Why did Riff Randell refer to The Ramones as brothers?
The 1979 movie Rock 'N' Roll High School features the punk band The Ramones.
The Ramones all have prominent cameo roles in the movie where they are all named and several of their actual albums are referenced.
Although the members of the band all have the same surname, they are NOT brothers, nor are they related in any way. The surname Ramone was adopted for entertainment purposes only.
There is a scene in the movie where Riff Randell claims that she would love to be the only sister in their family.
Riff: Kate, do you realize that they're all really brothers? I mean, imagine being the only sister in the Ramones family!
What was the purpose of including this in the movie? Is there any evidence that the band requested that this be added to the movie?
Best Answer
Tommy kept his links with the Ramones, co-producing further albums, before starting an acoustic band called Uncle Monk with his partner Claudia Tienan, playing bluegrass music. It left him "baffled", he said, that the original Ramones all fell out in later years. "We were like brothers," he said.
This article uses the title "Band of brothers" (partly in reference to a line from the St. Crispin's Day speech) and points out:
No four guys from the same neighborhood were more different from each other. And yet, when Jeffrey Hyman, John Cummings, Doug Colvin and Tommy Erdelyi donned their uniform of black leather jackets and ripped jeans and spit out 90-second songs, which would’ve run into each other if not for the shout of “1-2-3-4!,” they became brothers: Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy. The Ramones! Presenting themselves as much a family as a band, they were the group every outcast dreamed he was in; thus many went out and started their own versions. No band has ever moved more pawnshop guitars.
Also note this excerpt from Johnny Ramone's Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone:
(I'll transcribe this later.)
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Are the Ramones real brothers?
All of the band members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname "Ramone", although none of them were biologically related; they were inspired by Paul McCartney of The Beatles, who would check into hotels as "Paul Ramon". The Ramones performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years.Who was the first Ramones drummer?
Tommy Ramone, the Ramones' original drummer and driving influence, dies at 65. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Tommy Ramone died at age 62. According to public records, he was 65.What movies did the Ramones appear in?
Rock 'n' Roll High School is a 1979 American musical comedy film directed by Allan Arkush, produced by Michael Finnell, and starring P. J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard, and Dey Young. The film featured the punk rock group Ramones.Why did Tommy leave the Ramones?
Tommy left the Ramones in 1978 to concentrate on studio work. He had co-produced four albums for the band and would go on to co-produce their 1984 record Too Tough To Die.The Ramones discuss the beef they had towards each other
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Answer 2
You don't have to be blood to be brothers. The point of the line is two fold. One is the common meaning, that she could be one of them, an ad-hoc family. The other would be, she could be a band member, with the stage name of Ramones.
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