Johann
01-13-2011, 02:04 PM
END OF THE CENTURY: The Story of the Ramones
I bought this DVD for 9 bucks.
A Rhino/Sire release, it has been called the most accurate film statement on that most Incredible of Rock Bands: the Ramones of Queens New York.
It's loaded with tons of vintage footage (black and white and raw) of the band members in their youth right up to their induction into the Rock Hall of Fame. I never knew that Joey had an obsessive compulsive disorder or that Dee Dee was a male whore/hustler on 53rd street. (and that later footage of Dee Dee as a rapper- Holy Mother of God what a howl...I could totally see Johnny NOT being impressed...)
Their personalities were quite different from each other.
Joey was shy, kind of a hippie leftist (and considered a freak- they say he almost had to become cool to overcome his distinct physical appearance).
Johnny was strongly right wing and a little Napoleonic (he even said "God Bless George Bush" at the Hall of Fame ceremony- yikes) and he managed the bands' finances. The most "serious" of the Ramones, he's a complex character. But a Hell of a guitar player Mang...
Dee Dee was just a messed up dude with emotional and drug addiction problems- I'm amazed that he was part of such a vital and gigantic outfit as the Ramones- he seemed more wacky to me than Johnny Thunders. Someone even points out in the film that Dee Dee wanted to be in Thunders' group the Heartbreakers- a group of junkies! He didn't want that Ramone haircut or leather jacket uniform- he would wear anything. Dee Dee was/is hilarious to me.
Tommy was treated badly we learn, that he was routinely told his place, even though he was the one who pestered the group to get together and pushed for Joey to be the lead singer ("He'll look good between you and Dee Dee" he said to Johnny). And for a guy who just started playing the drums because he HAD TO, with no training, says quite a lot about the DIY ethic and balls it sometimes takes to make a band take off.
The sheer velocity of the songs made everyone who heard 'em stop in their tracks.
No guitar solos, just sheer LOUD punk rock came out of those amps. And the songs were really good.
The President of Sire says that he signed the Ramones because of their songs- they had good songs. That's it.
That's what he was looking for as a major record label boss: good songs.
We learn of the famous 1976 Roundhouse show that the band played with the Flaming Groovies and the Stranglers in London England, a place they never even considered going to because they couldn't even get jobs in New Jersey- why England? But they went, and they inspired countless peeps to start bands: The Sex-Pistols, the Clash, the Damned...all these bands began because of the Ramones showing the world that "anybody can do it".
Johnny says in the film that he felt that the Ramones were untouchable until the Clash. When he heard the Clash he said "these guys are as good as us"- No other bands could compare to the Ramones according to Johnny, and I got the impression that for him, the Ramones were LIFE. He talks briefly about Joey's death in 2001 and how he cared, because "he was with us. He was a Ramone".
the Ramones' story has that nasty "stolen girlfriend" thing running through it, and Johnny doesn't deny it. But he's clearly uncomfortable with discussing it. Because we all know that that grudge was held until Joey died...
Bottom line, if you give a shit about music history in any capacity then you can't miss this doc.
It's too good and too important.
It's in glorious 5.1 surround sound too.
CRANK THAT GABBA GABBA WE SHIT UP!!!!!
I bought this DVD for 9 bucks.
A Rhino/Sire release, it has been called the most accurate film statement on that most Incredible of Rock Bands: the Ramones of Queens New York.
It's loaded with tons of vintage footage (black and white and raw) of the band members in their youth right up to their induction into the Rock Hall of Fame. I never knew that Joey had an obsessive compulsive disorder or that Dee Dee was a male whore/hustler on 53rd street. (and that later footage of Dee Dee as a rapper- Holy Mother of God what a howl...I could totally see Johnny NOT being impressed...)
Their personalities were quite different from each other.
Joey was shy, kind of a hippie leftist (and considered a freak- they say he almost had to become cool to overcome his distinct physical appearance).
Johnny was strongly right wing and a little Napoleonic (he even said "God Bless George Bush" at the Hall of Fame ceremony- yikes) and he managed the bands' finances. The most "serious" of the Ramones, he's a complex character. But a Hell of a guitar player Mang...
Dee Dee was just a messed up dude with emotional and drug addiction problems- I'm amazed that he was part of such a vital and gigantic outfit as the Ramones- he seemed more wacky to me than Johnny Thunders. Someone even points out in the film that Dee Dee wanted to be in Thunders' group the Heartbreakers- a group of junkies! He didn't want that Ramone haircut or leather jacket uniform- he would wear anything. Dee Dee was/is hilarious to me.
Tommy was treated badly we learn, that he was routinely told his place, even though he was the one who pestered the group to get together and pushed for Joey to be the lead singer ("He'll look good between you and Dee Dee" he said to Johnny). And for a guy who just started playing the drums because he HAD TO, with no training, says quite a lot about the DIY ethic and balls it sometimes takes to make a band take off.
The sheer velocity of the songs made everyone who heard 'em stop in their tracks.
No guitar solos, just sheer LOUD punk rock came out of those amps. And the songs were really good.
The President of Sire says that he signed the Ramones because of their songs- they had good songs. That's it.
That's what he was looking for as a major record label boss: good songs.
We learn of the famous 1976 Roundhouse show that the band played with the Flaming Groovies and the Stranglers in London England, a place they never even considered going to because they couldn't even get jobs in New Jersey- why England? But they went, and they inspired countless peeps to start bands: The Sex-Pistols, the Clash, the Damned...all these bands began because of the Ramones showing the world that "anybody can do it".
Johnny says in the film that he felt that the Ramones were untouchable until the Clash. When he heard the Clash he said "these guys are as good as us"- No other bands could compare to the Ramones according to Johnny, and I got the impression that for him, the Ramones were LIFE. He talks briefly about Joey's death in 2001 and how he cared, because "he was with us. He was a Ramone".
the Ramones' story has that nasty "stolen girlfriend" thing running through it, and Johnny doesn't deny it. But he's clearly uncomfortable with discussing it. Because we all know that that grudge was held until Joey died...
Bottom line, if you give a shit about music history in any capacity then you can't miss this doc.
It's too good and too important.
It's in glorious 5.1 surround sound too.
CRANK THAT GABBA GABBA WE SHIT UP!!!!!