the ramones get started as a reaction to everything else that s going on. people see them, and they go this is the answer. hey, oh, let s go great rock and roll is supposed to be done. how should it be done? no pyrotechnics, no phony showmanship. just pure rock and roll, pure guts and stamina. it is just real and raw and there is no crap involved. as opposed to the standard slop we hear on the top 40. ramones were one part of a wider new york scene. you had people like heidi smith. i am an artist. rock and roll is my art. the ynew york dolls. the dead boys. and richard helm.
richard helm was one of the first to cut his own hair. he was ripping clothes and safety pinning them together. he was king of the punks. the safety pin thing, for instance, is his. it is pretty clear that he invented that. punk in the united states is a musical aberration. a statement of sorts about what music is and how it ought to be played. in england, punk rock is not a musical statement. it is a social one. it comes with the home territory here on kings road in the middle of london. the same street that launched the mini skirt and the look and mood of the swinging 60s. what s this society done for us? there isn t any future for a kid now. i mean, there isn t. there is an indigenous anger and frustration that drove a lot of punk on, and got a lot of young people behind it.