A scan of a letter Morrissey (aka Steve Morrissey) wrote the Melody Maker in 1976 titled 'Ramones are rubbish' has been unearthed by the WFMU blog and is up for sale on Ebay. Morrissey called the Ramones a "bumptious band of degenerate no-talents," and wished they would just go away, or at least be forgotten. Take a look at a scan of the letter here (the very bottom of the letter reads "LP winner" in bold, so it appears Morrissey won an LP from the magazine for his entry. Oooh, I just wonder what album he won, don't you?) The text is transcribed below:
The Ramones are the latest bumptious band of degenerate no-talents whose most notable achievement to date is their ability to advance beyond the boundaries of New York City, and purely on the strength of a spate of convincing literature projecting the Ramones as God's gift to rock music.
They have been greeted with instant adulation by an army of duped fans. Musically, they do not deal in subtlety or variation of any kind, their rule is to be as incompetent as possible.
For a band believed to project the youth of America, New York suburban life, anti-conformism, sex and struggle, or whatever, they fail miserably. And in the sober light of day their imperfections have a field day.
The Ramones make the Stooges sound like concertmasters, and I feel that the only place for their notoriously discordant music is the sweaty downtown Manhattan dives to which they are no doubt accustomed.
The New York Dolls and Patti Smith have proved that there is some life pumping away in the swamps and gutters of New York, and they are the only acts which originated from the N.Y. club scene worthy of any praise. The Ramones have absolutely nothing to add that is of relevance or importance and should be rightly filed or forgotten.
--Steve Morrissey
Kings Road
Stretford, Manchester
The Ramones are the latest bumptious band of degenerate no-talents whose most notable achievement to date is their ability to advance beyond the boundaries of New York City, and purely on the strength of a spate of convincing literature projecting the Ramones as God's gift to rock music.
They have been greeted with instant adulation by an army of duped fans. Musically, they do not deal in subtlety or variation of any kind, their rule is to be as incompetent as possible.
For a band believed to project the youth of America, New York suburban life, anti-conformism, sex and struggle, or whatever, they fail miserably. And in the sober light of day their imperfections have a field day.
The Ramones make the Stooges sound like concertmasters, and I feel that the only place for their notoriously discordant music is the sweaty downtown Manhattan dives to which they are no doubt accustomed.
The New York Dolls and Patti Smith have proved that there is some life pumping away in the swamps and gutters of New York, and they are the only acts which originated from the N.Y. club scene worthy of any praise. The Ramones have absolutely nothing to add that is of relevance or importance and should be rightly filed or forgotten.
--Steve Morrissey
Kings Road
Stretford, Manchester
