Joey Ramone dead at 49.
April 15, 2001 3:43 PM   Subscribe

Joey Ramone dead at 49. Succumbed to lymphatic cancer.
posted by pnevares (45 comments total)
 
Like any of those cretinous Britney-worshipping MTVeeniboppers even have a clue who the Ramones are. Oh, wait, there it is: They inspired Green Day and Blink 182. :::shaking head:::
posted by aaron at 3:53 PM on April 15, 2001


long live the Ramones.

rcb
posted by rebeccablood at 3:58 PM on April 15, 2001


fucking bummer.

gabba gabba hey.
posted by jpoulos at 4:29 PM on April 15, 2001


Good idea, Aaron, let's use Joey's death to assert our "superiority" over people who weren't even born when he was important. :P

So long, Joey.
posted by rodii at 4:30 PM on April 15, 2001


<flashback>1980, don't remember the name of the club, but it was in East Providence, RI. Underage with fake ID's Michael Lightman and I managed our way in. Got up to the front row. What the hell was this! Sheena was a punk rocker. We did wanna be sedated. Gabba gabba HEY! Caught Johnny's guitar pick. Why wouldn't Joey let us see his eyes?! I saw the light, and it was flashing at 120 beats per second.</flashback>

The Ramones reminded us all (or at least me) what Rock 'n Roll was. Aww hell, I'm sad. Gonna play with Johnny's pick tonight.

(but, you gotta admit, Britney does look better than Joey)
posted by dchase at 4:55 PM on April 15, 2001


I'm gonna play all my Ramones albums in tribute today...*sigh*
posted by black8 at 5:04 PM on April 15, 2001


Thanks for the memories...
posted by ParisParamus at 5:11 PM on April 15, 2001


After 20 years of hearing MTV News bleat "You hear it first!", this is the very first time I've ever heard anything there first. None of the wires or other media has this yet.

And another scoop for MeFi!
posted by luke at 5:16 PM on April 15, 2001


Aaron: And the Ramones pretty much loved, lived for, goofy '60s trash pop, both of the girl group sort that's generally loved by crits and the bubblegum stuff (y'know, the Archies, etc.) they generally hate. I'd say Britney will likely later be seen best of the equivalent of maybe a bit of both. She also is said to dig Otis, so maybe she'll turn out fine either way. Stupid music, sure, but you may still hear it in 30 years. Anyway, Jim Jarmusch's half-joking opinion regarding the Ramones' love for trashy pop, cartoons, etc. is that it made them authentic modernists.

Anyway, viva Joey!
posted by raysmj at 5:38 PM on April 15, 2001


Damn. I just read yesterday that he was seriously ill, but this is still quite unexpected. RIP, Joey..
posted by jess at 6:28 PM on April 15, 2001


Being almost as old as Joey was, and having seen the band live a half dozen times in the golden age of 1977-1982, I'm plenty saddened by this news. But also glad for the fun & inspiration Joey and his bandmates provided.... Still, that was another time; my inclination is to pass lightly by the nostalgia, snap back to the present and look towards the future. These days, I'm more likely to listen to Eve or Missy Elliott...
Bye bye Joey, it was great while it lasted.
posted by Rebis at 7:02 PM on April 15, 2001


fuckin' joey - r.i.p.
:(
posted by alfredogarcia at 7:03 PM on April 15, 2001


There's the Real Thing, and the Not-So-Real Thing

Real:
Orange Juice
The Ramones
Otis Redding

Not-So-Real:
Tang
Blink-182
The Commitments
Creed
posted by websavvy at 7:17 PM on April 15, 2001


Like any of those cretinous Britney-worshipping MTVeeniboppers even have a clue who the Ramones are.

What a frightening thought. I'll tell you what: In honor of Joey I'll make an offer to our younger MetaFilistines. I'll send a Ramones CD, free of charge, to any MeFi member who doesn't know anything about them...

Restrictions: You should be under, say, 20 (if you're older than that and don't know the Ramones, you've just been lazy). Also, I guess I'll limit it to the first 3 who email me (and who I believe are "being real"), so I don't get myself in trouble.

If you've got all the Blink-182 CDs but have never heard the Ramones, drop me a line.
posted by jpoulos at 7:39 PM on April 15, 2001


Damn, damn, damn. Damn. I could live without every single Beatles song. Can't live without "Rockaway Beach." Damn.
posted by lileks at 8:00 PM on April 15, 2001


I've been to tons of Ramones shows. One standout was in 1988. Went to a Ramones show at Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY), where people were just getting insane in the pit. At one point, these two guys climbed on stage, intending to dive at the beginning of the next song. Joey did the count..."1-2-3-4" but the kicker was that the band DIDN'T START THE SONG, thus no one moved, thus all you heard was "whump...whump" as the would-be divers hit the floor.

