A Small Victory

Tommy might have been the drummer in the original four, but was replaceable (see Marky). The Big Three weren't. He's not a RAMONE.

They're all gone.

They're all standing.

There's no seats in heaven? Well, count me out then.

Aah, I see you did know about it. Just disregard that part of the e-mail I sent ya. The rest stands as is.

There are a few Ramones left, but the heart and soul of the band is now ripping through their permanent reunion upstairs.

Little trivia: The 3 of them are the original line up - Joey originally played drums while Dee Dee sang and Johnny played the strings. The best move in music history was Joey moving up to the mike and then bringing in Tommy for the drums.

Second best, of course, was Eddie and Alex switching instruments (can you imagine if Eddie didn't play guitar in Van Halen?!?).

R.I.P. RAMONES

My favorite band has left us...

Also, Johnny Ramone was a Republican. True story.

Hey, give Tommy his due - he was a great drummer, and he was the first one - that makes him an original Ramone in my eyes. I wonder why you never hear from him anymore? His real name is Tommy Erdelyi (I believe) and he still lives in NYC. I liked Marky (Bell) as drummer the best, truth be told - he was recruited from Richard Hell's band The Voidoids (then Lou Reed got their axeman Bob Quine - one of the greatest, most innovative guitarists in history, but that's another story).
Yep, Johnny was a conservative Republican 'til the end. You can read more about his conservative beliefs at conservativepunk.com (I think that's the right URL). But, it's the end of an era - The Ramones were truly one of the hitory's greatest rock and roll bands...

Tommy is around, he's just behind the scenes as a producer (he had a hand in producing a bunch of the early Ramones stuff). He started the sound, but Marky refined and turned it into his own.

Marky is a cool guy for the most part - I spent a few hours with him a few years back at a show he did with his band and the Misfits at a club I used to work in in Long Beach. Bitter, but cool.

He was the best of the Ramones' drummers (Tommy, Marky, Ritchie, and for a few practice sessions Blondie's original drummer who was all set to become Elvis Ramone until Marky suddenly returned from rehab).

Rounding out the line up was C Jay (my brother toured with him on the warped tour in Australia a few years a go - very cool guy), Dee Dee's replacement after Dee Dee left and tried to become a rap star. (I could never figure that album out, but it sure was interesting) Poor C Jay never gets any respect when people talk about the Ramones, but he was a great and energetic presence at their shows - not to mention he even did Dee Dee justice on the songs he sang.

"There's no seats in heaven? Well, count me out then."

You can't do the Pogo when you're in a seat, and it wouldn't be a Ramones show without the ebb and flow of the entire crowd pulling you back and forth doing the Pogo...

The Ramones are very important for their music, but I think they're even more significant for their unapologetic assertion that rock & roll is meant to be FUN, at a point in time when that idea was not at all popular and rock & roll's continued existence as an art form was in serious question.

Their impact will be felt so long as someone, somewhere, is playing sublimely simple, loud, fast, fun rock & roll music.

What the name of that pact where guys in a group take a bottle of wine or a treasure and leave it to the last one of their group alive? The one they had in M*A*S*H that Winchester could pronounce because, well, he's Winchester. Smarmy elitist pig...

Anyway, the Last Ramone is probably receiving a strong box full of heroin right about now. Or maybe some Snickers or something. Heroin-stuffed Snickers.

4.5.6.7. All good cretins go to heaven!

There is nothing like hearing your 13 yo kid singing Cretin Hop up and down the hall at top volume.

First Joey, now Johnny...I'm a sad, sad camper today.

sigh

It's the end, the end of the 70's. it's the end, the end of the century.

D'oh! and of course I forgot Dee Dee, but then I kind of disowned him after the whole "Dee Dee King" thing. shudder something best forgotten by all.

Dee Dee King's "Funky Man" single?

I have that on vinyl.

R.I.P. Johnny Ramone, the inventor of punk rock guitar playing.

He was only 55... that's not very old. So don't worry.

What I don't get is why Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are still alive.

Heh, being the great uncle I am - when my nephew was born this past Christmas Eve, I simly had to make sure he was brought into this world correctly dressed: Keagan Joseph

Notice the hand - My brother didn't even realize that until someone pointed it out. Born to be a punk :-p

My band played with them in the early eighties...

Back in 86 i met the Ramones in a Burger King on the NY State Highway (well everyone but Johnny who grabbed his whopper and hightailed it to the van). Joey was a dick, but DeeDee and Marky cd not have been nicer.

Very sad day. RIP.

agreed. sigh.

I made Johnny duck on stage at a gig in Liverpool, England.

I threw a broken drumstick, that Marky threw into the crowd, back on stage. To my horror i saw it heading straight at Johnny but he ducked at the last second!

Sad to see ya go go go goodbye!