Why the Ramones Matter

As a seven-year veteran of the Ramones and a lifelong fan, Donna speaks for me and every one of us who found our salvation in the only band that really mattered to the outsider in us all. ~C. J. Ramone

The Ramones were an answered prayer, the antidote to mellotron solos and stadium power ballads. . . . This book explains why they not only mattered, but were a vital, inspirational, earth-shattering force. ~Anthony Bourdain

Gaines whips up a literary three-chord meal that she baked in her five-borough heart, and serves it with side orders of grit, wit, and grace. ~Mickey Leigh, musician and author of I Slept with Joey Ramone

Who better to tell us why the Ramones saved rock and roll? Donna hits the nail right on the head with this wonderful book. ~Monte Melnick, Ramones tour manager and author of On the Road with the Ramones

What’s best about Gaines’s vision of the Ramones is that it extends into the present. No one has written better about pure punk and resurgent fascism. ~Robert Christgau, author of Is It Still Good to Ya? Fifty Years of Rock Criticism, 1967-2017

Gaines delivers on several fronts. Part sociological exploration, part fangirl gush, Gaines' book offers a multifaceted exploration of the band and their effect. ~First of the Month

[A] treatise that is both a weighty and breezy read. ~Long Island Weekly

Donna Gaines has taken the lightning-fast songs of the Ramones' oeuvre and welded her own brainy spin on their songs, their personalities, their impact, resulting in something unequivocally fresh and engrossing. Even the biggest fans will find something new to enjoy here. ~Razorcake

Why the Ramones Matter…explores the group's legacy through the dual lenses of [Gaines's] doctorate in sociology and her experiences as a lifelong fan. ~Please Kill Me