Ramones: Read To Ruin
Five Must-Read Books For The Band's 50th Anniversary
They were four leather-clad misfits with bowl cuts playing an irreverent brand of revved-up bubblegum music.
This in-your-face response to the bloated arena rock dominating the airwaves in the mid-‘70s was so groundbreaking—so elemental, primal, urgent and undeniably hooky—that there really wasn’t even a name for it yet.
Writing fast songs about beating on brats with baseball bats, sniffing glue, and turning tricks at “53rd & 3rd,” Ramones stripped rock and roll to its snotty teenage core to launch an international punk rock revolution.
The band formed in Queens in 1974, making this year their 50th anniversary…SO LET’S GO READ SOME BOOKS!
I’ve long been fascinated by the whole CBGB scene, but Ramones were always my favorite NYC band—which is why I’ve been on a Ramones reading spree in the last few years.
It started with Johnny Ramone’s autobiography Commando, a book that is as straight-ahead and unapologetic as his fierce guitar playing. Next came Dee Dee Ramone’s Lobotomy: Surviving The Ramones, the fantastical, inspiring and sometimes sad memoir from the erratic, beating heart of the band. I followed that with Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone by Marky Ramone, their longtime second (and fifth?) drummer.
More recently I went behind the scenes to read about Mickey Leigh’s loving but complicated relationship with his older brother in I Slept With Joey Ramone: A Punk Rock Family Memoir. I rounded out my Queens quintet by tackling the definitive oral history, On The Road With The Ramones, written by long-suffering tour manager and band babysitter, Monte A. Melnick (with Frank Meyer).
These five books admittedly only scratch the surface of what’s been written about Ramones, but together they offer a compelling peek into the band’s strange inner world. (Feeling ambitious? I also recommend Donna Gaines’ Why Ramones Matter, and Carl Cafarelli’s Gabba Gabba Hey: A Conversation with The Ramones. And there’s nothing quite like Dee Dee’s unhinged Chelsea Horror Hotel: A Novel.)
Like five camera angles trained on a single crime scene, these books from band insiders offer unique perspectives on the mercurial personal relationships developed over a 22-year career encompassing 2,200+ live shows and 14 studio albums.
The band’s dysfunctional brotherhood is probably best summarized behind the scenes at their 1996 farewell extravaganza at the Palace in Hollywood, California.
After a star-studded show—featuring cameos from Dee Dee (who quit and was replaced by C.J. Ramone), along with members of Pearl Jam, Motörhead, and Rancid, among others—most of the Ramones apparently wandered off without even saying goodbye to each other.
This lack of basic camaraderie—often verging on outright disdain—is captured in Johnny’s brutally pragmatic quote from On The Road With The Ramones: “You don’t have to like everyone you work with.” Which presents a fascinating contrast to their carefully-crafted “band as a gang” image. But the more you read about the individual members, the more you realize that on some tragically fundamental level the band had become a blue-collar T-shirt business by then.
That final show in 1996 might have been the end of an era for legions of devoted fans, but for the individual Ramones it amounted to simultaneous retirement parties (at best), or just another night at work (at worst). So, when it was over they clocked out and went their separate ways. At least fans got an appropriately-titled live album out of it in the form of We’re Outta Here!
The more I immersed myself in Ramones reading, the more I came to understand that it was the perfect way for this broken band of brudders to say ¡Adios Amigos!
There are no gold watches in rock and roll retirement, especially for underground heroes like Ramones.
But their self-titled debut did finally go gold in 2014…38 years after it was first released. And (Gabba Gabba) hey, they’re in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
Here was Dee Dee’s speech from that tense event that saw various Ramones factions keeping their distance at separate tables: “Hi, I’m Dee Dee Ramone and, uh, I’d like to congratulate myself and thank myself and give myself a big pat on the back. Thank you, Dee Dee. You’re very wonderful. I love you.”
It doesn’t get more punk rock than that, but it’s too bad Joey didn’t live long enough to collect his statuette which the rest of the band left unclaimed on the podium.
Other recurring themes in these five books include:
Joey’s huge, but constantly broken heart, mental and physical health issues, and his simmering hatred for Johnny (who stole and married his girlfriend, Linda).
Johnny’s militaristic control over the band, right-wing politics, and love of milk and cookies after shows.
Dee Dee’s self-destructive ways, artistic yearnings, and mental and emotional health issues.
Marky’s partying, eventual sobriety, and eating bugs for fun and profit.
Along the way you also catch glimpses of original Ramones drummer/producer, Tommy, who deserves a lot more credit for the band’s sound and image.
Sadly, all four of the original Ramones—Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy—died way too young, which makes these stories even more valuable for new and old fans.
Pop culture was forever transformed when Ramones first got together in 1974. If something that musically earth-shattering isn’t worth the time it takes to read five books, I don’t know what is. Let’s Go!
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Enduring Legaxy Of The Ramones
By Jennifer Beckwith
I read Johnny's and Marky's books. I feel (politics aside) I have a soft spot for Johnny. A workhorse, serious, horror movie lover, who had to be tough to keep things moving. He was necessary, no matter what you think of him as a non-Ramone. All of our heroes are troubled in their own ways. Johnny was just unapologetic about it. I cant wait to dive into Monte's book, so thanks for the rec.