My blog is really bad it gets more and more like some sort of eulogy’s collection 
However I really am deeply touched by births and deaths and lacking a more substantial input I often just remember somebody who once was and get the impulse to write. Unfortunately I can practically take any day of the year and get a couple of very significant individuals who left us way too early. Today is the case of Joey Ramone (fictitious name adopted by Jeff Hyman) undisputed charismatic leader of a band that changed, in its own peculiar way, the course of rock music from a pisshouse on the Bowery called CBGB.
Joey passed away too early and we didn’t get a chance to hear what his solo career could have become, he did put out a solo album but maybe more and greater things would have been in store had he stayed a little bit longer. A bad, bad disease struck him and left him lifeless over a very short period of time. I once saw him, from a distance, walking down NYC but never had a chance, nor I chased it to be completely honest, to meet him and to chat with him.
Back in the late 1980′s there was a show happening at an historical music-cabaret that passed away itself, it was called THE BOTTOM LINE (on Mercer and W.4th if memory serves me well). There, hosted by none other than the great Vin Scelsa, a show called “In Their Own Words” went on for a handful of years. Basically enough, Vin Scelsa would pull a chair on stage and a so-called “circle of songwriters”, would take turns to play acoustic versions of their classics while explaining the real genesis of each song. Except Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, several dozens of the greatest pop-rock songwriters of all time played there and THE BOTTOM LINE, for a brief moment a record-label by the same name as well, published two discs with the cream of the crop, or whatever cream would fill two discs I guess, as probably dozens of volumes wouldn’t be enough to publish all the great music that was played during those evenings.
Within those two discs there was one moment where Joey Ramone discussed how the classic Ramones number “I Wanna Be Sedated” came to be and the proceeded to play it by himself for the adoring audience of the evening. While I have no video for that particular rendition, and I haven’t been able to find one, a very good friend of mine, that knew and loved Joey and played that song hundreds of times all over the world will help me remembering Joey. That friend is Willie Nile and I found a video of his, on YouTube of course, playing “it” at Irving Plaza with Lucinda Williams. I am pretty positive Joey would have approved of this and I like to think he’ll like this very small and unknown post I am publishing about him. We miss you Joey and we miss your spirit and energy. Hey Ho! Let’s Go!
Willie Nile and Lucinda Williams rockin their ya-yas out on I Wanna Be Sedated
4 Responses to Hey Ho! Let’s Go!
Thanks for that Francesco. Great stuff. There will be another Joey solo album. I think that all the stuff that’s held it up is close to being sorted. If you keep an eye on wwww.joeyramone.com then there should be info there soon (hopefully).
One of the most euphoric nights of my life was seeing Da Brudders at Hammersmith Odeon. They came on stage, everybody jumped up and we never sat down again.
And what better summed up The Ramones sense of humour than the moment when a journalist (can’t recall who) asked one of them if they felt their music had progressed over the years and was told, “Yeah. We used to play a thirty minute set in thirty minutes. Now we play it in 27.”
And, finally, Joey’s version of What A Wonderful World. I remember dreading the thought of it and then, when I heard it, I couldn’t believe how right he’d got it. What a lovely, enduring way to bow out.
FYI….. Joey didn’t didn’t play ‘I Wanna be Sedated’ by himself that night…I know because I played the guitar on that track and recording
One of the highlights of my life was when Joey came to see The Barracudas. Few bands have really mattered. The Ramones did. And do.