Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye

The Ramones never made any big money, but what they did make - especially in the 80s and early 90s - was probably due to Johnny Ramone. A Reagan Republican, baseball card collector, and jackhammer rhythm guitarist, Johnny was the "business brains" behind the Ramones - that is, if a largely dysfunctional band that inspired mass culture but never really benefitted from it financially can be said to possess a business brain.

Three of the original four Ramones are now dead, with Johnny passing from this life yesterday after suffering from prostate cancer for five years. He was predeceased by Joey in 2001 (cancer) and Dee Dee in 2002 (overdose). Only original drummer Tommy survives.

If Johnny and Joey famously didn't speak for two decades, if the band never hit the big money, if they became something of a cool novelty act - and that's all true - then it can also be fairly argued that the Ramones held it together in two minute bursts as well as any rock act in history. They existed musically within a very tight construct - downstroked power chords, thumping bass and tom-toms, punctuated by Joey's glammy vocals. (I always thought he took his singing style from Dylan's strange back-the-the-throat delivery of Lay Lady Lay.) The Ramones didn't stretch - they played very fast, with an occasional ballad. And then they left the stage.

Where they excelled was in style and humor. To me, their consistency in style - the same chords, the same leather jackets and jeans, the same hair, the same last name - put their hilarious commentaries on modern life front and center. In this, they rose well above a Sha Na Na meets punk parody. They were iconic cultural godfathers to be treasured by the likes of Eddie Veder (who was at Johnny's dying bedside) and Nirvana. But they also concocted great characters, sly lines about pop culture, and a version of New York that is a true document of life here in the 1970s. What inspires New York punk patriotism better than Sheena is a Punk Rocker:

Well the kids are all hopped up and ready to go They’re ready to go now They got their surfboards And they’re going to the discotheque au go go But she just couldn’t stay She had to break away Well New York City really has it all Oh yeah, oh yeah.

From the classic The KKK Took My Baby Away to Bonzo Goes to Bitburg, the Ramones always touched very lightly on public sentiment and politics - their songs that ventured outside of girls, cars, and high school were cartoonish, in the best sense of the word. Bonzo, to me, is the best commentary of its day on Reagan's controversial visit to a German cemetery contained the remains of SS officers:

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea As I watched it on tv somehow it really bothered me Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy Pick up the pieces My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

So it's the end of the century really, and the Ramones belong firmly in the last quarter of the 20th. Gabba Gabba. Hey.

UPDATE: I think the NYT's Ben Sisario hits the rights notes in the paper's obit today. And Fred points to this posting by Jackson.

Comments

[jackson]

Great piece Tom, but I take exception to the title. I feel that we did know him (them). They were the only rock band that I felt on par socially with. They were us, and we were them.

[Tom W.]

Jackson - the title is an ironic take on the worshipful JFK memorial book of the same name by his long-time aide Kenny O'Donnell.

[Karry Ship]

Johnny Ramone was a SCUMBAG. He was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and Arian White Nation. He hated Joey cause Joey was JEWISH! He also hated JEWS, FAGS AND ANYONE OPEN MINDED AND COMPASSIONATE. I am glad the dirt bag is DEAD. May he rot in HELL!!!

[Karry Ship]

Johnny Ramone was a SCUMBAG. He was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and Arian White Nation. He hated Joey cause Joey was JEWISH! He also hated JEWS, FAGS AND ANYONE OPEN MINDED AND COMPASSIONATE. I am glad the dirt bag is DEAD. May he rot in HELL!!!

[Tom K]

**He also hated . . . ANYONE OPEN MINDED AND COMPASSIONATE. I am glad the dirt bag is DEAD. May he rot in HELL!!!**

Gee, Karen, sounds like he woulda LOVED you!

[Tom W.]

Perhaps he did - sounds like there's a personal history there...

[vanessa]

Well Karen
I 'm sure he would not have been hurt about that or anything BUT to my understanding Joey stopped speaking to john over Linda. I love joey-he is my favourite ramone!!!! but I still appreciate the place that john had in the band.

Also Marky was close to John and he WAS NOT A REBUBLICAN RATHER A LIBERAL DEMOCRAT. So, to insinusate that he didn't converse with those different to him is not correct. I don't know- I'm sure he had faults but he is on his way too, learning and all.

