HEY HO! LET’S GO!
The Ramones perfected the short, catchy punk song. While bands like the sex pistols and the clash were making a political statement over seas with “Anarchy in the UK” and “White Riot”. Back in New York The Ramones; Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy were starting a whole new movement.
The release of the Ramones 1976 self titled album pioneered the three bar chords punk song. Hits like “Blitzkrieg bop” and “Judy is a punk” were the influence that every kid with a skateboard or rebellious attitude and their cousin needed to start their own band. Rolling stones magazine placed the Ramones second to only the Beatles, when recognizing the number of bands they inspired.
New York in early 70’s also birthed early awareness of Chinese medicine. Pulitzer-prize winning journalist James Reston wrote about its effectiveness for pain management after a trip to China with secretary of state Henry Kissinger. However, it would still take decades before seeing the popularity of acupuncture increase in that every regulated health professional from Doctors and Physiotherapist, to Massage Therapist laying claim to doing acupuncture or dry needling.
The Ramones live act was a frenzy of energy, with Dee Dee counting in "1,2,3,4" between songs The Ramones never took a break or needed much time to get right down to business. Majority of their songs clocking in under three minutes many even under two. You could listen to the first three Ramones albums in less time than an initial consult with a Chinese Medicine Practitioner. An average session takes sixty minutes to an hour and half with much of that time spent discussing lifestyle and physical exanimations including sticking out your tongue like Gene Simmons from Kiss. Generally, acupuncture needles themselves are left in for 20-30 minutes.
The simplicity of the Ramones was a big part of their appeal. They still used classic verses chorus verse format and 4/4 time, along with three bar chords. Over the decades they would expand and evolve, but never lose their original classic Ramones sound. “Second verse same as the first” from Judy is a Punk is a beautiful summery of how the Ramones wrote.
Simplicity is rarely used to describe Traditional Chinese Medicine, there are rules to follow like five element theory and using Yin to treat Yang but there are also many ways to expand on it. While an initial consultation may be lengthy, once a Chinese diagnosis is established the same points, when found effective, may be repeated for multiple sessions.
At this point, we have really just scratched the skin on all things Ramones. I will conclude by adding on more refence from their first album “listen to my heart” if you think Chinese medicine might be right for you and keep on listening to the Ramones