For context, Ramones started out in '74, the Smiths in '82. Morrissey joined his first band, the Nosebleeds, in '77. This was a punk group. Morrissey was not a founding member, and does not seem to be particularly proud of this part of his story.
Anyway, this piece was in all likelihood not written by the Morrissey of the Smiths, but Morrissey as some unknown kid who liked fancy rock but didn't get what was up with punk music. Which makes perfect sense to anyone familiar with his work. He's all about being feeling desperate and hopeless about struggling to understand basic human emotions while snobbing away about some piece of classic literature or some shit like that.
This is in all likelohood a letter from some edgy unknown kid at some point in the 70s, not the opinion of a famous rock star. And a big part of the punk scene at the time was all about pretending to hate things that were popular, "I hate Pink Floyd" and all that. So in a way by sending this dumb letter he positioned himself in the scene.
He saw the Ramones in London around '78. I wonder if this was written before or after.
All that said, Morrissey is still an asshole, for obvious reasons.
I can’t help but appreciate how well it’s written. It’s much more thoughtful than merely saying “The Ramones suck.”
The sophisticated Englishmen and their rubbish.
It’s a fair take. I still like listening to The Ramones but they are, by far, the least talented group to come out of that CBGB era.
Their main contribution was showing the disaffected youth of the USA that you didn’t need talent or much money to get on stage a be heard.
Talent is a subjective term. There's a talent to making music that strikes a chord with people, whether it's technically skilled or not.
Also, at a certain pace for a certain time, there's a talent in simply striking a chord.
Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-DA, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-DA, hey! ho!
Worth noting The Ramones are more influential than the Smiths could hope to be.
Depends on which continent you're taking about. In the US, sure, the music of the Ramones is much more widely known, and while the Smiths are known, their influence is much more along the lines of "your favorite band's favorite band."
In the UK (and I'm guessing in continental Europe as well), those positions are reversed (IME as an American who listens to a fair bit of British post-punk and reads a lot of music journalism/criticism).
