If you want a gift for Ramones fans that is not another t-shirt with the presidential seal on it, this is the one I would point you at. My Ramones discography map art print plots all 14 studio albums from 1976 to 1995 as stations, and every credited musician as a tube line running through the records they actually played on. It is a Giclée print in A2 or A1, from £42, unframed or in a black wood frame.
I researched and drew every line of it myself, working from the album credits rather than from memory. That is the part that makes it a present worth giving. A Ramones fan can stand in front of it and find something they did not know about a band they have listened to for thirty years, which is a rarer thing to hand someone than a poster.
Only Two Lines Reach All Fourteen Stations
Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone are the only two musicians credited on every Ramones studio album. Nineteen years, 14 records, no gaps. On the print their lines run the full width of the map without a break, from the 1976 debut through to ¡Adios Amigos! in 1995.
That is the shape of the band in one glance. A group with a reputation for being four interchangeable men in leather jackets was, in credit terms, two constants and a revolving door behind them. Nobody else on the map gets close.
Why This Gift for Ramones Fans Starts at the Drum Stool
The drums are where the map gets interesting. Tommy Ramone plays on the first three albums, Ramones in 1976, Leave Home and Rocket to Russia in 1977, and then stops. Marky Ramone arrives for Road to Ruin in 1978 and holds the seat through End of the Century, Pleasant Dreams and Subterranean Jungle.
Then Marky's line breaks. Richie Ramone takes over for Too Tough to Die in 1984, Animal Boy in 1986 and Halfway to Sanity in 1987. Marky comes back for Brain Drain in 1989 and stays to the end. Three drummers, four spells, one gap of three albums drawn as a visible hole in the middle of the print. Reading that from left to right is the quickest way I know to explain the band's second decade to someone who only owns the first four records.
Debbie Harry Gets One Station and Then Vanishes
Halfway to Sanity in 1987 carries a guest credit that fans always go looking for on the map. Debbie Harry of Blondie sings backing vocals on "Go Lil' Camaro Go", and that is her only appearance in the Ramones studio catalogue.
On the print she is a short branch line off a single station. One album, one credit, no return. Those spurs are my favourite part of any map to draw, because they are the credits that never make it onto a greatest hits sleeve but tell you exactly who was in the room in Bearsville that summer.
Dee Dee Stops at Brain Drain, C.J. Starts at Mondo Bizarro
Dee Dee Ramone plays bass on the first nine studio albums, from the 1976 debut through to Brain Drain in 1989, and then his line ends. C.J. Ramone picks it up at Mondo Bizarro in 1992 and runs to the finish across the last three records.
The handover is clean on the map, which is not quite how it felt at the time. Dee Dee left the band but kept writing for it, and several of his songs turn up on records he does not play a note on. My rule is the same on every map: a line is a playing credit. So the break at Brain Drain is real, even though his name kept appearing on the sleeves after it.
Phil Spector Produced End of the Century and Still Gets No Line
End of the Century in 1980 is the most talked about record in the catalogue, and the reason is the producer. Phil Spector took the fastest band in New York into the studio and slowed them down. Fans expect his name to be the boldest line on the map.
It is not there at all. A producer only earns a line on my maps if they are also credited playing something, and Spector played nothing on it. The same rule keeps Tommy Ramone off the map after 1977, even though he returns to later sessions on the production side. It is strict, and it is why the map reads as a record of who played rather than who was in charge.
| Musician | Runs from | Runs to |
|---|---|---|
| Joey Ramone | Ramones (1976) | ¡Adios Amigos! (1995) |
| Johnny Ramone | Ramones (1976) | ¡Adios Amigos! (1995) |
| Dee Dee Ramone | Ramones (1976) | Brain Drain (1989) |
| Tommy Ramone | Ramones (1976) | Rocket to Russia (1977) |
| Marky Ramone | Road to Ruin (1978) | ¡Adios Amigos! (1995), with a gap |
| Richie Ramone | Too Tough to Die (1984) | Halfway to Sanity (1987) |
| C.J. Ramone | Mondo Bizarro (1992) | ¡Adios Amigos! (1995) |
| Debbie Harry | Halfway to Sanity (1987) | Halfway to Sanity (1987) |
¡Adios Amigos! Is the Last Station, and It Reads Like One
The map stops in 1995. ¡Adios Amigos! is the fourteenth station, and the band retired the following year after more than two thousand shows. Every line on the print either ends there or has already ended somewhere to the left of it.
What gives that final column its weight is what happened afterwards. Joey died in 2001, Dee Dee in 2002, Johnny in 2004 and Tommy in 2014. The four men whose lines start together at the far left of the map are all gone. I did not design the print to be a memorial and I do not label it as one, but people who know the story tend to stand at the right hand edge for a while.
"Brilliant idea... really like what you've done, Mike."
Sizes, Framing and What to Spend
Both sizes are landscape, which suits a discography that runs left to right across two decades. A2 works above a desk or on a record shelf. Choose A1 if it is going on a main wall and you want the small type readable from the sofa.
| Size | UK | US equivalent | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| A2 landscape | 594 x 420 mm | 24 x 18 in | £42 |
| A1 landscape | 841 x 594 mm | 36 x 24 in | See product page |
Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium textured matte fine art paper, archival and acid-free, so the colours hold for years. Unframed for a fan who has their own framer, or in a black wood frame if you want it ready to hang on the day.
The Ramones Discography Map
All 14 studio albums from 1976 to 1995, with every credited musician drawn as a tube line. A2 and A1 Giclée prints, from £42.
Explore This Art PrintRelated Music Maps
If the person you are buying for came up through the same New York scene, the Blondie Discography Map Art Print is the obvious companion, and it gives Debbie Harry a full line rather than a one album branch. For the British side of those years, the Stranglers Discography Map Art Print covers a punk band with a longer run and a messier line-up.
You can see the whole range in the Music Wall Art Prints collection.
Questions I Get Asked About This Map
Which Ramones played on every album?
Only Joey Ramone and Johnny Ramone. All 14 studio albums, 1976 to 1995, with no break in either line.
How many drummers does the map show?
Three, across four spells. Tommy Ramone on the first three albums, Marky Ramone from 1978 to 1983, Richie Ramone from 1984 to 1987, then Marky again from 1989 to the end.
Did Debbie Harry really sing on a Ramones record?
Yes. She is credited on backing vocals on "Go Lil' Camaro Go" on Halfway to Sanity in 1987, and that is her only credit in the studio catalogue.
Why is Phil Spector not on the map?
Because he produced End of the Century rather than played on it. A producer only gets a line on my maps if they are also credited playing an instrument or singing.
Is this a good gift if they only know the singles?
It works either way. Someone who knows "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" gets a readable timeline of a band they like. Someone who owns all 14 albums gets a research document they can argue with. Both look the same on the wall.
Give a Ramones fan something they will read for years
14 albums, three drummers, one unbroken pair of lines, deeply researched and drawn by hand in East Sussex.
See The Ramones MapNot sure which artist they would want? An art print gift card lets them choose their own map.
