Were the Ramones the first punk band? Some credit the UK with the origin of punk but Joe Strummer of the Clash, Chrissie Hynde of the pretenders and Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols say it all began with The Ramones. At Rocker Tee, we think the Ramones were more rock and roll than the glam rockers, prog musicians, and disco hitmakers they had to elbow out of the way to bring rock back to its basics.