New Music Scene Was Emerging In New York Centered Around Two Clubs In Downtown Manhattan—Max's Kansas City And More Famously CBGB Usually Referred To As CBGB's . The Ramones Made Their CBGB Debut On August 16. Legs McNeil Who Cofounded Punk Magazine The Following Year Later Described The Impact Of That Performance "They Were All Wearing These Black Leather Jackets. And They Counted Off This Song...And It Was Just This Wall Of Noise.... They Looked So Striking. These Guys Were Not Hippies. This Was Something Completely New." The Band Swiftly Became Regulars At The Club Playing There Seventy-Four Times By The End Of The Year. After Garnering Considerable Attention For Their Performances—which Averaged About Seventeen Minutes From Beginning To End—the Group Was Signed To A Recording Contract In Late 1975 By Seymour Stein Of Sire Records. Stein's Wife Linda Stein Had Seen The Band Play At CBGB She Would Later Co-Manage Them Along With Danny Fields. By This Time The Ramones Were Recognized As Leaders Of The New Scene That Was Increasingly Being Referred To As "punk". The Group's Unusual Frontman Had A Lot To Do With Their Impact. As Dee Dee Explained "All The Other Singers In New York Were Copying David Johansen Of The New York Dolls Who Was Copying Mick Jagger.... But Joey Was Unique Totally Unique."

