NBrid

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Written by: klamkilla

Those four words summed up the spirit of punk as we know it. Sure the
debate canbe made that punk rock started out in London with the Sex Pistols
and the Clash. Maybe I don't know who started it, but I do know that over
here in America we did it faster, we did it harder, and goddammit we did
it better.

No one represented the spirit of punk rock in America better than the
Ramones. These four guys, the masters of the "3 chord + 2 minutes
= a punk song" equation, took a then stale genre, kicked the shit
out of it with a baseball bat, and revitalized it with something new,
fresh, and different. Alongside other bands on the New York scene at the
time (New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Dictators, Talking Heads, Neon Boys,
Blondie), they became part of a movement known simply as "Punk".
While I could go on about how the Ramones changed the face of music forever,
that is not my topic today. Instead I will focus solely on the life of
the now deceased Joey Ramone (1951 - 2001).

Joey "pop-head" Ramone was born Jeff Hyman on May 19, 1951. He grew up
in Forest Hills, California. Among his earliest influences were the Rolling
Stones, The Beetles, The Beach Boys, and The Who. So infatuated with The
Who was young Joey, that at the age of 15 he  took up the drums in
emulation of the great Keith Moon.

His parents divorced in the mid-60s, and Joey did not adjust well.

"I spent a lot of  time by my self. Music was my salvation - the
transistor radio, listening to the WMCA Good Guys, and Murry the K."

Joey would forever mourn the passing of that era of rock and roll, and
he expressed his anger for the rise of the corporate music industry in
the song "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?" off of the End of the
Century record.

"We need change. We need it fast. Before rocks just a thing of the past.
Cuz lately it all sounds the same to me."

So what do you do when you don't like the way something is being done?
You do it yourself, and do it better than anyone else ever could. They
tried to play songs by artists they liked, but they just couldn't figure
them out. So they wrote their own songs, and in the process, a whole revolution
was started.

Along with being the drummer, Joey also wrote a number of the Ramones'
songs. The following are but a few of the songs he wrote:

• Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie Shock Treatment
• Glad to See You Go
• Sheena is a Punk Rocker
• Cretin Hop
• I Wanna be Sedated (which he wrote after being taken to a burn ward
  due to a heater exploding in his face)
• The KKK Took My Baby Away

The gargantuan 6'3" Joey Ramone and this new style of music had
the establishment scared. One record company exec was once heard to exclaim,
"I would've walked out of them, but they were finished before I could
get up." Try as they might with comments like that, the guitar of
Joey Ramone could not be silenced.

The influence of the Ramones was more than just a rock 'movement'. It
can probably be better described with qualities like "energy, attitude,
and passion". They continued to pump out records throughout the 80's
and into the 90's. From the recent appearances by the Ramones on The Simpsons
singing Happy Birthday to Mr. Burns, to Joey Ramone trying out for the
Horndogs on the Drew Carey Show ("Thanks, but you're just too loud."
-Drew), Joey Ramone never went away.

So in retrospect, take a moment to reflect on the impact that Joey and
the rest of his Ramones brethren have made on the music industry from
the day of their inconspicuous first public performance in August 1974,
all the way through to today. And the impact they will continue to have
for years to come. Then put on your favorite Ramones song, turn the volume
ALL the way up, and go nuts for 2 minutes. Joey would have wanted it that
way.