Difference between revisions of "Joey Ramone" - New World Encyclopedia
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===Early life=== | ===Early life=== | ||
| − | Hyman grew up in Forest Hills, | + | Hyman was born and grew up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York, of Jewish heritage. In his youth, he was something of an outcast and a non-conformist. His parents divorced in the early 1960s, and he struggle to relate to several father figures. His mother, Charlotte Lesher, remarried and encouraged an interest in music in both him and his brother Mitchell (a.k.a. Mickey Leigh, who became a musician of his own). |
| − | + | Joey met the other future members of the Ramones growing up together in Forest Hills, and knew them as fellow members of the same general music scene, interested in the more primitive rock sounds of bands like the New York Dolls and the Stooges. Joey was also a big fan of The Who, among other bands (particularly pre-Beatles rock groups and the Phil Spector produced "Girl Groups"). His first instrument was the drums, which he played throughout his teen years, and he was actually the original drummer of the Ramones. | |
| − | + | Joey had actually been lead singer for a glam rock band called Sniper before joining Tommy, Johnny and Dee Dee, and forming the Ramones in 1974, and playing their first gig on March 30, 1974 at a rehearsal facility in Manhattan.<ref>http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/articles/story/5933208/the_father_of_punk</ref> Dee Dee Ramone was actually the Ramones' original vocalist, but proved to be unsuited for the position, losing his voice after only a few songs, so upon Tommy Ramone's suggestion, Joey switched to vocals. They united around their mutual distaste for what they perceived as the bloated and over-blown brand of rock music popular at the time (embodied by bands like Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Led Zeppelin).<ref>http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/articles/story/5933208/the_father_of_punk</ref> In response, they created a strikingly stripped-down, simple and extremely energetic brand of rock and roll, devoid of guitar solos or drum fills. As Rolling Stone magazine notes: "the Ramones shaped the sound of punk rock in New York with simple, fast songs, deadpan lyrics, no solos, and an impenetrable wall of guitar chords."<ref>http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/biography</ref> | |
| + | |||
| + | Every member of the band took a stage name with Ramone as their last name, and adopted the unified visual aesthetic of black leather jackets, long black hair and ripped jeans. Despite the general perception of the band as somewhat primitive or simple-minded due to the subject matter of songs like "I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "The KKK Took My Baby Away", and "Teenage Lobotomy", and the simplicity of their instrumentation, the band actually carefully crafted their image and approach. As David Byrne of the Talking Heads, one of the Ramones fellow bands in the New York punk scene remembers: | ||
| + | |||
| + | <blockquote> | ||
| + | "The whole image was dress-up rebellion... They were the only band I knew of that had an art director. Joey and Arturo [Vega] worked very closely together. There was a loft right around the corner that we could all visit and hang out. Arturo had these giant pop-art posters of supermarket signs. I thought, 'This is much more planned out than it appears to be.' Recently, I read an interview where they said, 'We figured out what we would look like before we figured out what to play.' This was like a high-concept packaged-band thing, but they did it to themselves. It was brilliant."<ref>''[http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/articles/story/5933208/the_father_of_punk The Father of Punk - Joey Ramone: 1951-2001]'' by David Fricke, Rolling Stone Magazine</ref> | ||
| + | </blockquote> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Although considered one of the founding fathers of punk rock, Joey Ramone was actually thought of as the "hippie" of the band. | ||
===Ramones=== | ===Ramones=== | ||
Revision as of 05:46, 3 September 2007
| Joey Ramone | |
|---|---|
 Joey Ramone (c.1980)
| |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jeffrey Ross Hyman |
| Born | May 19, 1951 Queens, New York, USA
|
| Died | April 15 2001 (aged 49) New York City, New York, USA
|
| Genre(s) | Punk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Drums |
| Years active | 1974 - 2001 |
| Label(s) | Sire |
| Associated acts | The Ramones |
Joey Ramone (May 19 1951 – April 15 2001), born as Jeffry Ross Hyman, was a singer and songwriter, lead vocalist of the legendary punk rock group the Ramones. A member from their inception in 1974, until their retirement in 1996 (he and bandmate Johnny Ramone were the two original members to never leave the band), he is an iconic figure in rock and roll history. As the voice of the Ramones, he played a pivotal role in the establishment and formation of punk rock, and thus in the creative revitalization and flowering of musical styles that followed from it.
Biography
Early life
Hyman was born and grew up in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York, of Jewish heritage. In his youth, he was something of an outcast and a non-conformist. His parents divorced in the early 1960s, and he struggle to relate to several father figures. His mother, Charlotte Lesher, remarried and encouraged an interest in music in both him and his brother Mitchell (a.k.a. Mickey Leigh, who became a musician of his own).
Joey met the other future members of the Ramones growing up together in Forest Hills, and knew them as fellow members of the same general music scene, interested in the more primitive rock sounds of bands like the New York Dolls and the Stooges. Joey was also a big fan of The Who, among other bands (particularly pre-Beatles rock groups and the Phil Spector produced "Girl Groups"). His first instrument was the drums, which he played throughout his teen years, and he was actually the original drummer of the Ramones.