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: Pleasant Dreams

Pleasant Dreams Is The Sixth Studio Album By American Punk Rock Band The Ramones Released On July 20 1981 Through Sire Records. While The Band Members Wanted Steve Lillywhite To Produce Sire Chose Graham Gouldman In An Attempt To Gain Popularity Through A Well-Known Producer. The Recording Process Brought About Many Conflicts Between Band Members Most Notably The Strife Between Joey Ramone And Johnny Ramone Due To Johnny Starting A Relationship With Joey's Girlfriend. There Were Also Disputes About The Overall Direction Of The Album With Johnny Leaning Towards Hard Rock And Joey Towards Pop Punk. Ultimately The Album Incorporated High Production Values And Varying Musical Styles Straying From Traditional Punk Rock On Songs Such As "We Want The Airwaves" "She's A Sensation" And "Come On Now". It Is The First Ramones Album Not To Feature Any Cover Songs. Despite Sire's Efforts To Broaden The Band's Appeal By Enlisting Gouldman To Produce The Album Was Not Commercially Successful Peaking At #58 On The Billboard 200 And Only Charting Outside Of The US In Sweden. The Album Also Met With Mixed Critical Reception. The Writing Process For Pleasant Dreams Began In January 1981. With Sire Records Management Being Insistent On Allowing A Celebrity Record Producer To Work On The Album They Hired Graham Gouldman—songwriter And Musician For The British Band 10cc—to Produce The Album. Prior To Working With Gouldman The Ramones Had Recorded Demos For The Album With Audio Engineer Ed Stasium And While The Band Had Intended For Steve Lillywhite To Produce The Album This Decision Was Rejected By Sire. The Studio Recording Process Began On March 30 1981 And Initiated Several Conflicts Between Band Members. This Tension Was Partially Due To Dee Dee Ramone's Drug Addiction As Well As Marky Ramone And Joey Ramone Developing Problems With Alcohol Resulting In The Frustration Of Johnny Ramone. These Conflicts And Differences Became Evident In The Songwriting As For The First Time On A Ramones Album Each Song Was Now Credited To Individual Members Rather Than Multiple Members. The Time Period Of Recording Was A High-Point In Musical Style For Both Joey And Johnny Though They Directed Their Sound Towards Different Styles Of Music Joey's Inspiration From Pop Music Became Evident In His Writing While Johnny's Keenness Of Hard-Rock Guitar Riffs Are Apparent In Much Of His Performing On The Album. Johnny Thought That This Did Not Result Well For The Band's Sound Saying "I Knew Going In That This Was Not Going To Be The Type Of Album I Wanted. It Really Could Have Used Another Two Of Three Punk Songs ... All I Want To Do Is Keep Our Fans Happy And Not Sell Out. I'm Fighting Within The Band. They Are Trying To Go Lighter Looking For Ways To Be More Commercial. I'm Against The Band For Doing That." Joey Countered By Explaining "By Road To Ruin And End Of The Century I Was Doing The Majority Of The Songwriting. I Started Feeling That The Ramones Were Faceless There Were No Individual Identities In The Band." Joey Went On To Say That While This Method Had Worked Well In The Beginning Of Their Career It Began To Annoy Him Since "everything He Wrote The Band Would Take Credit For." Even Though He Expressed Dissatisfaction With The Album Working With Graham Gouldman Johnny Admitted "was Easy—he Was Always A Gentleman. He Changed A Lot Of The Songs "Here's A Nice Chord For The Bridge You Should Be Playing A Minor Chord Instead Of A Major Chord " Things Like That." Gouldman Also Had Ideas For Vocal Harmonies Guitar Overdubs And Melodic Basslines. If He Suggested A Guitar Part It Had To Sound Like It Came From Johnny "or He Wouldn't Play It " Gouldman Said. Gouldman Also Revealed That There Were Certain Tracks He Actually Played Guitar On. "I'd Show Johnny And He'd Say "You Play It " But I Had To Play Very Restrictive Nothing Fancy At All." He Went On To Say That There Wasn't Much Work To Do With The Songs. "We Changed Arrangements Slightly But It Was Basic Stuff Like "Let's Put And End On This Song Rather Than Fade It Let's Double Up On The Chorus At The End." Dee Dee Recalled That "Graham Really Produced. He Put Something Into The Album Some Harmony Ideas." During Early Stages Of The Album's Development Joey Was Dating Linda Daniele. After The Album Was Released However Daniele Left Joey And Became Johnny's Girlfriend. Ramones' Road Manager Monte Melnick Relates "Joey Was Devastated. It Affected Him Deeply. Johnny Knew It Was Bad And Kept Linda Totally Hidden From That Point On. She Didn't Come To Many Shows And If She Did He'd Hide Her In The Back She Wouldn't Come Backstage. He'd Run Out To Meet Her And Leave As Soon As They Were Done." While Johnny Would Eventually Marry Linda Joey Held A Strong Grudge Against Them Both And Though They Continued To Perform And Tour Together The Two Rarely Talked To Each Other. Joey Explained That Johnny Had "crossed The Line" Once He Started Dating Daniele And Noted That "he Destroyed The Relationship And The Band Right There". Johnny Defended Himself By Stating That Had Daniele Not Left Joey For Him "he Wouldn't Have Even Been Talking About Her And Saying How Much He Loved Her Because He Wouldn't Have Been Obsessed About It." The Album Opens With "We Want The Airwaves" Which Has Instrumentation That Strays From Traditional Punk Rock And More Towards Hard Rock. Music Journalist Chuck Eddy Described The Song As "a Sort Of Black Sabbath Punk Rock". Though It Was Long Rumored That The Album's Third Track "The KKK Took My Baby Away" Was Written About Johnny Stealing Joey's Girlfriend The Song Was Reportedly Written Some Time Before Joey Had Found Out About This. Joey's Brother Mickey Leigh Relates "The Fluky Connection Between Johnny And The KKK Raised A Specter That Keeps Friends And Fans Speculating To This Day. At The Time Though It Had To Be An Unusual Situation For Him Being That As Often Happens With Song Lyrics His Words Now Took On A Whole New Meaning." The Following Track "Don't Go" Was Described In Musician Player And Listener As "Spector-Ish" Likening The Song's Production Values To Those Of Music Producer Phil Spector The Infamous Producer Of The Band's Previous Record End Of The Century. According To The Magazine The Lyrics Detail "an Archivist's Sense Of Young Love By The Book And How Innocent Rock 'n' Roll Is Supposed To Sound." Everett True Author Of Hey Ho Let's Go The Story Of The Ramones 2005 Explains That The Album's Fifth Track Dee Dee's "You Sound Like You're Sick" "returns To The Bassist's Traditional Institutionalised Theme." Side A Ends With "It's Not My Place In The 9 To 5 World " Which Was Described By Music Critic David Fricke As "driven Home" By Drummer Marky's "feisty Bo Diddley-Style" Drum Beat Noting That It Borrows The Middle Eight Of Thirty-Two-Bar Form From The Who Song "Whiskey Man". Side B Of The Album Begins With "She's A Sensation" Which Was Said By Author Dave Thompson To Have A 1960s Melody Which "melts Through The Hard Rock". The Next Song "7-11" Deals With Dating At A Young Age Where The Couple Goes On Dates To Places Like Convenience Stores And Record Swaps. The Lyrics Follow A Boy Who Meets A Girl By A Space Invaders Arcade Machine Who Eventually Has To Let Her Go After She Dies In A Car Crash. True Relates "You Can Lose Your Heart Within The Singer's Torched '7-11'. Joey Details In Time-Honoured Girl Group Fashion The Beauty Of Young Love That Takes Place Among The Most Mundane Humdrum Of Surroundings." "You Didn't Mean Anything To Me" Written By Dee Dee Reflects The Desolation And Vacillation That The Bassist Was Feeling In His Personal Life As Well As Within The Band. This Is Evident Through Lines Like "Every Dinner Was Crummy/Even The Ones For Free." The Pop-Oriented Song "Come On Now" Was Described By True As A "sparkling Rush Of Blood To The Head From The 'comic Book Boy' " With True Adding That It Was Comparable To Songs By The Dave Clark Five And 1910 Fruitgum Company. The Eleventh Track On The Album "This Business Is Killing Me" Was Written By Joey About How Everyone Expects Him To Please Others But How He Simply Cannot Please Everyone All The Time. Pleasant Dreams Concludes With "Sitting In My Room" Which David Fricke Quoted In The Conclusion Of His Review Of The Album Saying "'It's Us Against Them ' Sneers Joey ... 'They Just Wanna Worry ... /They Just Wanna Be So Lame/Maybe They Should Try And Sniff Some Glue.' Or Put Pleasant Dreams On The Box And Crank It Up To Ten." Personnel Ramones Joey Ramone – Lead Vocals And Backing Vocals Johnny Ramone – Electric Guitar And Backing Vocals Dee Dee Ramone – Bass Lead Vocals And Backing Vocals Track 18 Marky Ramone – Drum And Backing Vocals Additional Musicians Vic Emerson – Synthesizers Dave Hassell – Percussions Graham Gouldman – Rhythm Guitar And Backing Vocals Russell Mael – Backing Vocals Ian Wilson – Backing Vocals Debbie Harry – Backing Vocals Track 15 Kate Pierson – Backing Vocals Track 15 Cindy Wilson – Backing Vocals Track 15 Production Graham Gouldman – Producer Lincoln Y. Clapp – Engineer Mediasound Harvey Goldberg – Engineer Mediasound Chris Nagle – Engineer Strawberry North Keith Bessey – Engineer Mixing Strawberry South Harry Spiridakis – Assistant Engineer Mediasound Andy Hoffman – Assistant Engineer Mediasound John Dixon – Assistant Engineer Strawberry North Mark Cockburn – Assistant Engineer Strawberry North Steve Cooksey – Assistant Engineer Strawberry South Melvyn Abrahams – Mastering Michael Somoroff – Photos M & Co. – Design Guy Juke – Uncredited Cover Art

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