Pages tagged “The Ramones”

Just in time for the end of summer vacation, Howard Stern is getting ready to go back to school. Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, to be exact. Stern is set to produce a remake of the 1979 film, along with Larry Levinson.

I just finished posting the 12 best concerts I've ever seen. Rather than have them all in 12 separate posts, I thought I'd consolidate the list here. I was recently digging through a pile of ticket stubs I've saved, finding cool concert after cool concert, from high school, college and especially, these last six years since we started Paste magazine. There are some big omissions—I've still never seen Springsteen or The Stones. I've only in the last few years checked off Dylan and Prince (neither made the list and only Prince was close). Some of the best concerts I picked are obvious choices. Others are more offbeat or just personal. But all are seared into my memory; for each night, I stood (or occasionally sat) in awe of the performance that was given. So here are the 12 best concerts I've seen:

#8
The Ramones
Nov. 22, 1988, Center Stage (Atlanta)
It all started with a crappy job and a mix tape some guy made for my older sister. The job was at a one-hour photo place. My two bosses chafed at my love of '70s classic rock. I'd talk about The Steve Miller Band and the Eagles, and they'd wonder why I didn't listen to anything new and play XTC and P.I.L. It was about that same time I borrowed my sister's mixtape. Among tracks from Drivin' 'n Cryin' and Plimsouls were two Ramones songs—"I Wanna Be Sedated" and a cover of the Beach Boys "Do You Wanna Dance?" The band wasn't new—they'd been playing the same four chords for 14 years—but it was completely new to me. After watching "Rock and Roll High School" with some friends, we headed to Center Stage for a Ramones show. The band blew through dozens of two-minute songs in a couple of hours. There was more leather in the room than I'd seen in one place, but I was bopping along with everybody, shouting "Hey Ho! Let's Go!" and saying goodbye to Foreigner forever.

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Stereogum reports that a Ramones biopic may be in the works, with producer Rory Rosegarten possibly at the helm. Based on I Slept With Joey Ramone, the band's biography penned by Joey's brother Mickey Leigh, the film will feature the Ramones' own music, to which Rosegarten has reportedly already secured the rights.

Check out Stereogum's original post on the project here.

On March 15, 2005, Magnolia Pictures and Rhino Home Video will release End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones on DVD. End of the Century is both a celebration of the band's music and a document of the group's road to near success, pitted with emotional power struggles and substance abuse. The film debuted in New York Aug. 20, 2004, followed by a national rollout in theaters around the country.

End of the Century moves from the band's CBGB and London heydays, the decade-long silence between Joey and Johnny caused by a dispute over a girl, to the deaths of Joey and Dee Dee Ramone and The Ramones' induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 2002. End of the Century’s unseen live and studio footage, extensive interviews with ex-band mates, family, friends and figures from New York City's punk scene chronicles the bonds of childhood friendship and rock 'n' roll, as well as their gradual breakdown.

“It was a power surge, like a train coming down a tunnel right at you,” explains Marc Bell (a.k.a. Marky Ramone), of The Ramones’ music. The fabled band’s 48-year-old ex-drummer is now the executive producer of an exciting new documentary DVD, Ramones Raw. Like the group itself, which could cram 25 high-decibel songs at breakneck speed into less than an hour, Raw packs in more than five hours of high-energy material. Produced, directed and edited by longtime fan John Cafiero, the project was a 14-month labor of love.

The final cut was culled mostly from some 200 two-hour amateur reels of film recorded mostly by Marky and his road crew from 1987 though the band’s break-up in 1996. It’s a surreal cinema verité Magical Mystery Tour of The Ramones, exposing the wacky world of those loveable pinheads who helped spearhead the punk movement in 1976 with their groundbreaking self-titled debut.

Marky, who performed with the band from 1978 through 1983 (before rejoining in 1987 and staying until their farewell concert) recalls, “My original intentions were just to take videos of the countries that we toured in. … But then I started focusing on The Ramones because I figured that eventually when I got all my film together, I would make copies for the other guys.” The bulk of Raw is a fly-on-the-wall documentary of life on the road with the band. It playfully displays frenetic Hard Day’s Night hysteria of fans, plus additional concert footage.

What makes the video even more of a treasure, is the sad fact that three of the groups’ original members, (including Joey and Dee Dee), have passed away in the last three years. Longtime guitarist Johnny Ramone who succumbed to prostate cancer on September 15th, did his last official work for the band by providing some invaluable audio commentary for Raw during his final weeks.

Remembers Marky, “I went to his house in Los Angeles, and then we drove out to the film studio. He really seemed to be in very good spirits that day. I think it was good for him, because it got him off of those thoughts about his illness.”

