I think it's ironic that yesterday I posted Ramones lyrics in Stephanie's lyrics thread.
This is the third Ramone who's died recently.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7944-1265360,00.html
Punk legend Johnny Ramone dies of cancer
by Jenny Booth, Times Online
Johnny Ramone, lead guitarist of The Ramones, the punk band that influenced a generation of rock musicians, has died in Los Angeles after a five year battle with prostate cancer. He was 55.
Ramone was admitted to hospital in June at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre. He died in his sleep at home yesterday afternoon surrounded by friends and family, said Arturo Vega, the band's creative director.
"He was the guy with a strategy. He was the guy who not only looked after the band’s interest but he also was their defender," said Mr Vega.
Born John Cummings in 1948, Johnny Ramone was one of the original members of the Ramones, whose hit songs Teenage Lobotomy, I Wanna Be Sedated, Blitzkrieg Bop and Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue earned their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
He co-founded the band in 1974 in New York with singer Joey, bassist Dee Dee and drummer Tommy. All four had different last names, but took the common name Ramone.
Tommy, born Tommy Erdelyi, is now the only surviving band member, after Joey - whose real name was Jeff Hyman - died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer, and Dee Dee - real name, Douglas Colvin - died from a drug overdose in 2002.
Johnny and his future bandmates were raised in the largely middle-class New York neighborhood of Forest Hills in Queens. They knew each other as youngsters, and shared an interest in pioneering punk bands like the New York Dolls.
After attending a military academy - an experience that would make him the group's task master - Johnny Ramone started playing the guitar at the age of 25. The band performed publicly for the first time in March 1974 and recorded their debut album in 1976.
Clad in leather jackets and with long, black mops of hair, they made their name playing in New York dive clubs like CBGB. Their songs, famously brief and counted in with a frenzied "one-two-three-four!" introduction, mixed their daily frustrations with a dark sense of humour.
"We couldn't write about love or cars, so we sang about this stuff, like glue-sniffing. We thought it was funny. We thought we could get away with anything," Johnny Ramone once said.
Though they never had a Top 40 song and struggled for commercial success, the band paved the way for British punk rock icons such as the Sex Pistols and The Clash, and heavily influenced later rock bands such as Nirvana.
Bruce Springsteen was so impressed that he allegedly wrote Hungry Heart for the band after seeing them play in Asbury Park, New Jersey. His manager, however, persuaded him to keep the song for himself and it became his first number one hit.
Phil Spector, the famed producer, collaborated with the band in 1980 and allegedly pulled a gun on them during the session, according to Dee Dee. "The Ramones had it rough," said Mr Vega, who worked with the band for 30 years. "The band almost had to be protected from people who were taking advantage of them. There was never any money made."
Johnny Ramone changed that by demanding more money for performances, but still kept a close watch on the band’s budget. Mr Vega recalled how he would insist that the band drive non-stop between Boston and New York for shows instead of spending the night in a hotel. In addition to his financial conservatism, the guitarist was politically conservative, a fan of the late Ronald Reagan.
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