Book review: If You Like The Ramones… by Peter Aaron

Backbeat Books www.backbeatbooks.com

The latest in this excellent series of ‘If You Like…’ books and this time it is US punk meets rock ‘n’ roll legends the Ramones. This one is slightly different as the author Peter Aaron not only includes the band musical influences and those they influenced, he also adds in the TV shows, comics and films that would appeal to fans of the band. Talking the TV shows there are the ones you’d expect like ‘South Park’ and ‘The Simpsons’, plus others slightly more surprising like ‘I Love Lucy’!

The influences start with the original rock ‘n’ rollers including the many Phil Spector produced girl groups and there is a quick fire run through UK punk bands, including recommending a key album to have by each artist. As for the legacy of the Ramones where do you start? There are so many including Green Day, the Pixies and Nirvana plus of course Motorhead are mentioned. Both bands have mutual respect for each other and Lemmy penned the fast and furious ‘R.A.M.O.N.E.S.’ in tribute to the band.

There is enough audio and visual recommendations to keep fans of the Ramones busy for many weeks and months. There are also a list of twenty recommended reads that cover the Ramones and more general books on the UK and US punk and New Wave scenes.

By far the most readable and enjoyable book in the series so far and I am not even a big Ramones fan!

Review by Jason Ritchie

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