The First Time I Saw Joey Ramone: For His Birthday (May 19, 1951)

Text by Shari Edmands / FFanzeen, 2023

Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2023
Images from the Internet

I became acquainted with Shari while she worked at Max’s Kansas City, in the late 1970s. She is an amazing artist and cartoonist, and I published a few of her humorous Max’s Funnies in the print version of my physical FFanzeen in the early 1980s. This is a reprint of a Facebook blog on May 19, 2023 that she wrote about the first time she was Joey Ramone perform in a pre-Ramones band which shared a bill with SUICIDE, reprinted with her permission. – Robert Barry Francos, 2023

 

Sniper

The First Time I Saw Joey Ramone: For His Birthday (May 19, 1951)

The very first time I saw Joey Ramone perform live was as “Jeff Starship,” fronting the glam rock band (we called it “glitter” back then) SNIPER, at Coventry, on Queens Blvd in Sunnyside, Queens in 1973. I was 16 at the time and going to Art & Design High School in the city. SNIPER was opening for a duo that my Art & Design friends and I had heard much about, and we’d gone to check out: SUICIDE. We knew the singer was a painter/sculptor/installation artist that was getting a lot of attention, so we were intrigued.

When we got to the club, we found a place to sit on the floor about twelve feet from the stage. The crowd all found seats on the floor around us. The room filled up fast.

When the lights went down, and SNIPER got on stage, I was immediately spellbound by the lanky front man with bangs and sunglasses. First of all, he was taller than anybody I had ever seen in my entire life – let alone someone fronting a rock and roll band. Even without the 8-inch-high hot pink platform boots he was wearing, he would’ve been taller than anyone I’d ever seen. Super long skinny legs in hot pink shiny hip-hugger spandex pants, hot pink platform boots, and a dangling long black scarf. Long dark wavy hair with short bangs, big cheekbones, and round shades. And he had a stance that looked as if he was hardly moving, but even without moving much, his delivery actually seemed quite aggressive. He had a unique vocal style. Everything about him was unique.

I don’t recall the music very well to tell you the truth. And I don’t recall the other members of the band because I couldn’t keep my eyes off the singer. I just remember thinking “I will never forget this front man for the rest of my life.”

After their set, we were anxious to see the headliner. I’ll make this next part short because this story is really about Joey, but I can’t leave out my first impression of SUICIDE.

Suicide

It got dark, and all of us in the audience were sitting on the floor, waiting for what seemed like an interminable amount of time, looking at the door behind us from which the duo would be entering. Finally, a guy dressed all in black leather comes into the room, dragging a large thick chain behind him. Slowly approaching the stage, he wields the chain menacingly around the edge of audience, shouting unintelligible stuff, and being incredibly menacing. I can’t remember if he was on a mic yet, but he was loud. And I don’t remember if the keyboard player, Marty Rev, was on stage yet at that point. I only remember my first glimpse of the singer, Alan Vega, and he held us all in thrall. I was sitting there, and I remember thinking, “Okay this is scary. If I get up now and try to leave, I’d have to make my way out by stepping over all these people in the dark, and he’s gonna see me, and he’s gonna come running after me with that goddamn chain...” I had no choice but sit there and wait and see what happens next. So, I stayed. When they were finally on stage, the music was deafeningly loud and strange, and different from anything I’d ever heard before. And despite the terrifying theatrics of Alan’s entrance, the music was actually mesmerizing, and I became of a big fan of SUICIDE. Years later at Max’s, Alan and I would become great friends. He was a real sweetheart. A true innovator.

Back to my Joey story…

For three years, after seeing that show at Coventry, I would remember that strange looking singer I saw fronting that opening band, wondering what ever happened to him, if he was still performing.

By 1976, I was still living at home in Queens, and going to SVA (School of Visual Arts) in the city. One day I was at my boyfriend’s place. He had just bought a new album. It was by this band THE RAMONES; he said that I just had to hear because they were great. Totally different than anyone. Then he showed me the album cover. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “Oh my God, that’s the GUY!!! That’s the GUY!!! That’s that front man I told you about! The lanky one with the bangs and the glasses! It couldn’t be anyone else! That’s the singer of SNIPER!” It was so weird that I was the only one in my crowd that ever saw him play in any band before THE RAMONES. Needless to say, that was a great first album, and the rest is history.

