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Punk Rock

Forest Hills, Queens, 1974

Ramones

The Ramones formed in Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974: four unrelated young men who all took the surname Ramone. Dee Dee got the idea from Paul Ramon, a stage name Paul McCartney used in the Beatles' early days. They first played CBGB that August. Their self-titled debut came out in April 1976 and only got to number 111 on the Billboard chart. Leave Home, Rocket to Russia and Road to Ruin followed by 1978, the year Marky Ramone took over from Tommy on drums. They toured almost without a break, played 2,263 concerts and made fourteen studio albums before a final show in Hollywood in August 1996. They went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. All four founders have since died.

New York, CBGB, 1973

Television

Television came out of the Neon Boys, a trio of Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca, and took the new name in New York in March 1973 when guitarist Richard Lloyd joined. Their manager Terry Ork talked Hilly Kristal into giving them a regular slot at CBGB, and they built a sizable cult following there. Hell quit in 1975 after fights with Verlaine. Fred Smith, briefly of Blondie, replaced him on bass. Marquee Moon, the 1977 debut, missed the Billboard 200 but made the UK top 30, and Adventure got to number 8 there in 1978, the year they first split. They got back together for a self-titled album in 1992, and again from 2001 until Verlaine died in January 2023, aged 73.

Guildford, Surrey, 1974

The Stranglers

The Stranglers started in Guildford, Surrey, in 1974 as the Guildford Stranglers. Drummer Jet Black ran an off-licence that served as their early base, and the lineup had bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel and guitarist Hugh Cornwell. Keyboardist Dave Greenfield joined in 1975. Rattus Norvegicus and No More Heroes both came out in 1977, then Black and White, The Raven, La Folie and Feline. Over the years they have collected 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 top 40 albums. Cornwell left in August 1990 to go solo. Greenfield died in May 2020 after catching COVID-19 in hospital, and Black died in December 2022, aged 84. Burnel is the last original member and still tours with the band. Their 18th studio album, Dark Matters, came out in 2021.

Saint Paul trio, 1979

Hüsker Dü

Hüsker Dü formed in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979 with guitarist Bob Mould, drummer Grant Hart and bassist Greg Norton. The name came from a board game, and it means "do you remember?" in Danish and Norwegian. After the debut Land Speed Record they signed with SST Records, which put out Metal Circus in 1983 and Zen Arcade in 1984. Zen Arcade is a double album, mostly first takes, about a boy who runs away from home. New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig both appeared in 1985, and then the band moved to Warner Bros. for Candy Apple Grey and Warehouse: Songs and Stories. They broke up in early 1988. Mould went on to form Sugar, and Hart died of liver cancer in 2017, aged 56.

Cleveland to CBGB, 1976

Dead Boys

The Dead Boys got together in Cleveland in 1975 around singer Stiv Bators, with Cheetah Chrome and Jimmy Zero on guitars, Jeff Magnum on bass and Johnny Blitz on drums. Joey Ramone pushed them to move to New York, which they did in July 1976. They played CBGB often, were managed for a while by its owner Hilly Kristal and got known as one of the rowdiest groups of the era. Young, Loud and Snotty came out in 1977. We Have Come for Your Children, recorded in Miami with Felix Pappalardi, followed in 1978. Sire wanted them to change their look and sound, and the pressure split the band in 1979. Bators died in France in 1990 after a taxi hit him. Chrome and Blitz revived the name in 2017.

Portland, Oregon, 1987

Dead Moon

Dead Moon formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1987, with Fred Cole on guitar, Toody Cole on bass, both of them singing, and Andrew Loomis on drums. The sound was stripped down, punk and country together, and the songs were dark and lovelorn. Fred engineered most of the records himself and mastered them on a mono recording lathe. Their own label, Tombstone Records, took its name from the Coles' music shop. In the Graveyard came out in 1988, and once they signed with Music Maniac most of their following came from Europe. After ten studio albums they played a last show in Groningen in November 2006, and the Coles kept going as Pierced Arrows. A reunion lasted from 2014 to 2017. Loomis died in 2016 and Fred Cole in 2017, both of cancer.

Los Angeles, Dangerhouse, 1977

The Alley Cats

The Alley Cats were a punk trio formed in Los Angeles in 1977 by guitarist Randy Stodola, bassist Dianne Chai and drummer John McCarthy. They signed to Dangerhouse Records, home of the Bags and X, put out their first single in 1978, turned up on the 1979 compilation Yes L.A. and played the Masque and the Whisky a Go Go regularly. Writer Chris Morris said they made some of the toughest, most nihilistic music on the scene. Their debut album, Nightmare City, came out on Time Coast in 1981, and Escape From the Planet Earth followed on MCA in 1982. They renamed themselves the Zarkons and made two more albums before breaking up. Stodola revived the Alley Cats in 2015.

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