Matt and I watched this documentary last night and LOVED IT!!! Oh my goodness, so bittersweet. This followed the Ramones from their formation until their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Let me just say, they are one of those bands that never got the success and recognition that they deserved (New York Dolls style). Maybe I'm just excited because I'm lame, and don't know that much about any band, but WOW!! They weren't musical geniuses; Tommy Ramone had never played the drums before, Dee Dee hadn't played the bass, and Joey hadn't sang, but put that together with short, fast songs and there is just a unique sound that I LOVE!!! Something Matt and I found out is that they aren't British. HAHAHA!!! We both thought they were!!! Even though Joey sings by only pronouncing 45% of the words, they are all from New York. Here's a rundown of some of their awesomeness:
Joey Ramone: Matt is going to be this tall, skinny punkrocker for Halloween. He was OCD his whole life, painfully shy, and never let go of a grudge, but he really loved what he did. Died in 2001, but even 4 days before he died of cancer, he wasn't letting himself be fed through tubes so that he wouldn't hurt his vocal cords.
Johnny Ramone: Kind of a jerk, but is one of the main reasons the band stayed together as long as they did. Really looked after all the business sides of the band, and their image. Was the only one who had actually played his instrument before the band formed. Died in 2005. Inspired to Joey to write "The KKK took my baby away", after he married Joey's former girlfriend.
Dee Dee Ramone: I LOVE this guy. Oh my gosh. SO cute in his younger years. Always very innocent and fun loving, but blunt and real at the same time. Struggled with drug use his whole life, and finally died of a heroin overdose 2 months after the Hall of Fame induction. At the ceremony, he said "I'd like to thank myself. Without me, none of this would have happened. Give myself a pat on the back." Funniest thing ever. While he was kind of flaky, he really was good friends with every one of the members, and stayed away from most of the drama. He did leave the Ramones and have an atrociously bad rap career, but nobody's perfect.
Tommy Ramone was the original drummer, but then became their producer. Marky Ramone followed, and was their drummer for a long time. Then they had Richie and Elvis as drummers, and C.J. Ramone replaced Dee Dee as bass player for a while.
Anyways, you should all watch the movie. It rocks!! I give it 4 stars, because I'm not sure how much everyone else loves the Ramones. Gabba Gabba Yeah!!
14 comments:
Interesting. So, is Tommy the only one still alive? That is outrageous. Is that some sort of band death record for such a young band that didn't all die in a plane crash or something? Anyway, may have to look into this, as previously my only reference to the Ramones is that they did the theme to "Friends".
I like the Ramones a lot! True, not music geniuses but had some catchy songs. May have to watch it sometime.
Em, that was not the Ramone! That was the Rembrandts. Oh my, just had a good laugh.
I saw the end of that doc a bit ago. I want to watch the whole thing really bad.
haha! Emily- There is no way Romones did that "I'll be there for you" song... Oh man. If they did I am SHOCKED.
Your review is cute B. I don't think anyone really even needs to see it now! haha.
Haley- It is un-rated but it should have been rated R. There is more swearing then you would like to hear I am sure.
Ramones, even though they hadn't played before they got together, still became amazing musicians and song writers. They did things that no body else had done, and played so fast and so hard people didn't know what to think. Sadly, they were always in the Sex Pistols shadow. Nice shout out to New York Dolls B. They TRULY got hosed considering all the bands they influenced.
I started typing that before cath posted hers. Glad to know it was the Rem whatevers...
The second I sat at the computer just now, I said, "wait a minute- that was the Rembrants. I know who the Ramones are!" I was secretly hoping I could redeem myself before my post was found. No such luck. Oh well. I really thought the Ramones were British too. Weird.
I love the Ramones! I discovered them in 8th grade I think. I still have two of their LPs, To Tough to Die and Road to Ruin (lp's are those big round black things that play music for you youngin's!)
Blitzkrieg Bop is one of my favorite songs ever! I also love Sheena is a Punk Rocker and of course, I want to be Sedated and Pinhead (gabba gabba hey!).
Did you guys see the Simpsons when the Ramones were on? They were hired to sing happy birthday to Mr. Burns. Joey says "I'd just like to say this gig sucks!" and Johnny says "Hey, up yours Springfield". Then Mr. Burns says to Smithers "have the Rolling Stones killed". Funny stuff!
It was crazy how they just kept dying a few years ago.
Have the Rolling Stones killed- hahaha! THAT is a great line. Love the Simpsons.
Speaking of documentaries, I watched one a couple of nights ago called Darkon. Doesn't deserve a whole posting, but it deserves a mention. It is about these people in Baltimore that get together and do live role playing, like a dungeons and dragons type game. They make their own shields and outfits and take themselves VERY
seriously. Anyway, I saw it on IFC (independent film channel), they usually show movies a few times, so if you have that channel try and look for it.
Since Sue threw down a list of Favorites, I must do the same.
All of the above, plus:
-Beat On The Brat
-Judy Is A Punk
-Bonzo Goes To Bittburg (best song on School of Rock!)
-I Wanna Live
-Gimmie Gimmie Shock Treatment
-Phyco Therapy
-Glad To See You
-Teenage Lobotomy
-Do You Wanna Dance (cover)
Those are some GREATS!
Those are all great songs Matt. I love Teenage Lobotomy, I forgot about that one.
Didn't Phil Spector pull a gun on one of the Ramones? Seems I remember hearing that, if so, what a crazy old bat.
Yes he did. Crazy old bat is right. It was a big mistake on so many levels having him produce one of their records. Which was really sad considering how much they idolized him even since they were kids.
What's REALLY sad, is the album he produced with him sounds like the Beach Boys!! AAAAHHH!!!!!
Just listen to Rock and Roll High School to see what I mean!
I think I know the album you're talking about. They did have a bebop sounding album. So does Phil Spector pull guns on people a lot for something? He totally shot that lady, I can't believe he got acquitted.
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