He Drank With Joey Ramone

Beer roadie for the Ramones? You could have worse jobs. The biggest disappointment in this for me, however, is that they drank Bud.

The entertaining blog entry started as a review of "I Slept With Joey Ramo0ne", the bio by Joey's brother Mickey Leigh. That book is essential reading and a Bar review of it appears here.

Patti, Lou and Andy make NYC list but where are the Ramones?

The Museum of the City of New York has named Patti Smith, Lou Reed and Andy Warhol on a list of the Big Apple's Top 400 Most Important People but not one Ramone made the cut.

Great musical figures like Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane made it, as well as Sean "Diddy" Coombs. Hang on a second...

It just goes to show that lists really do suck.

Road To Russia on two wheels

The Ramones become a bike. The branding link is dubious to say the least.

He Slept With Joey Ramone

Mickey Leigh. Joey's brother. He also roadied for his band and sang with him.

Mickey's family memoir on his life growing up with Joey - presumably containing all sorts of insights into the in-fighting that occurred within the band and that continued unabated after the passing of the principal members - was written with Legs McNeil (Please Kill Me co-author with Gillian McCain.)

It's due in December.

Danny Fields tells tales (2)

Part two of Thirsty magazine's excellent danny Fields interview is here. In case you missed part one of the talk with the guy who discovered the Ramones, the MC5 and the Stooges, it's here.

And just think about the fact that the guy has 2000 taped interviews with various people in his sock drawer.

C.J. Ramone and some surprises

Mark Prindle writes great off-the-wall record reviews but only occasionally turns his hand to interviews.

There's a great one with CJ Ramone on his www.markprindle.com in which the ex-Ramones bassist reveals he was twice courted to join Metallica, but turned them down to stay at home and mind his autistic son. That story seems to have had a happy ending. Read more here.

Vera Was a Punk Rocker

There's a tell-all book out by Dee Dee Ramone's first wife, Vera Ramone. Pretty sordid stuff by the sound of it so it'll no doubt sell well.

Dee Dee's first marriage was allegedly a sham, put in place by record company executives keen to install a minder into the errant bassist's life. But he still talks to Vera and told her to write it. Who was it that wanted a lobotomy? More here.

Gabba Gabba Goof

Not my headline so I can't claim credit. The Hall of Lame has corrected an error - and received some well-deserved kicks to the arse along the way - in marking Joey Ramone's contribution to R and R. More here.

Richie Ramone sighting

Spotted playing in an orchestra in Utah.

Seymour Stein's daughter has made a movie

“Burning Down the House: The Story of CBGB,” directed by 34-year-old Mandy Stein, follows of the history of the club that launched the careers of Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, and Patti Smith....

“I remember being there, and being really young, and Johnny Ramone was scolding my Mom and saying, ‘What the fuck did you bring your kid to?’” says Stein, recalling her early memories at the gritty venue. “There is so much flavor in the East Village; but when I was a younger, it was scary. There was a sense that you had to be aware and watch where you were going,” she says.

Yes, I have a CBGB obsession. So should you. More here.

What I missed in Sydney last night

Marky Ramone wigging out with his cover band. To be brutal, I was ambivalent. His last spoken word tour (followed by a set with the Spazzys as backing band) was so-so.

Remembering New York's punk past

Nostalgia often sucks but so what? I wanna go on one of these walking tours of Manhattan's punk rock hot spots. This review in the London Daily Telegraph probably doesn't do them justice.

The photo is the women's toilet at CBGB, by the way. I have pix of me in the men's shitter but they don;t look as artily good as this one. More NYC photos hereand photographer Joseph O. Holmes blogs here.

Sonic Reducer - Joey Ramone & Friends

Unreleased MTV footage from the 1988 Glitter Acid Trash Ball at the Ritz in Manhattan. That's Marky Ramone on drums, Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys) and Ritchie Stoltz (Plasmatics) on guitar. Daniel Rey's also on guitar so who's the bouffant guy on bass? Props to Russell from the Please Kill Me mailing list for the heads-up.

A Ramone + Tommy Hilfiger = 500 buck jeans

Wasn't it only a matter of time before noted punk rock fan Tommy Hilfiger teamed with Marky Ramone to launch a label of Ramones-inspired denim gear. With jeans priced at up to $US495, the clothes sound an absolute steal. Which is the only way most people may get to wear them. See it here.

Ramones Are Not Dead

Adelaide filmmaker Suzy Ramone is set to debut a short movie about her Ramones tribute band, the Ramonettes. The full story of "Ramones Are Not Dead" is here.

It omits the fact that the Ramonettes ranks include Andrew Bunney, a former member of the Exploding White Mice who were tagged by many (unfarly as it turns out) as a Ramones tribute act. That's Bunney and the other Ramonettes pictured above.

Gabba Gabba Pray

With surefire "hits" like "Blitzkrieg Church", "Nazareth Affair" and "Beat on The Beast", the members of Chapel Hill's Christian Ramones (that'd be Matty, Markey, Lukey and Johnny) are surely bound for hell. Check the comments and you'll see the Bruddas' ex-road manager Monte Melnick is a fan. More here.

Is there a place for Extra Place?

It was the alley where the classic cover shot for the Ramones' first album was taken by Roberta Bayley. It backs onto the rear of what used to be CBGB's postage-stamp backyard, where an abandoned car used to sit. Just like the famous punk fleapit, it's now at risk according to this piece in the NY Times.

Stern to re-make Ramones classic

News from Variety magazine is that NY shock jock Howard Stern is planning a remake of the classic "Rock and Roll High School" movie. My question is: Why?

This is one of the best "worst" films ever made, a genuinely funny, uniquely awkward classic. Who can forget Dee Dee's well-honed speaking part ("Hey...pizza!") and the fantastic live sequence by Our Heroes? A movie good enough to inspire the Exploding White Mice to name their band. And didn't Ron Howard's bro (Clint) go on to finer things?

No sense in fucking with something if it's not broke. Who would play the Ramones part? If you're lucky, you can pick up the DVD re-release of this gem for 10 bucks. I still haven't summoned up the courage to see the "Get Smart" re-make but I can't see how either can be an improvement on the original.

See that my grave is kept clean

The international newswires are giving wide play to this story, generated by a South Australian funeral home:

While hymns will ring out in Sydney as the pope celebrates Catholic World Youth Day this month, Australians are increasingly choosing irreverent songs for their funerals, undertakers say.

Among popular rock songs played to say goodbye to friends and relatives are Highway to Hell by AC/DC and Another One Bites the Dust by Queen, leading funeral provider Centennial Park said in a statement.

Other offbeat choices include Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead from The Wizard of Oz and Hit the Road Jack by Willie Nelson.

I'm leaning towards the Ramones' "Glad To See You Go" myself. Leave your own choice in comments, if you care.

Hey Ho Let's Go With Arturo

Graphic designer, lighting operator and merchandise man Arturo Vega (pictured centre) was crucial to the Ramones’ visual presentation and legacy, devising the band logo plastering it across hundreds of thousands of T-shirts down the years. Plenty of bands fail to keep a handle on their merch licensing but the Ramones are the exception to the rule. Vega even played nursemaid to the dysfunctional duo of Joey and Dee Dee, giving them a place to live in his Bowery loft. So he deserves much respect.

Stay Thirsty has a good interview here.