I have heard that the ramones messed with nazi fascist ideas but i thought these were only jokes.Also remember that dee dee was the principle song writer then and this is the same dee dee that wrote bonzo goes to bitburg- my absolute favourite ramones song speaking out against that sort of thing.

you are right when you said joey was jewish.... at the start they (the band) were all friends- if john really hated jews there was no way he would have been in the band with him.

Plus, calling homosexual humans FAGS sorry to be politcally correct well isn't very nice.

There may be anger here for other reasons but I hope that you can make me undertand why? Do you agree with what I said above? What else can you add to the story or are these just empy claims?

by the way even if the alegations are true HATE doesn't kill HATE.

Love
ness

[Mark Russo]

Those who say Johnny was a hater of Jews KKK, etc, don't know shit.

they werent even around in 1974, Well I was, and anyone who was in NYC back in the 1970s who knew Johnny, knows that he didnt hate anybody, the last few comments here are probably from some pimple poppping liberal kids who haven't a clue about rock, hard work, money or life. Their liberal views are paid for by their rich parents.

Johnny was a hard working motivated self-made man, who loved his band, his wife and his Country. Whats wrong with that.

Johnny did it the best way he could. It's to his credit that the band survived as long and as well as it did. If Joey hated Johnny, he could have left anytime, but he stuck with Johnny for over 20 years.

The Ramones were great, Joe was the face and sound of the group, Dee Dee was the creativity, but Johnny was the glue that kept it togather, and the relationship that divided the Johnny and Joey was the artistic fiber that made it work.

If their relationship were anything else, we wouldn't have had the Ramones we love.

God Bless them all.

[Matt Linder]

Johnny Ramone, in his simplicity, was one of the greatest guitarist to ever grace the guitar with his raw talent!

WE MISS YOU JOHNNY!

[Alex]

Thank you Vanessa.
God that comment they posted made me so pissed off.
I think they got the wrong impression when they said "The KKK took my baby away" was inspired by Johnny's ex. That's kinda dumb. I think he kept the band in order. I'm a big fan of his, he played a major role in the band.

Alex.

[Alex]

Oh crap I got the wrong person.
By thank you vanessa I meant thank you Mark Russo.
Excuse me.

[Ramona]

It Hurts me that some one would sink soo low to wright hate ful things on a site that is suspost to remeber the person.... I love Johnny Ramone and I am Jewish and i don't think that he was like that... And if u think he is a part of the kkk just because joey wrote a song. ok if that is ur thought.... I am ok with that.... but i do not... so long and good night
Love,
Sweet sweet little Ramona

[the_dude1829]

the reason that people think johnny was in the kkk was because aparantly he onces showed joey a fake kkk membership form that he got as a joke. thats were the title of the kkk took my baby away came from. and no he didnt hate jews. as someone already said, he wouldnt have even started a band with one if he did. and if he really was a racist i think he would have shown it. this guy used to beat te shiy out of people if he didnt like them, or if they did something out of the way to him. he used to hit dee dee after shows if he messed anything up. so if he hated black people, im sure he would have beat the shit out of them too. he was one iof the greatest guitarists ever, so dont knock him you stupid asshole. if he hadnt been around, none of the bands you liked would be around either. go to their bio on wikipedia and you will see the length of thier influence. gabba gabba hey, you piece of shit

[Johnny]

Long live good music. Long live Johnny Ramone

[manonthe bass]

John was what held The Ramones together, i think that is one of the most important things in being in a band. His guitar was cool too.. You guys, let him rest in peace. his guitar was cool too.. he had that thing for years

[Stas]

Johnny wasn't a member of the KKK or anything like that. The reason Joey called the song that way is because of Johnnys Republican opinions. If Joey stole Johnnys girlfriend and Johnny would write a song about it, it would probably be called the U.S.S.R. took my baby away. I don't like Johnnys personality at all and in some ways I hate him (for instance: when Dee Dee and Joey died he said "Who cares? It'll sell more records."), but I still love him because I love the Ramones so much. Definitly the greatest band of all times. Joey is my God. R.I.P. Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny.