I saw them for the first time at Hurrah’s in August 1978 with my friend Jane. She and I were up front and center, standing right against the stage. And many years later I met his beautiful mom, Charlotte, a very sweet lady. And it was obvious that he inherited those big high cheekbones from her.

Anyway, that’s my Joey Ramone birthday story.

The Last Ramones Interview [1977]

Text © Bernie Kugel / Big Star fanzine, 1977
Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2016
Images from the Internet

These interviews were originally printed in Big Star fanzine, issue #3, dated Spring 1978. It was written by its publisher, Bernie Kugel, who kindly granted permission for this reprint.

I’ve had the opportunity to hang out with members of the Ramones three times. The first time was when Bernie interviewed them for the Buffalo State College magazine, Shakin’ Street Gazette, just before July 4, 1976, in the dressing rooms of Max’s Kansas City. This was the night before they headed off for their first tour in England. The next time was more accidental: we were heading up the stairs on our way to the offices of Sire Records when we ran into Joey on his way down. We had a nice conversation for a while, and then when we arrived at the office, we were given the pre-release, white label first Ramones LP (yes, I still have it). If it had been in reverse order, I would have had him sign it. The last time was during an interview with Joey for Videowave at Arturo Vega’s apartment in 1997, after the band broke up. He was wearing a butcher’s apron that said “Happy Birthday Oedipus” for a special recording he did to be played at the Boston DJ’s party (we watched them film it). I took the apron when we left as it had been finished, and found out he was furious about it. I made sure he got it back; part of me wishes I had kept it though.  

This piece was supposed to be part of a series, but as it was the last issue of Big Star, this was also the – er – last Ramones interview for the ‘zine. By the way, Bernie asks some great questions, rather than the usual nonsense people tend to ask over and over. – RBF, 2016

(The following comments are from conversations recorded in New York City and Buffalo in ’76, ’77, and ’78. And fear not, Ramones fans, for even if this is The Last Ramones Interview, the one that will make it totally unnecessary to ever do another interview with them, this is a multi-part article which is beginning now and will be continued in future issues.)

1978

Bernie: Do you have a favorite English new wave band now?

Joey Ramone: Clash. I like the Adverts.

Bernie: Do you have favorite songs by the Clash and Adverts?
Joey: I like the album; The Clash album’s great. I like “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes.” I like Gaye Advert; that’s what I like about the Adverts.

Bernie: Do you have favorite New York bands now?

Joey: Naah. I like Suicide… I don’t like many groups in New York… I don’t like many New York groups that haven’t gotten anywhere, like Blondie [did]; they’ve kind of made it. But of groups around now, there’s nothing around now besides the Cramps and Suicide.

Bernie: Do you look back to one special concert or set and think that was the best you ever did?

Joey: We just finished an English tour and that was fantastic. I can’t really think of any jobs in particular, 'cause everything’s been going really, really great.

Bernie: Do you ever think back to the early days at CBGB’s, playing to a few people, and think you wanna return there?

Joey: Naah, I try to forget about those days. I don’t think about those days.

Bernie: It says in the Bomp Newsletter that your brother [Mickey Leigh – RBF, 2016] plays guitar on some of the Ramones records.

Joey: He did the claps in “Sheena,” but that’s about it. [Check out Mickey’s book, I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir, for more of the actual story – RBF, 2016]

Bernie: You like the Flamin’ Groovies?

Joey: Yeah.

Bernie: Do you have a favorite song of theirs?

Joey: “Shake Some Action,” “Please Please Girl.” When we were in England, we went to an NME party and they were playing, and they’re putting out a new album and I can’t believe they were playing these songs; man, they were playing “Paint It, Black” and all these Stones songs. I couldn’t believe they were playing those songs instead of their own songs because their own songs are so great. But they’re putting out “Paint It, Black” and Dave Edmunds is producing. And they’re putting out – what’s that song – “Feel a Whole Lot Better”?

Bernie: “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better,” the Byrds song???

Joey: Yeah, yeah. They did that great.

Bernie: Have you ever played with a member of the band sick?

Joey: Yeah, all the time. We’re always sick.

Bernie: But I mean when one member of the band was so sick they couldn’t play and someone else had to replace them.

Joey: Oh, no, no… I mean, it doesn’t matter how sick we are we always play unless we’re really fucked up.

1977

Bernie: Ever see Richie Ramone anymore?
Joey Ramone: Naah. John saw him though the other day. I think he’s just like been in his house for the past two years and hasn’t come out.

