The Ramones' music has influenced nearly every power pop, punk, alternative, and metal band. Monte A. Melnick served as The Ramones tour manager from their early New York club days in the '70s to their farewell gigs in 1996. He was the fifth Ramone and was there through the arrests, the ODs the fights, the break-ups, the make-ups, the girlfriends, the hotels and the binges. Filled with memorabilia including photographs and interviews collected along the way, this is his view of life on the road with the band as "babysitter to psychiatrist, booking agent to travel agent, paymaster to van driver."
A photo-packed memoir by the Ramones guitarist and “true iconoclast” (Publishers Weekly). Raised in Queens, New York, Johnny Ramone founded one of the most influential rock bands of all time, but he never strayed from his blue-collar roots and attitude. He was truly imbued with the angry-young-man spirit that would characterize his persona both on and off stage. Through it all, Johnny kept the band focused and moving forward, ultimately securing their place in music history by inventing punk rock. The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002—and two years later, Johnny died of cancer, having outlived two other founding members. Revealing, inspiring, and told on his own terms, this memoir also features Johnny’s assessment of the Ramones’ albums; a number of eccentric Top Ten lists; rare historical artifacts; and scores of personal and professional photos, many of which have never before been published. “Feels like a conversation with Johnny.” —The Boston Globe
"Ramones at 40 chronicles in words and photos the music of the legendary band that helped spearhead the punk rock movement, from their early days in New York City to their last tour and album. Published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of their first album, and with a foreword by Ramones bassist CJ Ramone, this book is a must-have for all fans of the kings of punk"--Page 4 of cover.
The Ramones' logo T-shirts and "Hey! Ho! Let's go!" chant are familiar around the world, but a lot of people might not know the degree to which the Ramones reshaped pop music. Striking photographs, fascinating personal facts, and an engaging narrative will show readers how the band unleashed punk rock on the world with two-minute bursts of energy, combining bubblegum pop sensibilities with teenage boredom and pop culture references that created a wall of sound unlike anything audiences had heard before. This book reveals how the Ramones helped create a style of music that continues to resonate from sweaty clubs to baseball stadiums.
Beginning with rockabilly, moving on to folk music, sliding over to electric, and falling into a psychedelic phase, like a chameleon Bob Dylan has changed his skin repeatedly over the years, juggling his image with apparent ease and subverting the prevailing social and aesthetic models each time. His Supro guitar and the leather jacket - reminiscent of James Dean; the muse of his hobo period Suze Rotolo and his legendary Triumph Bonneville; the Newport Jazz Festival and the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village: artist Matteo Guarnaccia has documented this pilgrimage of styles stage by stage, year by year, with a wealth of detail. The clothes, faces, music and places of those years become subjects to colour in, paper-dolls to dress, and board games to assemble, while the characters of his songs provide the members of a colorful circus. This is the ultimate collector's activity-book to be approached with glue, scissors and coloring pencils, dedicated to all the fans of the legendary singer-songwriter.
A raw, edgy, emotional novel about growing up punk and living to tell. The Clash. Social Distortion. Dead Kennedys. Patti Smith. The Ramones. Punk rock is in Emily Black's blood. Her mother, Louisa, hit the road to follow the incendiary music scene when Emily was four months old and never came back. Now Emily's all grown up with a punk band of her own, determined to find the tune that will bring her mother home. Because if Louisa really is following the music, shouldn't it lead her right back to Emily?
The “entertaining and enlightening” (Stephen King) final word on the genius and mischief of the Ramones, told by the man who created the beat behind their iconic music and lived to tell about it. When punk rock reared its spiky head in the early seventies, Marc Bell had the best seat in the house. Already a young veteran of the prototype American metal band Dust, Bell took residence in artistic, seedy Lower Manhattan, where he played drums in bands that would shape rock music for decades to come, including Wayne County, who pioneered transsexual rock, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids, who directly inspired the entire early British punk scene. If punk had royalty, in 1978 Marc became part of it when he was knighted “Marky Ramone” by Johnny, Joey, and Dee Dee of the iconoclastic Ramones. The band of tough misfits were a natural fit for Marky, who dressed punk before there was punk, and who brought his “blitzkrieg” style of drumming as well as the studio and stage experience the band needed to solidify its lineup. Together, they changed the world. But Marky Ramone changed, too. The epic wear and tear of a dysfunctional group (and the Ramones were a step beyond dysfunction) endlessly crisscrossing the country and the world in an Econoline—practically a psychiatric ward on wheels—drove Marky from partying to alcoholism. When his life started to look more out of control then Dee Dee’s, he knew he had a problem. Marky left music in the mid-eighties to enter recovery and eventually returned to help the Ramones finally receive their due as one of the greatest and most influential bands of all time. Covering in unflinching detail the cult film Rock ’N’ Roll High School to “I Wanna Be Sedated” to Marky’s own struggles, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg is an authentic and always honest look at the people who reinvented rock music, and not a moment too soon.
1-2-3-4… Let’s rock! Teach your little ones how to count—and introduce them to The Ramones—with this colorful counting book inspired by the legendary Johnny Ramone! An official Johnny Ramone book, inspired by some of Johnny’s favorite things: Elvis, baseball, cartoons, sci-fi and so much more! This fun children’s counting book combines punk rock themes with educational resources to provide fun for both parent and child. It even includes an introduction by Linda Ramone! Each page is filled with vibrant, attention-grabbing illustrations that take kids on a journey where they can join Johnny in outer space, help him pick out punk clothes for an upcoming show, make friends with monsters, and explore New York City with his wife, Linda. Both counting book and punk rock collector’s item, this book is the perfect addition to your family’s collection of Ramones musical history!
From former SNL "Weekend Update" host and legendary stand-up Colin Quinn comes a controversial and laugh-out-loud investigation into cultural and ethnic stereotypes. Colin Quinn has noticed a trend during his decades on the road-that Americans' increasing political correctness and sensitivity have forced us to tiptoe around the subjects of race and ethnicity altogether. Colin wants to know: What are we all so afraid of? Every ethnic group has differences, everyone brings something different to the table, and this diversity should be celebrated, not denied. So why has acknowledging these cultural differences become so taboo? In The Coloring Book, Colin, a native New Yorker, tackles this issue head-on while taking us on a trip through the insane melting pot of 1970s Brooklyn, the many, many dive bars of 1980s Manhattan, the comedy scene of the 1990s, and post-9/11 America. He mixes his incredibly candid and hilarious personal experiences with no-holds-barred observations to definitively decide, at least in his own mind, which stereotypes are funny, which stereotypes are based on truths, which have become totally distorted over time, and which are actually offensive to each group, and why. As it pokes holes in the tapestry of fear that has overtaken discussions about race, The Coloring Book serves as an antidote to our paralysis when it comes to laughing at ourselves . . . and others.