Joey had actually been lead singer for a glam rock band called Sniper before joining Tommy, Johnny and Dee Dee, and forming the Ramones in 1974, and playing their first gig on March 30, 1974 at a rehearsal facility in Manhattan.[1] Dee Dee Ramone was actually the Ramones' original vocalist, but proved to be unsuited for the position, losing his voice after only a few songs, so upon Tommy Ramone's suggestion, Joey switched to vocals. They united around their mutual distaste for what they perceived as the bloated and over-blown brand of rock music popular at the time (embodied by bands like Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Led Zeppelin).[2] In response, they created a strikingly stripped-down, simple and extremely energetic brand of rock and roll, devoid of guitar solos or drum fills. As Rolling Stone magazine notes: "the Ramones shaped the sound of punk rock in New York with simple, fast songs, deadpan lyrics, no solos, and an impenetrable wall of guitar chords."[3]
Every member of the band took a stage name with Ramone as their last name, and adopted the unified visual aesthetic of black leather jackets, long black hair and ripped jeans. Despite the general perception of the band as somewhat primitive or simple-minded due to the subject matter of songs like "I Wanna Sniff Some Glue", "The KKK Took My Baby Away", and "Teenage Lobotomy", and the simplicity of their instrumentation, the band actually carefully crafted their image and approach. As David Byrne of the Talking Heads, one of the Ramones fellow bands in the New York punk scene remembers:
"The whole image was dress-up rebellion... They were the only band I knew of that had an art director. Joey and Arturo [Vega] worked very closely together. There was a loft right around the corner that we could all visit and hang out. Arturo had these giant pop-art posters of supermarket signs. I thought, 'This is much more planned out than it appears to be.' Recently, I read an interview where they said, 'We figured out what we would look like before we figured out what to play.' This was like a high-concept packaged-band thing, but they did it to themselves. It was brilliant."[4]
Although considered one of the founding fathers of punk rock, Joey Ramone was actually thought of as the "hippie" of the band.
Ramones
Hyman was said to be the "heart and soul" of the Ramones, and his favorite songs from their repertoire often were the ballads and love songs. C.J. Ramone called him the "hippie of the group."[5]
Hyman did not speak to guitarist Cummings (Johnny Ramone) for many years. This animosity began when Cummings "stole" Hyman's girlfriend Linda, whom Cummings later married. Cummings discusses this animosity in End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones. The documentary also claims that love triangle prompted Hyman to write "The KKK Took My Baby Away" for the Pleasant Dreams album. They also were strongly averse to each other's politics, Hyman being a liberal while Cummings was a staunch conservative. The pair never truly resolved their differences.
Personal Life and Appearance
Hyman stood at six feet six inches tall, with a long shock of black hair that almost completely obscured his face, and an ectomorphic form (a result of being born with Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder that produces a gaunt body structure, with elongated limbs and distorted facial features). He also suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder for which he checked himself into clinics when symptoms became unbearable.[6]
Other projects
In 1985, Joey joined Little Steven Van Zandt's music-industry activist group Artists United Against Apartheid which acted against the Sun City resort in South Africa. Joey and forty-nine other top recording artists, including Springsteen, U2, Bob Dylan and Run DMC, collaborated on a song called "Sun City" in which they pledged they would never perform at the resort.
In 1994, he formed Sibling Rivalry with his brother Mickey Leigh. They had one release, the In a Family Way EP.
Joey appeared on the Helen Love album Love and Glitter, Hot Days and Music singing the track Punk Boy. Helen Love returned the favour, singing on Joey's song Mr. Punchy.
Hyman co-wrote and recorded the song "Meatball Sandwich" with Youth Gone Mad. For a short time before his death, he took the role of manager and producer for the punk rock group The Independents Independents band Bio.
His last recording as a vocalist was singing backup vocals on the CD One Nation Under by the Dine Navajo rock group Blackfire. He appeared on two tracks, "What Do You See" and "Lying to Myself". The CD, released in 2002, won "Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year" at the 2002 Native American Music Awards.[7]
Death
Joey Ramone died of lymphoma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on April 15 2001. He apparently had had lymphoma for a little over four years; he was sighted at a New York City cancer clinic that specializes in lymphoma in the mid 1990s. Countless memorials, both by fans and the rockers he influenced, followed.
He was listening to the song "In a Little While" by U2 when he died.[8] This was during U2's Elevation Tour, and from that point on during shows Bono would introduce the song as a tune that was originally about a lovestruck hangover but that Joey turned it into a gospel song.
His solo album Don't Worry About Me was released posthumously in 2002, and features the single "What a Wonderful World", a cover of the Louis Armstrong standard.
MTV News claimed: "With his trademark rose-colored shades, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, ripped jeans and alternately snarling and crooning, hiccoughing vocals, Joey was the iconic godfather of punk."[9]
On November 30 2003, a block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place.[10] It is the block where Hyman once lived with bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, and is near CBGB, where the Ramones got their start. Hyman's birthday is celebrated annually by rock'n'roll nightclubs, hosted in New York City by his mother and brother. Joey was buried in Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, NJ.
Vocal Style
Joey Ramone's vocal style was unorthodox in that he had no formal training in an era where vocal proficiency was a normality for most rock bands. His signature cracks, hiccups, snarls, crooning and youthful voice became one of punk rock's most recognizable voices. Allmusic.com claims that "Joey Ramone's signature bleat was the voice of punk rock in America."[11] As his vocals matured and deepened through his career, so did the Ramones' songwriting, leaving a notable difference from Joey's initial melodic and callow style—two notable tracks serving as examples are Somebody Put Something in My Drink and Mama's Boy.
Notes and references
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/articles/story/5933208/the_father_of_punk
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/articles/story/5933208/the_father_of_punk
- ↑ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theramones/biography
- ↑ The Father of Punk - Joey Ramone: 1951-2001 by David Fricke, Rolling Stone Magazine
- ↑ MyRamones
- ↑ WordPress
- ↑ Blackfire.net
- ↑ VH1 news
- ↑ MTV News Obituary
- ↑ Officialramones.com
- ↑ Allmusic.com—Joey Ramone
External links
- The Official Joey Ramone Website
- Monte A. Melnick Ramones Tour Manager "On The Road With The Ramones" [1]
Template:Ramones
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