Joey Ramone

Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone was a “punk rock” pioneer and the substance of which the phrase was coined. Born Jeff Hyman in Queens New York he took up the drums at an early age. By 1973 he was playing drums in a band called “Sniper”. It wasn’t too long after that when he and neighborhood chums formed “The Ramones” , taken after Paul McCartney’s early stage name of “Ramon”. The boys, fed up with 70’s rock decided to create there own distinctive style of music that would later come to be known as “punk rock”. The “Ramones” sound punctuated by wailing three chord guitar thrash, driving bass lines and Joey’s vocals struck a chord with the burgeoning youth underground of the New York area. When management came along they quickly moved Joey out front to lead vocals and replaced him on drums with Thomas Erdelyi who became “Tommy Ramone”. With their black leather jackets, white t-shirts, shades, faded-out jeans and Joey’s bean-pole frame barking out the vocals hunched over a microphone the “Ramones” were a force to be reckoned with. They took up residence and the famed CBGB’s and by 1975 were whipping the crowds into a frenzy. Hated by radio with little or no airplay the Ramones never “cashed-in” on their punk rock fame. 1977’s “Rocket to Russia” and the single “I want to be sedated” was the highlight of their recording career. They appeared in the movie “Rock-n-roll high school” and released a song of the same name. By 1980 “new wave” had taken over as the new sound and the punk scene dried-up, but the “Ramones” never sold-out and tried to forge ahead. Internal tensions between group members finally killed the band.Joey was a frequent guest on the “king of all media” Howard Stern’s show were band members during heated arguments would take shots at each other, claiming Joey had two sets of teeth and was one half of a siamese twin. But Joey was the creative force of the “Ramones” and his simplistic lyrical genius left an indelible stamp on rock and roll history. Diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1993, Joey finally succumbed to his illness and passed away on Easter Sunday, 2001 at the age of 49