One of the funniest moments of my life.

Thanks, Joey. Take care.
posted by metrocake at 8:02 PM on April 15, 2001


In honor of the leader of one of the greatest bands in music history, I offer this:

What did Joey Ramone say to the Prostitute?

Hey Ho, Let's Go!

RIP Joey! Thanks not only for giving us one of the most fabulous bands that ever graced a stage, but also for inspiring thousands of others to do the same. You'll never be forgotten!
posted by punkrockrat at 8:05 PM on April 15, 2001


I heard an amazing interview with on of the Ramones on WNYC with Leonard Lopate (yes!) a few months ago. Does anyone know whether it was Joey or Deedee? If it's archived somewhere, it's worth a listen.
posted by ParisParamus at 8:16 PM on April 15, 2001


I didn't even know he was sick. Was it kept hush-hush or what?

Fuckin' fuck. I will never forget the moment I first heard the opening chords of Cretin Hop from Rocket To Russia. I'd shoplifted it from Music World when I was 10 years old after seeing their names all over the place (lots of denim jackets, mostly) and figuring I had to hear them. (I was such a schmuck.)

Who said crime doesn't pay?

Bye Joey. Pardon my fuckin' french, but -- Fuckin' fuck.
posted by chicobangs at 9:23 PM on April 15, 2001


chicobangs:

Joey Ramone Battling Cancer (March 19 '01)

i found this while searching yahoo for the story earlier (they didn't have it yet). i hadn't heard about it at the time, either.
posted by pnevares at 9:27 PM on April 15, 2001


Back when music could still change my life, the Ramones did. What a sad day.
posted by mikel at 9:28 PM on April 15, 2001


I somehow didn't manage to hear the Ramones until my freshman year of college... I was spending a lot of time in the school computer lab that year, because I didn't have my computer with me. One day I came across the old music server at ftp.luth.se (no longer in existence, sadly): a large library of music in .au format, 8-bit, extremely low fidelity--this was before the days of mp3s. I went looking for something to play to make the lab a bit livelier, and came across Beat On The Brat. It was perfect. I was hooked. The Ramones made ideal music to hack by: simple, rhythmic, and loud.

Thanks, Joey.

And fuck you, cancer.
posted by moss at 9:45 PM on April 15, 2001


I can't even begin to say how important Joey and da brudders have been in my life. They are and always will be solidly in my top 5 favorite bands of all time. I saw dozens of their shows, bought dozens of their records, and had countless good times because of it.

This is a very sad day. Adios amigo... we're gonna miss you!
posted by spilon at 10:35 PM on April 15, 2001


The Ramones flood back the memories of high school, having no responsibility, and fucking the system. They remind me of the apprehensions of youth, and going balls out despite them. They will be missed.
posted by Hankins at 2:40 AM on April 16, 2001


This is terribly sad news. I truly had my life changed by the first Ramones album. It was the key that unlocked a door to all the non-mainstream art that inspires me still, some 26 years after I bought it. I spent many hours in my teenage bedroom, listening to and reading about the NYC punk scene, post punk, new wave.....it was thrilling and it made me want to create. Thanks Joey.
posted by davebush at 5:27 AM on April 16, 2001


I never heard of them until college either (1988), but I remember some great road trips — no, pilgramages — that friends and I took to see the Ramones play. I've been in a daze ever since I saw the news.
posted by harmful at 6:28 AM on April 16, 2001


To this day, if I'm driving along the highway and I hear "I Wanna Be Sedated," I'm unable to drive less than 80 mph. Music without subtlety; visceral response. Gotta love it.
posted by anapestic at 6:41 AM on April 16, 2001


I was driving home last night, and heard a Ramones set on WHFS. Because 'HFS hasn't been cool enough to play the Ramones for the last ten or fifteen years, I knew something was wrong. Thank you for everything, Joey!
posted by whuppy at 6:53 AM on April 16, 2001


Anyone who can make the phrase "Beat on the brat with a baseball bat" sound charming and pogoey deserves a good sendoff.

