Celebrity Deathwatch: Joey Ramone, Punk Rock Icon, 49

["Deathwatch Central" <cdw@slick.org>]

http://www.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/Music/04/15/obit.ramone.ap/index.html?s=2

Joey Ramone, punk founding father, dead at 49

April 15, 2001
Web posted at: 9:34 PM EDT (0134 GMT)


NEW YORK (AP) -- Singer Joey Ramone, the punk rock icon whose signature yelp
melded with the Ramones' three-chord thrash to launch an explosion of bands
like the Clash and the Sex Pistols, died Sunday. He was 49.

Ramone, the gangly lead singer with the leather jacket, tinted glasses and
permanently torn jeans, was hospitalized in March 2001 with lymphoma. His
death was confirmed Sunday by Arturo Vega, the Ramone's longtime artistic
director.

The Ramones -- its four members adopted the common last name after forming
the band in 1974 -- came out of Queens, a group with limited musical skills.
Joey became the lead singer only after his drumming proved too rudimentary
to keep up with his bandmates' thunderous riffs.

While British bands such as the Sex Pistols and Clash received the media
attention once punk rock exploded, both were schooled by the Ramones' tour
of England that began on the U.S. Bicentennial -- July 4, 1976.

"They changed the world of music. They rescued rock and roll from
pretentiousness and unnecessary adornments," Vega said.

Their "do-it-yourself," garage-rock influence still echoes today in bands
such as Green Day and the Offspring. The low-tech Ramones spent just two
days and $6,000 recording their 1976 debut album.

"They're the daddy punk group of all time," said Joe Strummer, lead singer
of the Clash, in a recent Spin magazine interview.

Despite their influence and critical acclaim, the Ramones never cracked the
Top 40.

Bruce Springsteen, after seeing the Ramones in an Asbury Park, New Jersey,
club, wrote "Hungry Heart" for the band -- but his manager convinced The
Boss to keep the eventual hit single.

The Ramones' best-known songs reflected their twisted teen years in Queens:
"Beat on the Brat," "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,"
"Teenage Lobotomy," "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker."

Joey Ramone was born Jeffrey Hyman on May 19, 1951. His career started
during the early 1970s glam-rock era, when he played in several New York
bands -- occasionally under the name Jeff Starship.

But his collaboration with Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy Ramone was something
special. They became fixtures in downtown clubs like CBGBs and Max's Kansas
City, joining fellow punkers like Patti Smith and Richard Hell.

The scene eventually produced commercially successful bands like Blondie and
the Talking Heads.

The Ramones recorded their first album of two-minute, three-chord blasts in
February 1976. The band then earned a loyal cult following with a seemingly
endless string of tours where they would crank out 30 songs in 90 minutes.

In 1979, Joey and the band appeared in the Roger Corman movie "Rock N' Roll
High School," contributing the title song to the soundtrack. They also did
the title track for the film "Pet Semetary," based on the book by Ramones
fan Stephen King.

Their last real stab at commercial success came in a bizarre 1980
collaboration with producer Phil Spector -- a session that bassist Dee Dee
Ramone recalled most for Spector's pulling a gun on the band inside his
Beverly Hills mansion.

Joey eventually wound up singing a syrupy version of Spector's classic
"Baby, I Love You" -- the strangest recording of the band's 22-year career.
The Spector-produced "End of the Century" did become the Ramones'
best-selling record, hitting No. 44 on the charts.

Five years later, the band released "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" -- Joey Ramone's
angry rant about President Reagan's visit to a German military cemetery.

The Ramones disbanded in 1996 after a tour that followed their final studio
album, "Adios Amigos." A live farewell tour album, "We're Outta Here!", was
released in 1997.

Since the band's demise, Joey Ramone kept a fairly low profile --
occasionally popping up to perform or host shows at Manhattan clubs, making
occasional radio show appearances, and working on a solo album that was
never released.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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