Paul McCartney Used a Pseudonym That Inspired the Name of The Ramones
While Paul McCartney is best known by his real name, the Beatles legend has used many pseudonyms throughout his career. Early in their careers, The Beatles members thought performing using stage names would be fun. They discontinued the names, but Paul McCartney’s fake name inspired became the inspiration for The Ramones.
Paul McCartney once performed under the name Paul Ramon
In the early days of The Beatles, they were known as the Silver Beetles. The band consisted of McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Thomas Moore, and Stu Sutcliffe. Ringo Starr joined the group in 1962 and became their permanent drummer. In 1960, the group went on a tour of Scotland with Johnny Gentle. Inspired by Gentle’s stage name, the band created pseudonyms for themselves, trying to sound more like rock stars. McCartney decided to use Paul Ramon as his name for the tour.
“Ramon seemed to me like a sexy French name, and I remember little Scottish girls asking, ‘Is your name really Ramon?’” McCartney said in an interview with Club Sandwich. “George became Carl Harrison, after Carl Perkins, our drummer Tommy Moore became Thomas Moore – he used to sign autographs ‘Thomas Moore, drums’ – and Stuart became Stuart de Stael, after his favorite painter Nicholas de Stael, and John was Long John Silver for a very short while! It made us seem like great London showbiz guys, so that when we were in Fraserburgh instead of saying, ‘I’m just a kid from Liverpool,’ it suggested that there was something more to us.”
The Ramones based their name on Paul McCartney’s pseudonym
The Ramones were a punk rock band formed in the 1970s. The band was incredibly influential in developing punk rock with hit songs like “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg.” While Paul McCartney wasn’t immersed in the punk rock world, he still impacted it as he unintentionally inspired the name of The Ramones. In an interview with Sofa King Cool, Ramones drummer Marky Ramone revealed the name was based on Paul Ramon, the name McCartney used to check into hotels.
“The Beatles used to tour… before they were The Beatles, they were called The Silver Beatles, and all the girls running after them, even the guys. So the next thing you know, Paul McCartney would sign into a hotel room as Paul Ramone. [Bassist] Dee Dee looked at this and said, ‘Let’s call ourselves The Ramones.’ So it was from Paul Ramone, who used to check into a hotel room. But he should have gotten rid of the name Paul because immediately you go, ‘I wonder if he’s still doing that.’ So it should’ve been like Carl Ramone, or Bobby Ramone, you know what I mean, something like that. But it all worked out.”
The punk rock band sent McCartney a copy of their first album
The band released its first album Ramones in 1976. While the album initially didn’t sell well, there were areas where fans emerged, eventually leading to the band building a passionate fan base. After their first album debuted, Sire Records producer Craig Leon sent a copy to Paul McCartney with a note saying the band was named after him. Surprisingly, the former Beatle wrote back.
“He wrote back saying his mind was blown. He couldn’t believe it,” Leon told Uncut Magazine.
While The Ramones wouldn’t have the same worldwide success that McCartney and The Beatles had, the punk rock group still left an influential legacy on the rock n’ roll world.
