A very important anniversary happened a few days ago. It was on April 23, 1976—50 years ago—that The Ramones released their debut album.
The record was made at a studio inside Carnegie Hall in New York City, took seven days, and cost a total of $6,400, which is the equivalent of about $36,000 today. The famous group photo on the front was shot by Roberta Bailey, who worked with a fanzine called Punk. She was paid $125.
While the album was hardly a commercial success, it in many ways kicked off the punk revolution and might even be considered to be the first true punk rock record. Whatever the case, the right people heard it in just a few months, punk bands were popping up on both sides of the Atlantic.
Looking back, the album also had a huge influence on the rise of metal, thrash, grunge, and all manner of post-punk guitar rock. The 1976 debut album from The Ramones: is an essential part of every record collection.
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