The Untold Truth Of CBGB

Of all the famous bands that played CBGB in its heyday, few are as iconic as The Ramones. As uDiscover Music notes, the seminal punk rock band began a residency at CBGBs in 1974, solidifying the bar's punk rock status. Over the years, The Ramones and CBGB became inextricably linked to each other and the

Of all the famous bands that played CBGB in its heyday, few are as iconic as The Ramones. As uDiscover Music notes, the seminal punk rock band began a residency at CBGBs in 1974, solidifying the bar's punk rock status. Over the years, The Ramones and CBGB became inextricably linked to each other and the punk rock scene, but when the band took the stage for the first time, no one knew quite what to make of them.

As Diffuser reports, when The Ramones played their first gig at CBGB, they ripped through their entire set in exactly 12 minutes. Their set was so fast and so loud, many in the audience thought it had to be a prank of some sort — or that the band had mental problems of some kind. At other gigs, the band reported tore through 20 songs in just 17 minutes.

This was intentional. In the 1970s, rock music had gotten progressive and theatrical, with songs often topping 10 minutes or more. As BlastEcho notes, the average song length on The Ramones' debut album is around two minutes, and over the course of their entire career, the average song length is just 2 minutes and thirty-seven seconds.

In August 1974, however, no one was ready for punk rock yet. But it worked: The Ramones went on to play CBGB 70 more times in 1974 alone, and both band and bar went on to become icons.

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