What a still wonderful world

 

There are so many fascinating facts about singer Joey Ramone and his band, the seminal Ramones that we will clearly not mention them all here. Then again, we also don’t know them all. But here goes… For starters, and despite what the name would imply, the members were not brothers by any stretch of the imagination — and none of them were actually called Ramone. No, the name stems from founding bassist Dee Dee Ramone (real name: Douglas Colvin) using it on stage as a nod to Beatle (Sir) Paul McCartney’s one-time pseudonym Paul Ramon. The rest of the band followed suit, finding it fitting: that’s just one of many cool things you get to know when you look under the hood…

Another thing you will readily find out (if you try) is that the Ramones were in many ways the first punk rock band — ever. Granted, you had precursors like the immense Iggy Pop and his Stooges, but the punk sonic iteration really took shape with Joey and his mates. The band was formed in 1974, a year before the (also) seminal Sex Pistols in London, UK. Their first album, soberly entitled Ramones, was released in 1976, also a year before the (also) seminal Sex Pistols debut, Never Mind The Bollocks… Even more to the point, US music magazine Punk celebrated the band’s work early on, the very magazine that helped popularize the term “punk”, for obvious reasons. As it happens, the iconic artwork of the guys’ debut album was taken by Punk photographer Roberta Bayley. Historic, we tell you…

The longest song on that (now) seminal album (it shockingly bombed upon release) only lasts 2 and a half minutes. Lead single “Blitzkrieg Pop” says it all: the guys were after speed, energy, intensity far more than anything else. And they kept at it throughout an eventful couple of decades, several personnel changes and 14 studio albums in total. Their last album, released in 1995 and aptly named ¡Adios Amigos!, meant that every member was now primed for solo endeavours. Joey Ramone’s first LP only came in 2002, however, and was posthumous: as it happens, the legendary singer got diagnosed with lymphoma on that same year the band released their final work. Hi did not disclose it until years later, though, as he was working on his album.

2002’s Don’t Worry About Me contains Ramone’s now classic rendition of “What a Wonderful World“, one of the few occasions in modern popular music when an absolute classic gets covered, and its cover itself becomes a classic… RIP Joey, we will keep listening to your work for many years to come!