Joey Ramone

Lead singer for the enormously influential three-chord punk band The Ramones. Born Jeffrey Hyman on May 19th, 1951 in Forest Hills, New York.

Honestly, if my name was Jeffrey Hyman, I'd change it to "Joey Ramone" too.

---

A little over a year after I wrote that terse and flippant entry above, Joey Ramone was dead. And I thought: Can't I do any better than that? So I sat down and I wrote this:

Joey Ramone was an impossibly tall, pasty-faced, skinny geek with granny sunglasses and a funny voice that sounded like he had a mouth full of marbles. (One of my favorite parts in Rock 'n' Roll High School is when he delivers a line containing the name "Mister McGree" and it comes out "Mis'r MuhGloob".) In the early days he sang with what was allegedly a fake British accent but just sounded odd. I remember one of the other Ramones describing Joey's performance in another band before they got together, in which Joey simulated onstage sex with a vacuum cleaner.

I saw them in 1984 during their Too Tough To Die tour. I was a senior in high school and the Ramones were my favorite band. During "Surfin' Bird", the stage slowly filled up with fog. The band was completely obscured. Then the guitar and bass fell silent and the drummer started a steady, pounding rhythm. Joey's leather-gloved fist was all we could see, stabbing out of the fog with every beat. Slowly the fog receded to reveal his looming figure.

The drums stopped and Joey started, quiet at first, his voice slowly rising: "Pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa pa...MA-MOW MOW, PAPA OOM MOW MA-MOW!" The band roared to life and we all went nuts.

Joey was never afraid to look ridiculous, and that is what made him one of the greatest rock stars ever.

Mr. Ramone of the Ramones died Sunday, April 15, 2001 at about 2:40 p.m. He was 49 years old.

The singer underwent treatment for lymphatic cancer, but did not respond as well as could be hoped.

---

I remember seeing The Ramones at Lollapalooza in 96 or so. It was, admittedly, not the best venue or place for them. I couldn't help but notice they wore their leather jackets all the way through. Their ripped blue jeans, white t-shirts, and Joey just singing, left foot forward, what must have been 30 songs, in between each the bassist would yell 1-2-3-4.

The crowd wasn't trying to kill each other. It was intense and fun. It was one of the few sets that day that left a smile on my face.

I hope they play the Blitzkrieg Bop in Heaven.

The surname 'Ramone' was chosen because 'Paul Ramone' was an alias that Paul McCartney often used.