Punk’s not dead! – The Ramones build

The current generation of people knows the punk band Ramones more for their logo and t-shirts. The band is experiencing greater marketing success now than during their active career. This group is credited with the birth of the entire punk (punk rock) movement, but let's look at it from the beginning....

Ramones was an American punk band formed in 1974 in New York. The band consisted of four founding members - Joey Ramone (vocals), Johnny Ramone (guitar), Dee Dee Ramone (bass), and Tommy Ramone (drums). Although they never achieved great commercial success, they are considered one of the most influential bands in the history of rock music.

Image credit: Author: Helge Øverås, Wikipedia

Ramones are often referred to as the pioneers of the punk movement. Their music was simple, fast, and straightforward, which was in sharp contrast to the sophisticated and complicated compositions that dominated the rock scene at the time. The lyrics of their songs were often short and full of energy.

The band was known for their unique image - all members adopted the unified name Ramone (Dee Dee suggested this name, which was used by Paul McCartney when registering in hotels as Paul Ramone), wore leather jackets, torn jeans, and white sneakers, which became iconic in the punk subculture. Their concerts were short and intense (without long speeches, the band would play up to 30 songs in a row), which contributed to their cult status.

Image credit: Author: Plismo, Wikipedia

Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy inspired countless young people to pick up a guitar and start playing even without any musical education (which was the case for the Ramones). No long solos, sophisticated riffs, just pure energy and fun on stage, led countless people to music.

Thanks to this, I dare to say that without the Ramones, we would not know bands like The Clash, Sex Pistols, and Nirvana.

Among the bands that have mentioned being influenced by the Ramones are such notable names as: Green Day, The Misfits, Nirvana, Metallica, The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Clash, Pearl Jam, The Offspring, and Bad Religion.

Their approach to music and performance inspired many artists and helped define the sound of punk and punk rock. Today, the Ramones are considered legends, and their contribution to music remains undeniable.

Over time, other Ramones members who helped define the sound in later years included: Marky Ramone (15 years with the band, replacing Tommy), CJ Ramone (7 years, replacing Dee Dee), Richie Ramone (approximately 5 years, replaced Marky who had to leave the band due to alcohol problems but later returned), Elvis Ramone (played only 2 shows)...

Ramones played a total of 2,263 concerts, over 100 concerts a year, and on average, performed every 3.5 days.

Although the Ramones considered themselves a dysfunctional family, they believed in their music so much that they managed to put aside all obstacles throughout their active career. In total, the Ramones produced 14 studio albums, and their most famous songs include: "Blitzkrieg Bop" (with the chorus known worldwide: "Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!"), "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Rockaway Beach," "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker," "Teenage Lobotomy," "Do You Remember Rock ‘n‘ Roll Radio?," "Pet Sematary," "The KKK Took My Baby Away," "Beat on the Brat," "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue," "Cretin Hop," and many others...

For me personally, the Ramones mean a lot, and honestly, in the past 26 years, I can count only a few days when I haven't listened to a Ramones song. This is why I decided to build a tribute to them. This build is inspired by my favorite album: "Rocket to Russia" - the pink and black color scheme is the dominant color of the entire build (I can't imagine it being more punk).

I based it on the Cooler Master Qube 500 case, which went through a color transformation as I had the Macaron edition at home. The case was painted, the covers were painted. Cooling is provided by the passive cooler Silentmaxx Titan, and airflow in the case is maintained by Noctua Redux fans, which were also painted in black and pink...

The rest of the setup includes an Asus motherboard, a Gigabyte RTX 4070 Ti Super graphics card, and a Silverstone 1000W Platinum power supply.