“To me, John Lennon and Elvis Presley were punks, because they made music that evoked those emotions in people.” — Joey Ramone
It’s Joey Ramone’s birthday today.
Nothing I can say will top my brother Brendan’s essay on seeing The Ramones at the Living Room in Providence. So I’ll pass the mike. It’s one of my favorite things Bren has written – with a HELL of a final sentence – JESUS. Not only does he describe that show – and the extraordinary nature of it – but he evokes that whole entire time, and what it meant to be a fan of “that kind of music” in the ’80s, and what the Ramones signified and embodied.
The Living Room, Pt. 3: One Two Three Four, by Brendan O’Malley
And I’ll leave off with this: Joey Ramone’s painfully exuberant cover of “What a Wonderful World”. Lightning in a bottle captured.
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As you say, that last line is a killer!
goosebumps!
I saw the Ramones at the Agora, Cleveland’s version of the Living Room, in 1978 or ’79, with my two best friends. A fantastic show. I’ve always thought of them as NYC’s version of the Beach Boys: a unique sound that seemed to match the collective idea of each band’s home city, with lyrics that captured some perfect ideal of both bliss and torture – again, specific to each city’s personality. And surely Brian Wilson and Joey Ramone come from the same wonderful treehouse.
love this.