Tommy Ramone, the last surviving founding member of seminal US punk band The Ramones, has died aged 65 in New York, the group has announced.
The drummer died in hospice care on Friday following treatment for bile duct cancer, US media report.
Born in Hungary, Ramone immigrated to the US in the 1950s.
He started The Ramones with three friends from a New York high-school in 1974. The band have been credited with the invention of punk rock.
Although they were never commercially successful, their unique sound helped shape rock music and is still often cited as inspirations to new generations of musicians.
"There are hundreds, there are thousands, there are millions of melodies happening in Ramones songs," the biographer, Everett True, told the BBC.
"You hear their influence stretch across all of rock music from 1975 onwards... you just hear it everywhere," he said.
Their hit songs I Wanna Be Sedated and Blitzkrieg Bop, among others, earned them an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 8:50 pm
by BoSoxGal
"I Wanna Be Sedated" captures the angst of the teenager with perfection.
RIP, Ramones
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 2:28 pm
by Sue U
I remember getting Sheena Is A Punk Rocker when it was released as a 45 and just beating the hell out of it on my record player. I have no idea how many times I saw The Ramones play, but it's easily over a dozen; it seemed like they were in Philly (or close enough) once a month in the late 70s/early 80s. I always loved the way Dee Dee would jump in the air, kicking his legs out to the sides. It was like they had so much energy it had to come out in every way possible.
Here's one of my favorite concert films, the boys at The Rainbow Theater in London, New Year's Eve 1977; Gob, did you go to this show?
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 3:27 pm
by Big RR
My first recollection of them was in the Roger Corman film Rock and Roll High School; afterwards I went back and listened to a lot of their previous music and became a fan. I recall seeing them in concert a few of times as well, and their energy was infectious.
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 9:43 pm
by Gob
Sue U wrote:
Here's one of my favorite concert films, the boys at The Rainbow Theater in London, New Year's Eve 1977; Gob, did you go to this show?
Sorry Sue, I was never a fan, I didn't see them live. Don't suppose I will now.
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:58 pm
by Sue U
Big RR wrote:My first recollection of them was in the Roger Corman film Rock and Roll High School;
Hahaha, I saw that film, but I can't remember anything about it except the line, "We're not students -- we're Ramones."
Gob wrote:Sorry Sue, I was never a fan, I didn't see them live.
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:33 pm
by oldr_n_wsr
RIP
I saw the ramones either at CBGB's or some other venue in the bowery. Maybe at Toads lace in Conn. Or was that Elvis Costello? Memory is gone. Sorry.
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 3:56 pm
by Big RR
Yep, not a great film, but a fun one. I would have bet you'd also recall the exploding mouse/rat when the scientist wanted to show how damaging Ramones music was to "children".
Hahahahahaha, the levels on the Rockometer are hilarious, and OMG it's Mary Woronov and Paul Bartel! I totally did not realize they had been in that movie -- I loved them both to death in Eating Raoul!
Re: No more Ramones
Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 4:57 pm
by Big RR
That's who they were; I couldn't quite place them when I looked at the scene. Eating Raoul was one of those movies that succeeded quite well for me, and their performances were part of the reason for that.