Marky has been busy lately. He’s three-quarters finished writing his autobiography, Faith In The Backbeat and does spoken word tours. He’ll also be playing drums alongside director Cafiero in Osaka Popstar, whose debut, American Legends of Punk, is due early next year.

Of the Ramones heritage Marky enthuses, “I’m proud of seeing the group inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The basics of what a lot of bands do now comes from the Ramones. We created something special. … We just wanted to see rock get back to the two-minute song that had a great chorus, a few verses, and a cool bridge.”

Adds the 36 year-old Cafiero, a major Ramones fan since he was 10, “I’m just grateful that I had the opportunity of contributing to the legacy of my favorite band. For me Raw is sort of like a video fan letter. I really hope it helps turn on a whole new generation of fans to the band, because I think they will continue to inspire people for an eternity.”

“It was,” he remembers, “rock and roll in its purest form. That will never die.”

I found it interesting to learn from this DVD that the Ramones’ name was inspired by Paul McCartney, who used to go by the handle “Paul Ramone” during The Beatles’ early, pre-stardom days. Especially because I always considered The Ramones some twisted parallel-dimension version of The Beatles; the Far From Fab Four. What if the counterculture happened just a little differently? What if The Beatles devolved instead of evolved in the late ’60s—you know, grew some cajones, pulled their leather jackets out of the closet and got back to basics, like it was a beer-soaked Friday night at the Cavern Club in Liverpool all over again and they still had something to prove. But it didn’t happen that way. Things got psychedelic. And while the lads still cranked out some amazing music, the world would have to wait for the mid ’70s before getting a taste of hook-laden punk abandon. It’d have to wait for The Ramones.

Watching the holy goof of a closing montage that concludes Ramones Raw, it’s hard to believe three of the band’s four original members are gone. First Joey, then Dee Dee, and most recently Johnny. In a reversal of Spinal Tap, only the drummers—Marky and Tommy—have survived. But this five-hour video scrapbook of live and backstage footage, music videos, interviews and general mayhem captures the infamous punk pioneers on the road in the ’80s and ’90s, and it’s a fitting—if not always flattering—tribute to the departed. It’s honest; as ramshackle as the band’s sloppy, high-voltage performances. But the whole act’s ironic charm aside, The Ramones had a deep, innocent love for rock ’n’ roll, and—even more than the sledgehammer punk riffs, tattered leather and walls of Marshall amps—that’s what’ll stick with you after watching Ramones Raw. Now Dee Dee, count it off one last time… 1, 2, 3, 4!

Johnny Ramone, co-founder and lead guitarist of seminal '70s punk rock band The Ramones, died in his sleep this afternoon at 3:03 p.m. in his Los Angeles home.

Ramone had been fighting an ongoing five-year battle with prostate cancer. At the time of his death, he was surrounded by friends and family that included his wife Linda Cummings, Eddie and Jill McCormack, Rob and Sherrie Zombie, John Frusciante and Robert Carmine. Additional friends who gathered at the home included Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Lockwood, Pete Yorn, Vincent Gallo, Steve Jones, Talia Shire, Gia Coppola and Jackie Getty.

Johnny Ramone, whose real name was Johnny Cummings, co-founded The Ramones in 1974 with fellow bandmates Joey Ramone, DeeDee Ramone and Tommy Ramone, the only surviving member of the original lineup. The band, which gained critical acclaim and a huge following in New York’s underground music scene after performing at clubs such as CBGB’s, is widely credited for bringing the “punk rock” genre to the forefront of American music. The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Johnny Ramone is survived by his wife Linda Cummings and his mother Estelle Cummings. His body will be cremated during a private ceremony.

Statement from Marky Ramone:

"Johnny Ramone was my bandmate and brother for over 15 years. The bond between band members was closer than any others in The Ramones’ organization. John kept things in control when they could have spun out of control very easily. I'll never forget the day he asked me to join the Ramones in 1978. I always admired his guitar playing. He was the originator of the down stroke eighth-note guitar style, which is very difficult to do for hours on end like he did playing in The Ramones.

"Four months ago, I knew about the serious nature of his illness but, for a while, he had a turn for the better. This comes as a shock, but it was inevitable because of the severity of his condition which worsened more recently. We were lucky enough to talk and hang out a few months ago when he was strong enough to do the commentary track on the DVD "Ramones Raw", which was his last professional contribution to The Ramones. I spoke to him most recently when I was in L.A. for the 30th Anniversary concert that we put together for Ramones fans. Based on our last conversation, I felt this moment was coming. I'm sorry to see him go—like this. I hope the fans take the news as best they can. His legacy will live on in every band that has, is and always will be trying to duplicate The Ramones sound. It's a sad day for Ramones fans and a sad day for rock 'n' roll."