In the period following the release of AC/DC’s second studio album ‘T.N.T.’ in 1975, Angus Young joined an interview with Double J’s George Wayne. The chat unveiled the guitarist’s take on different topics, including the then-rising punk music scene and the newly-formed Ramones, which he criticized.
The Ramones went through many stage antics throughout their time together. In fact, Johnny Ramone’s autobiography revealed a few of these incidents, painting a picture of onstage fights and audience pranks, including the one where the band used mace during a concert.
But their antics didn’t end there. The band’s PR manager Mick Houghton revealed their performance rituals in an interview with PKM a few years ago. He shared that the Ramones ate curry before every concert and kept a bucket on the side stage as at least one of them puked by the end every time due to their active shows.
So, while talking about the Ramones during that mid-70s interview, Young referred to their actions on stage. He compared the band to the Small Faces and explained his dislike for them by saying:
“You’ve got the Ramones and all that; they’re all trying to do a Small Faces thing. I don’t know if you remember when Steve Marriott used to come on and wipe his nose and spit in his hand and throw it at some punter, generally be an arse, pour beer over the crowd, and the whole thing like that. They can do all that, it’s pretty easy for a guy to go up there and do all that, but they can’t play.”
The guitarist delved more into his thoughts about the group’s music and went on:
“Everyone knows at that time Steve Marriott could sing and the band, the Small Faces, could play. Well, the bands there now can’t play, and they can’t sing – they’ve got nothing going for them except the visual thing. The Ramones, I only heard them once; I heard a song, and it did nothing. It seemed to me like the first band I was ever in, and I’m sure even that was better – and was when I was 12.”
Despite Young’s distaste for the Ramones’ sound, many names from the industry, like Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, named the band their influence. In fact, the group got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, the first year they became eligible.
