Post by outgirl on Sept 17, 2004 15:38:04 GMT -5
Punk rocker Johnny Ramone dead at 55
The New York Times
www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2416464
Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone, the stone-faced guitarist of the punk band the Ramones, whose fast, buzzsaw blasts of noise laid the foundation for a school of rock guitar, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 55.
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in three years, following Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in 2001, and Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose the following year. Of the original band, only Tommy Ramone (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Ramone helped create the sound of punk. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players such as Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom Delonge of Blink-182.
Ramone's guitar style was ''pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence,'' he once said. ''I wanted our sound to be as original as possible. I stopped listening to everything.''
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his role in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress - in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
''He was the boss and you worked for him," said Danny Fields, the group's first manager. "He was very demanding but very right.''
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including the untitled first record; ''Leave Home'' (1977); ''Rocket to Russia'' (1977); ''End of the Century'' (1980); and ''Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. When on the road, Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
Fields said that after the band broke up, Ramone did not work again. ''Johnny's goal was to retire,'' he said. ''He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' ''
The New York Times
www.sltrib.com/nationworld/ci_2416464
Johnny Ramone
Johnny Ramone, the stone-faced guitarist of the punk band the Ramones, whose fast, buzzsaw blasts of noise laid the foundation for a school of rock guitar, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 55.
The cause was prostate cancer, said Arturo Vega, the band's longtime artistic director and spokesman.
Ramone, born John Cummings, is the third member of the Ramones to die in three years, following Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Hyman), the singer, who died of cancer in 2001, and Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), the bassist, who died of an apparent drug overdose the following year. Of the original band, only Tommy Ramone (Tom Erdelyi), the drummer, survives.
By stripping rock guitar of its ornamentation and playing almost every note in a violent, accelerated downstroke, Ramone helped create the sound of punk. His style - fast, repetitive and aggressive, though always tuneful - influenced, directly or indirectly, almost every punk guitarist since, from the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and contemporary players such as Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day and Tom Delonge of Blink-182.
Ramone's guitar style was ''pure, white rock 'n' roll, with no blues influence,'' he once said. ''I wanted our sound to be as original as possible. I stopped listening to everything.''
Seldom lightening the scowl on his face, Ramone performed with a determination that mirrored his role in the band. Each member had a clearly defined role, musical and otherwise, and Johnny's was the taskmaster. He conducted the band's business affairs and led the group in details ranging from its sound to its mode of dress - in leather jackets, ripped jeans and scruffy sneakers, the band always presented a unified visual front of a punk army in uniform.
''He was the boss and you worked for him," said Danny Fields, the group's first manager. "He was very demanding but very right.''
Though the band never had a major hit, it persisted for 22 years and more than a dozen studio albums, including the untitled first record; ''Leave Home'' (1977); ''Rocket to Russia'' (1977); ''End of the Century'' (1980); and ''Adios Amigos'' (1995), its last. When on the road, Ramone carefully kept track of details from each concert. The band played its final gig, No. 2,263, on Aug. 6, 1996, at the Palace in Los Angeles.
Fields said that after the band broke up, Ramone did not work again. ''Johnny's goal was to retire,'' he said. ''He was proud of what he did, but he still wanted to stop. People would ask him, 'What are you going to do when there's no more band?' And he would say, 'Watch baseball and horror movies.' ''
