You are entirely true, 100% about Joey Ramone. This is a great and important topic.
Yes, they wanted to be pop stars. But they accomplished something far more important. They basically saved Rock and Roll from itself.
Without them....no New Wave, no Blondie, no Police...no U2.
And finally, they are getting the acclaim they deserve. U2 tells it like it is in their fantastic song, The Miracle (of Joey Ramone).
(And they are beginning their shows in their current tour with this....and I was fortunate enough to have seen it!).
And who could have stopped Iggy Pop?
Henry Rollins reflects...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOjjY-Pp_og
Seriously I Knew Stiv Bators, Brian James (the damned) and Dave Treguna.
Stiv was a wild man and hijacked the stage of one of my friends band and there was nothing you could do about it.
Loved the Ramomes but Holy crap, Stiv Bators was a wild man.
Brian an Dave were kinda like lets have a beer, get out of his way man.... LOL
True that.
Maybe in the US.
If anything saved rock and roll, it was British punk, along with some American bands. Bands from the US like The Stooges, New York Dolls, the MC5 then Talking Heads, Television, Blondie, Patti Smith saved it. And yes even The Boss.
Not to mention all the great British punk and new wave bands of 1976-1980: Sex Pistols, The Jam, The Clash, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, Elvis Costello, The Buzzcocks, The Damned, Sham 69, Siouxsie and the Banshees........
I like the Ramones, but they didn’t save it. Frankly if any American bands saved rock and roll, it was The Stooges and the Dolls.