I Want Him To Be Well

Bad news from the rock n' roll front: The Ramones' legendarily cranky-conservative guitarist Johnny is in an L.A. hospital, "fighting a losing battle with cancer," reports CNN.

Everything I, and then Nick Gillespie and I, had to say in relation to singer Joey Ramone's legacy when he died back in 2001 bears repeating about his guitarist partner (and often sparring partner) Johnny. And it bears mentioning again and again that this guy is truly one of the greatest rock n' roll guitarists ever, brutally simple, contagiously fun, an innovator and a stylist without peer and an inspiration to almost all who ever heard him. Hoping hard that this isn't goodbye, and may his wall of perfect buzzsaw grind ring out forever.

Comments

[Jeff]

Creepy, yet somewhat fitting, that punk icons are dying younger and with nore regularity than the rock icons of the 60s.

[philip]

From MTV.com:

Johnny Ramone is not dying, according to his doctor.

The Ramones guitarist, who has been living with prostate cancer for the past several years, was recently admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with what his physician, Dr. David Agus, told MTV News was a "complication from the cancer. But he got through it, and he's now on a new, experimental therapy. He's fighting courageously, and I think he will be going home in the near term."

I hope his doctor's optimism isn't just for show.

[Larry]

What's it with the Ramones? They're not related but they all seem to die young. They leave home and the next thing you know they're on the road to ruin.

[Xboy]

summer 1976/ me a skinny pimply 19-year-old/ moved back in with my folks/ working in a record store/ scored a promo copy of the Ramones' first album/ the owner was about to throw away/ listened to it in my bedroom/ couldn't believe how good it was/ they did the impossible/ 14 great songs loud fast and funny/ not once showing off their breadth or sensitivity/ or guitar solo skills/ the way every other band/ (even the ones i liked)/ did/ played it again/ louder than before/ danced on top of the bed/ mom came in with a worried look/ "is it all like this?" she asked/ "yeah!" i shouted back "isn't it great?"/ next day i bought my first black t-shirt/ thanks johnny joey tommy dee dee/ you changed my life

[JSM]

But he got through it, and he's now on a new, experimental therapy.

Word of mouth has it that medical marijuana has been Johnny's best friend lately. I would certainly like to know more about it, especially if its true. However, in the spirit of Tommy Chong, I don't blame him for remaining silent about it.

[Douglas Fletcher]

"... an inspiration to almost all who ever heard him..."

I hope he gets well soon and lives a long life, but I'm sorry, if a guy who plays 3-chord songs is a big inspiration for you, good luck. He seems like an interesting guy & his lyrics are funny and to the point, but musically his tunes are pretty thin gruel. I got the joke about ten seconds after I first heard one of their songs, and I can't say that it's gotten any funnier or deeper in the 25+ years since then.

[Pavel]

Joey, Deedee, and now possibly Johnny. Not to mention the recent suicide of Bob Quine. Guess it's show time for that great gig in the sky and no one wants to miss it.

Deedee was always my favorite. And true to form he was the only one to go in true punk rock style.

In the words of Long John Silver, Them that die be the lucky ones.

[Pavel]

I'm sorry, if a guy who plays 3-chord songs is a big inspiration for you, good luck.

Talk about missing the point.

Not that I'm going to bother with why everyone should love the Ramones, but here's a snippet from Richard Hell that nicely sums up these guys' underappreciate sense of humor and anti-style.

All their songs were two minutes long, and I asked them the names of all their songs. They had maybe five or six at the time: "I Don't Wanna Go Down To The Basement," "I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You," "I Don't Wanna Be Learned , I Don't Wanna Be Tamed," and "I Don't Wanna" something else...

And then Dee Dee said, "We didn't write a positive song until 'Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.'"

[kevrob]

John never smoked cigarettes, he wasn't a heavy drinker and he was always into his health.

Man, I hope the health mullahs don't blame the Big C on the kosher salamis.

The Ramones weren't just a joke. For those of us who cared, they reclaimed rock n' roll from the hippies and prog-rock noodlers. They made rock dance music again. Not only wouldn't my parents get the Ramones, my older brothers couldn't get them. Of course, those of us who were clued in to them in their early days were an isolated few, awash in a sea of Styx fans and discoids, but they were ours, dammit!

Gabba, Gabba

Kevin

[Douglas Fletcher]

Wow, that's pretty heavy, Pavel. Completely changes my perspective.

[Rick Barton]

SST?

[joe]

It's amazing how they managed to be musically revolutionary, without being wankish at all. On any given Sonic Youth album, for example, there's some interlude that makes you say, "Well, they gave it a shot. It was experimental." But nothing the Ramones did sounds like it didn't work, even though it didn't sound that anything else that was being done at the time.

[Nick Gillespie]

The Dee Dee fans out there might enjoy my homage to him from a few years back (note: it comes at the end of a longish piece about Mick Jagger's knighthood). It's online here.

[Russ D]

Now "Johnny's Gonna Die" has twice the impact on me.

[dhex]

eh. good luck to him, but eh.

i'll take the sst catalogue anyday.

[joe]

No Ramones, no SST.

[Rick Barton]

Blitzkrieg Bop is a rockin little tune. Simple, but rockin.

[dhex]

eh, i'd definitely disagree with that. wildly different takes on a similar base, maybe.

how about no stooges, no nobody? 🙂

[kevrob]

SST: L.A. based punk label that got started a few years after Da Bruddas released their first LP. Black Flag was their big gun.

http://www.furious.com/perfect/sst1.html

Kevin

[Rick Barton]

Got it. Thanks Kevin