Johnny Ramone Quotes

“I started doing up-and-down strumming, basically to keep time and to play fast. As time went on, I started realizing other guitar players couldn't do it. I always went against the grain.”

— Johnny Ramone

“We didn't sell a lot of records, but somehow we left an impression.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I didn't want the Ramones being told what to be doing, and I wanted the Ramones being presented in the right light - the remaining Ramones.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I try to make a dent in people when I can. I figure people drift toward liberalism at a young age, and I always hope that they change when they see how the world really is.”

— Johnny Ramone

“For all my success with the Ramones, I carried around fury and intensity during my career. I had an image, and that image was anger. I was the one who was always scowling, downcast. I tried to make sure I looked like that when I was getting my picture taken.”

— Johnny Ramone

“Some bands blow it before they even play. The most important moment of any show is when a band walks out with the red amp lights glowing, the flashlight that shows each performer the way to his spot on the stage. It's crucial not to blow it. It sets the tempo of the show; it affects everyone's perception of the band.”

— Johnny Ramone

Cancer softened me up. I like the old me better. I liked being angry. It made me feel strong.

— Johnny Ramone

If I didn't like someone, I wouldn't want him calling me up when I was dying. I wouldn't want them having regrets that they didn't talk to me.

— Johnny Ramone

As far as my favorite songs to perform live, most of the songs we did live were my favorite. If they weren't, I would have gotten rid of them.

— Johnny Ramone

“Republicans let this happen over and over, and there is never anyone to stick up for them. They spend too much time defending themselves.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I'm only going to be the way I'd want someone to react to me.”

— Johnny Ramone

“Europe was a horrible place. There was nothing on TV. The food was terrible. And they don't even have ice. Who doesn't have ice?”

— Johnny Ramone

“I had a good career. I've been very fortunate.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I never felt out of control. It was just the way I lived my life. I was the neighborhood bully.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I'm just honored that people still like us and people are still nice to me.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I don't need much more money, and I thought that when I retired that nobody would want to talk to me anymore. Then I did, and people still want to talk to me.”

— Johnny Ramone

“When I was younger, I was ready to go off at any time. My wife, Linda, and I would go out to the Limelight in New York, and I would see people and be able to freeze them with a look. People were even too scared of me to tell me that people were scared of me.”

— Johnny Ramone

My favorite artists have always been Elvis and The Beatles and they still are!

— Johnny Ramone

“Two of my biggest heroes were my father and John Wayne.”

— Johnny Ramone

“As far as film goes, I enjoy all Hollywood films and all Horror films like The Bride of Frankenstein, which also might be my favorite. I like 60's and 70's Italian and Spanish Horror films.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I never liked blues and I really didn't like jazz. I liked Chuck Berry.”

— Johnny Ramone

“It was a job, and I was just doing my job.”

— Johnny Ramone

“My favorite album would have to be Rocket To Russia. I feel this album has the most classic Ramones songs.”

— Johnny Ramone

“'Rocket to Russia' is, I think, my favorite Ramones record. We reached our peak at that point.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I think most bands probably peak on their first album. We peaked on our third album. On the first album, I feel like I wish the production was a little better. I'll always hear a song I don't like. I look for what I could have done to make it better. It's always difficult for me to listen.”

— Johnny Ramone

“If a man can tell if he's been successful in his life by having great friends, then I have been very successful.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I never wore earplugs - that would have been cheating.”

— Johnny Ramone

You also get so wound up playing a show that a lot of people need something to bring them down. People who don't know how to handle the situation take drugs. I didn't. I went back to my room with milk and cookies.

— Johnny Ramone

Your life is what you remember. I mean, some things I wish I still had. But it doesn't matter.

— Johnny Ramone

“A lot of kids bought guitars and started playing rock'n'roll because of us.”

— Johnny Ramone

“As soon as you start analyzing something it stops”

— Johnny Ramone

I never sweat, which you might notice in pictures.

— Johnny Ramone

“The only band that I can see that made changes over the years with success was The Beatles. They were able to change album to album and still be just as good or better. I didn't feel that we were able to do that. The Beatles were in a class by themselves.”

— Johnny Ramone

“Rock 'n' roll is meant to entertain. Hippie folk singers are supposed to be singing about leftist views, but I don't think rock 'n' roll was ever that way. I don't remember the early rock 'n' rollers ever expressing any political views.”

— Johnny Ramone

“That's the sound we developed, and that's how we played. It took us a while, but we found it.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I think Ronald Reagan was the best President of my lifetime.”

— Johnny Ramone

“Pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence.”

— Johnny Ramone

“The bigger the show, the better I'd play. It was what I was waiting for, and I'd never get nervous.”

— Johnny Ramone

“I never take medication for pain. I want to know if the pain is getting better or worse.”

— Johnny Ramone

You can't change music by yourself.

— Johnny Ramone