This is really the shits.
posted by Skot at 8:58 AM on April 16, 2001



hey ho
i wanna be your joey ramone
pictures of me on your bedroom door


moss summed it up best for me.
posted by lescour at 9:14 AM on April 16, 2001


Another vicitim of the rocknroll lifestyle, abusing his, um, lymph for years and finally paying the price.

No really, the nice thing about the MTV article is that it gets across what a sweetie Joey was. When Dee Dee was out hustling at 53rd and 3rd, Joey was just a nice Jewish boy from the outer boroughs that wanted to have a rock band. Even when the rest of NY punk was drowning in heroin, he never really lost that essential niceness.
posted by rodii at 9:32 AM on April 16, 2001


Joey could have gone into insurance and still dropped dead at 49. Let's be thankful he didn't.

Time to rearrange the CDs in my local music shop.
posted by holgate at 9:50 AM on April 16, 2001


(It was a joke, Nick.)
posted by rodii at 9:57 AM on April 16, 2001


Ramones is so wonderfull.

I will miss you forever.
posted by sonofsamiam at 10:17 AM on April 16, 2001


My favorite Ramones moment was their appearance on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" the first day the show went nationwide from local NYC tv. A clash of cultures that can hardly be imagined. I wish I had had the sense to videotape it. Kathie Lee meets Joey and Dee Dee...
posted by elgoose at 11:01 AM on April 16, 2001


(we posted at the same time, rodii.)
posted by holgate at 11:56 AM on April 16, 2001


Hangin' out in 100B,
watchin' Get Smart on TV,
thinkin' about you and me
and you and me.

Thanks Joey
posted by paynesgray at 12:23 PM on April 16, 2001


Let's not forget the Ramones made one of the great protest songs of the '80s: Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, about Reagan's visit to the German cemetery. (It's also the subject of a fine Robyn Hitchcock song, The President.)
posted by jhiggy at 12:49 PM on April 16, 2001


Very sad; hard to believe that he was 49 - all of the Ramones seemed...ageless, somehow. And, since we're all indulging in nostalgia for our carefree youth vis-a-vis the Ramones, I'd like to put in a plug for "Rock & Roll High School." Masterpiece? Dunno. But to a 14-year old kid in SoCal, it was the best movie ever made. Still holds up, too, if you can find a copy, and it's a great introduction to Gabba-Gabba-Hey music, style, mannerisms, and fandom. Thanks, Joey.
posted by davidmsc at 1:17 PM on April 16, 2001


I love you and you love me
And that's the way it's got to be
I loved you from the start
'Cause Christmas ain't the time for breaking each other's
heart
Merry Christmas, I don't want to fight tonight
Merry Christmas, I don't want to fight tonight
Merry Christmas, I don't want to fight tonight with youuuuu

posted by aaron at 1:49 PM on April 16, 2001


Wow... despite all the posts, I get to be the first to say it:

"Gabba Gabba Hey...."


Rest in peace, Joey... despite "Rock-n-Roll High School" :0)
-e-
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 3:38 PM on April 16, 2001


Oops maybe second... missed jpoulos, sorry.
posted by EricBrooksDotCom at 3:48 PM on April 16, 2001


So long, Joey. I remember reading about the Ramones in Creem magazine in, say, 1976. I'm gonna have to track down the movie "Rock and Roll High School" again, as well as watch Bruce McDonald's film "Roadkill" for the Joey cameo. A good book about the scene that produced Joey and the Ramones is Legs McNeil's "Please Kill Me," which is soon to be a movie, I heard.

The Ramones were the original fun punks, and I miss them...maybe I'll go and play "Teenage Lobotomy" a few times.
posted by jmcnally at 7:26 PM on April 16, 2001


My favorite Ramones moment was their appearance on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee"... a clash of cultures that can hardly be imagined....
Elgoose, one of my favorite Ramones moments was their appearance on the "Sha-Na-Na" syndicated TV series in the early '80s. Promoting and singing "Rock'n'Roll High School" with a bunch of wanna-be Fonzies and Lavernes and Shirleys swing dancing all around them. Clearly the producers had no idea what to do with them. "Bowser", the head Sha-Na-Na, was posing like he was trying to goad Joey and DeeDee into a rumble. TV cheese at its finest.
It was a clear illustration of why the Ramones were necessary. 'Bye Joey, we love you.
posted by mac at 7:14 AM on April 17, 2001


Twenty twenty twenty-four hours to go-oh-oh
I wanna be cremated...

Sorry.
posted by aaron at 11:34 PM on April 17, 2001



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