The uncomfortable truth that will always haunt the Ramones: They sold more T-shirts than records'

"The Ramones' first, self-titled album was released on April 23, 1976. It was recorded over seven days on the eighth floor of New York's Radio City Music Hall and cost $6,400 at the time—an almost laughably small amount compared with the big budgets common in the record industry then. Even so, it is considered one of the most influential albums in the history of popular music."

"Jeffrey Hyman, John Cummings, Douglas Colvin, and Tom Erdelyi were between 24 and 25 years old at the time. They had met at Forest Hills High School, a middle-class neighborhood in New York City, where they felt like outcasts, out of place. For them, the band was a way to forge a new identity, something they did quite literally. They adopted the surname Ramone, as if they were all brothers."

"They also adopted a uniform, like superheroes of the underclass: shaggy hair, black leather jackets over worn-out T-shirts that were too small, ripped blue jeans, and sneakers. They posed against a wall, unknowingly creating one of the most iconic images in rock history. Today, that portrait—which appeared on the album cover and was shot by Roberta Bayley, a photographer for Punk magazine, in an alley in the Bowery—hangs in New York's Museum of Modern Art."

The Ramones released their self-titled debut album on April 23, 1976, recorded in seven days at Radio City Music Hall for $6,400. Despite Sire Records releasing two singles and the album receiving no chart success, it became one of the most influential albums in popular music history. Four childhood friends from Forest Hills High School—Jeffrey Hyman, John Cummings, Douglas Colvin, and Tom Erdelyi, all in their mid-twenties—adopted the Ramone surname and stage names Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy. They created an iconic uniform of leather jackets, ripped jeans, and shaggy hair, photographed by Roberta Bayley in the Bowery. Their loud, fast, melodic songs under three minutes marked a revolutionary moment in rock history, establishing the punk genre.

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