[Johnny Pittsburgh]

How could anyone who is influenced by punk rock or just a fan of the Ramones say anything bad about one of the men responsible for it? If Johnny weren't the person that he was, we wouldn't be the people we are. Just like Elvis, the Ramones changed the world forever. Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy were "Punk". Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy were "Rock n' Roll". Before the Ramones there was nothing. Regardless of how your beliefs compare to his, the world has benefited from his beliefs. We will never benefit from yours. Before the Ramones there was nothing. After the Ramones there is only the people who understand what they did, the people who GET IT. If you cant see this. You never GOT IT.

[muttzy]

Johnny liked to be controversial to tick people off.Anyone who states they were a 'Nixon' man in 1960 at the age of 10 is obviously yanking your chain.
The whole 'right wing' thing was as much of an act as his on stage persona. He was a great guitarist ,his difficult personality grated at times but who cares.He left a legacy of great tunes .That's how he deserves to be remembered.

[peanut]

karry ship and tom w fuck you the ramones were class and so was johnny. if u say that again about him i will hunt u down and kick ur asses!! u pieces of shit

[peanut]

sorry i hav only just seen this site but i find it disgraceful that any1 could insult him on a site about him u shits!

[Jack Wolf]

Sorry to deliver the bad news, but indeed Johnny was a right-winger. To the far-right by some accounts. I personally find it insulting that he'd presume to change his name in honour of Paul McCartney.

As for the comments made by Mark Russo. Joey did hate Johnny, and I didn't realise this was in dispute. I wonder if you really were around in 1974? Surely somebody 31 yrs+ of age would have learnt how to spell 'together'. Get a life you conservative bastard.

Joey had more talent, and by all accounts was a better man than Johnny.

[robin p]

I decided to get interested in the Ramones after they were all dead. I sorta listened to them in the early 80's when my brother, the Marine punk rocker, let me go with him to thrash band clubs and I ended up being a Reagan yuppie fan of all these happenings. I got such a bang out of all these people whipped into a frenzy, running around in circles and slamming into each other, ranting vague anarchist epistles on the streetcorner, etc. Such a relief from the blue suit business world. My bro quit sponsoring my forays into these clubs (my uptight friends wouldn't go with me) when he got sick of fending off guys who wanted to do me, seems thrashers didn't take rejection very well. So now that I want to try and seem young and cool, I got into some of the music of this group after I found out late Johnny was a ---- Republican? How can that be? I am an ex-liberal, (they make the most staunch conservatives), and I can't believe the guy had the guts to stand up and say what he believed in the faces of all these flaming flakes. That is bullshit about his KKK connection, its made up by people who can't stand conservatives. He probably did that to push people's button's even more. I totally admire the man. And the music - ditzy but fun. Great to bounce around the house to. Wish Johnny had beaten the cancer - It would have been interesting what he would have done post - Ramones. RIP, Johnny, God bless you.

[drummer]

yo karen maybe you oughta shut the hell up about johnny ramone,he was a nice man and he hated joey because joey hated hit you dumb bitch
dont worry johnny hates you to,god bless johnny

[Bill Ramone]

Joey wrote "The KKK Took My baby away" Years before any of that happened. It fits thier other songs. Just a weird tale like "Teenage Lobotomy" or "Chain Saw." Plus Johnny married her! So it's not like he did it to be a jerk. They fell in love! Even Joey's brother felt that way about it. Most of you would do they same thing. Johnny and Joey never really liked each other so of course he would hate him for it. Johnny keeped the band together! He invented Punk guitar! And as far as not being open minded and compassionate, What you Karry Ship said was closed minded and stupidly un-compassionate! I didn't start listening The Ramones until about early 2005 Johnny is my favorite Ramone. He stood by what he knew was right! STOP TALKING DOWN ABOUT JOHNNY RAMONE! God Bless America.
R.I.P Johnny

[Ahmad Ramone]

I tried to Cover Bon Jovi songs, but i couldn't do it. They were so Fuckin hard to play. Almost through my guitar away until I bought my first Ramones' album and now i will not think of losing my faith in something i like.

Johnny Ramone.......Your guitar style will live forever and as long as people are living
Peace
Ahmad,Ramone, AL-Hamily