Creative, Angry Kids
The Ramones weren’t actually related, but they all grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, a middle-class Jewish neighborhood known for its angsty, nonconformist youth. More importantly, the original band members shared similar experiences of living in turbulent households and being the wrong person in the wrong place.
Photo by Ian Dickson / Shutterstock
“People who join a band like the Ramones don’t come from stable backgrounds because it’s not that civilized an art form,” bass player Dee Dee Ramone wrote. “Punk rock comes from angry kids who feel like being creative.” Drummer Tommy Ramone, who was the true founding member of the band, mostly kept his hurt to himself. Born as Tamás Erdélyi in Budapest, Hungary in 1949, Tommy moved to America when he was a little kid.