Saturday, July 12, 2014

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

The Ramones.



RIP, Tommy Ramone.
Tommy Ramone, the original drummer for the Ramones and the band's last surviving original member, died on Friday at the age of 65. A spokesman for Ramone's family confirmed the news to Rolling Stone.

"Tom died yesterday, July 11, at 12:15 p.m. at his home in Ridgewood, Queens," Andy Schwartz, publisher of New York Rocker magazine, said on behalf of Ramone's family. "He was in hospice care following treatment for cancer of the bile duct." (Schwartz also confirmed Ramone's age as 65.)

Ramone was a founding member of the family of "brothers" who helped invent punk rock in New York's frenetic 1970s music scene. Harnessing a powerful combination of short, propulsive three-chord singalongs with playful lyrics on themes of adolescent angst, the Ramones created a durable sound in songs like "Beat on the Brat," "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" that would go on to influence countless later bands.
Waaay too damned young.

2 comments:

  1. Alas, about the only punk rock (and I use the term rock lightly) I could listen to was Blondie. Although they only had about 3 albums before they went lame.

    Some people wear their bodies out. My brother died at 66 and he lived hard, lived fast, and his bucket list was complete. Although his five ex-wives will all have to go get a job now... He went to the VA to get some pain help for some war wounds that came back to cripple him. They gave him enough drugs to OD on, which he did. He had a whole fruit bowl full of hard-core narcotics. The street value paid for his funeral and his car.

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    Replies
    1. There's some punk I like, including the Ramones. I'm sorry about your brother, but you indicate he lived a full life. That's all anyone can ask for, regardless of how long they live.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.