The death of the third Ramone in five years (albeit the most unpleasant one!) prompted me to dig this review out of issue 21. Hey Ho Lets Go - The Story of The Ramones by Everett True. I got this book for Christmas and its kept me
obsessed ever since. Best of all its sent me back to the Ramones
records. You might not think there was so much to say about 4 brothers
playing 3 chords for 22 years, but youd be wrong. At the centre
of the story is betrayal and misery : when the amiable, creative, legendary
Joey had his girl friend taken away by business man and Bush supporting
guitarist Johnny it was to lead to 15 plus years of touring with mutual
dislike preventing the two from speaking. The band kept going as they
knew they had what it took to be central to the main stream. However
their record label did not know how to realise this potential, and the
band ended and half its members died without them ever achieving the
success their top rate pop songs deserved. But everyone else knew what
The Ramones meant, with all the current US rock establishment (Green
Day, Blink 172, GunnRoses, U2, Metallica and everyone else)
claiming them as their major influence and the band being inducted into
the RocknRoll Hall of Fame. Not bad for four kids from Queens
with cheap guitars singing songs about misfits, geeks and weirdos. Long
live the Ramones! Rosey |