| Johnny Ramone - The Ramones JOHNNY RAMONE 1949 -2004 Johnny Ramone (John Cummings ) died on Wednesday 15.9.04 aged 55 after a reported five year battle with prostrate cancer. Rumours of how serious his condition was had been circulating for sometime. I mentioned it myself in a Marky Ramone live reveiw on this site nearly six months ago, but despite denials to the contrary the stories continued right up until his passing. So no-one outside of his inner circle really knew how advanced his illness was. Johnny a lifelong baseball fanatic will be remembered for creating the no nonsense straight ahead, no frills guitar style he perfected on his Mosrite guitar that launched a million bedroom bands. The cartoon look and the breakneck relentless sound of the Ramones with their basic primitive three chord thrash gave young kids in the late 70's (including myself with limited musical ability), the confidence to form a band and have a go. Because if the Ramones could do it then so could we! The influence of the Ramones can not be underestimated on punk fans, from the first generation to the present on both sides of the Atlantic. They have a special place in the hearts of the original NI punks because they came to Belfast during it's troubled years when other big names like the Pistols and Generation X amongst others, didn't want to know. In later years stories of bad feeling between Johnny and Joey over a woman resulting in both of them not speaking for years and his right wing political veiws have surfaced, but who cares? The music was what it was all about and for millions of kids worldwide those songs will live forever. In recent weeks the Ramones have been imortalised on the big screen with the docu/film "End of the century" being screened in American cinemas and on dvd "Ramones raw" is on the music store shelves now, made up of live performances over the years. Ramones too tough to die. Rest in peace Johnny , Joey and Dee Dee. Joe Donnelly (Belfast) 16.9.04 |
