Jeffrey Ross Hyman, known professionally as Joey Ramone, was an American singer, songwriter, and the lead vocalist and founding member of the punk rock band Ramones. Having co-founded the Ramones with Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone in 1974, his image, voice, and tenure with the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.
Richard Lester Meyers, better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer.
Television was an American rock band from New York City, most notably active in the 1970s. The group's most prominent lineup consisted of Tom Verlaine, Richard Lloyd (guitar), Billy Ficca (drums), and Fred Smith (bass). An early fixture of CBGB and the 1970s New York rock scene, the band is considered influential in the development of punk and alternative rock.
Richard Lloyd is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the rock band Television.
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, and also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
MC5 was an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan, in 1963. The classic line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson. MC5 were listed by Parade as one of the best rock bands of all time and by VH1 as one of the greatest hard rock artists of all time. The band's first three albums are regarded by many as staples of rock music, and their 1969 song "Kick Out the Jams" is widely covered.
Ramones is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released on April 23, 1976, by Sire Records. After Hit Parader editor Lisa Robinson saw the band at a gig in New York City, she wrote several articles about the group and asked Danny Fields to be their manager. Fields agreed and convinced Craig Leon to produce Ramones, and the band recorded a demo for prospective record labels. Leon persuaded Sire president Seymour Stein to listen to the band perform, and he later offered the band a recording contract. The Ramones began recording in January 1976, needing only seven days and $6,400 to record the album.
The Dictators are an American rock band formed in New York City in 1973. Critic John Dougan said that they were "one of the finest and most influential proto-punk bands to walk the earth."
CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters CBGB were for Country, Bluegrass, Blues, Kristal's original vision for the club. But CBGB soon emerged as a famed and iconic venue for punk rock and new wave bands, including Ramones, Dead Boys, Television, Patti Smith Group, Blondie, Madonna and Talking Heads.
Steven John Bator, known professionally as Stiv Bator and later as Stiv Bators, was an American punk rock vocalist and guitarist from Youngstown, Ohio. He is best remembered for his bands Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church.
Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer, and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group, led by vocalist and poet Patti Smith.
Paleface is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist who has been active in the music business in the United States since 1989. He tours on a full-time basis as duo with longtime girlfriend, Puerto Rican drummer Monica "Mo" Samalot.
Thomas Erdelyi, known professionally as Tommy Ramone, was a Hungarian-American musician. He was the drummer for the influential punk rock band the Ramones from its debut in 1974 to 1978, later serving as its producer, and was the longest-surviving original member of the Ramones.
Andy Shernoff is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member of The Dictators, one of the original New York punk bands, in which he wrote nearly all of the songs, played bass guitar and keyboards, and sang backing vocals and occasional leads. He has been involved with a variety of other musical projects, most notably the heavily Dictators-populated Manitoba's Wild Kingdom and Joey Ramone's first studio album, Don't Worry About Me. He additionally co-wrote four Ramones songs with Joey.
Robert Gordon was an American rockabilly singer.
The Shirts are a New York-based American punk band that formed in 1975. The band's early existence was closely linked with CBGB, a music club in the Bowery. The band reformed with many of its early members in 2003 and is currently active.
The Up was an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan in early 1967. Along with fellow proto-punk bands the MC5 and The Stooges, The Up served as a "house band" for the Grande Ballroom in Detroit.
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often cited as the first true punk rock band. Although they never achieved significant commercial success, the band is seen today as highly influential in punk culture.
Helen Wheels was an American singer and songwriter. She was from a Jewish family. During the 1970s she was involved with punk in New York and got the name Helen Wheels from Handsome Dick Manitoba of The Dictators. She was lead singer of the Helen Wheels Band, and also wrote several lyrics for songs by Blue Öyster Cult. In 1981 she became a bodybuilder. Robert Crumb was a friend of hers and drew the album cover for her 1998 compilation album "Archetype". She died in 2000 at the age of 50, after developing an infection following back surgery.
CBGB's and the Birth of U.S. Punk is a music compilation released on April 8, 2002. It focuses on bands that played at CBGB, a New York club in the Bowery district associated with the emergence of punk rock in the United States. In 2002, CBGB's founder and owner, Hilly Kristal, traveled to London to promote the album's release. At the time, bands like The Hives and The Strokes were bringing the CBGB sound up to date.