[Bernie: What do you do for fun when you’re on tour?]

Joey: All I’ve been doin’ when I’ve been going to a record store is like… spending everything… broke.

Bernie: You should see the store across the street [Play It Again Sam’s, which would soon become Home of the Hits; both stores were Buffalo landmarks – RBF, 2016].

Joey: Yeah, the last few stores we’ve been going to are like that… yeah, I was at this store, it was a real gourmet collectors' store. The guys would just play albums in the little store and have a pile like this for a buck… used stuff.

Bernie: You don’t think they’ll be a lot of Ramones solo singles in the near future?

Joey: No, I don’t think so… maybe later, later on.

Bernie: Have you heard any records by any non-New York groups that make major label records that you thought was any good?

Joey: I don’t think so. I’m always listenin’, but I never hear nuthin’. I think it’s really exciting when you come upon something new that no one’s ever heard. But that hasn’t happened in a while… But I’m really into collecting and checking out those English bands.

1978

Bernie: “Babysitter” never came out; what happened with that?
Joey Ramone: Well, it’s out in England on the Leave Home import. I think what we’ll eventually do is put it out on the B-side of a single over here.

Bernie: Do you have any songs from the real early days you don’t do anymore?

Johnny Ramone: “Succubus,” “I Can’t Be,” “Girl What You Want From Me,” “I Just Want Something to Do,” “I Don’t Wanna Get Involved With You,” “Why Did She Write that Letter,” “Crazy Animal Stomp,” which became “Listen to My Heart,” “I Don’t Wanna Be Learned, I Don’t Wanna Be Tamed”…

To Be Continued [Not – RBF, 2016]

Amy Rigby’s “Dancing with Joey Ramone”

Text © Robert Barry Francos, 2011
Music and images from the Internet

Amy Rigby is one of the cooler singer songwriters on the scene. She’s the girl your parents didn’t want you to play with, or date. Tough and tender at the same time, with a rough and lovely voice, and a hard strum on her acoustic guitar, she can be considered an anti-folk poster child – er – woman.

More one of the guys, she retains a strong sense of oomph that one might link to the Shangri-Las or Ronettes; she’s a smooth bottle of malt that has just the right kick at the end. Okay, enough with the analogies, here is one of my favorite songs of hers, “Dancing with Joey Ramone” (from her Little Fugitive album), accompanied by her husband, the Wreckless Eric.



She mentions a lot of great music within the song. So raising it from the meta-, here is are the tunes she references:

The Temptations: Papa Was a Rolling Stone
While a club may not play the full 7-minute version (depending on the venue, of course), it’s still a sharp number with a throbbing rhythm that highlighted an urban problem that was not commonly discussed in the ‘60s, but if anyone could do it with a sharp tone and keep the melody, it’s the Temps to show us it’s still a ball of confusion, even if it’s within one’s own family.

Blondie: Hanging on the Telephone
One of the better Chrysalis period songs by Blondie (I still like the first Private Stock album best) from the Parallel Lines album, this is a solid cover of the Nerves’ song. You can hear Debbie’s solid Jersey accent in it.

The Nerves: Hanging on the Telephone
Though most likely it was the Blondie version that she was talking about, Rigby is cool enough to be possibly referencing the original, so I’ve included them both. Yes, I own this, and yes, I prefer it of the two. Jack Lee (vocal / guitar) is killer on it, and it also helps that he’s backed by the likes of Peter Case (bass) and Paul Collins (drum). They only released one 7-inch EP.

The Brooklyn Bridge: The Worst That Could Happen
Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge were discovered at a nightclub in Bay
Ridge, Brooklyn (it was on 86 St and Sixth Ave., across the highway from the now-Blockbuster Video Store). Even after fame would rise and fall for Maestro (d. 2010), he would often play at that club, as well as do local shows such as at the Walker Theater in Bensonhurst. He had a pure doo-wop voice that never failed, sounding great throughout his life. Before the BB, he was the lead singer of the Crests, who did “16 Candles,” “The Angels Listened In,” and one of my faves of the period, the lyrically silly-but-fun “Trouble in Paradise.” Unfortunately, the BB did not have as many hits as the Crests, though everyone knows “The Worst…” (written by Jimmy Webb).

The Crystals: He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)
This controversial song is loved now for its kitsch factor (and that it was done by one of the better girl groups of the ‘60s), but when it was released it was quickly pulled from radio rotation because of the message it was delivering (i.e., promoting violence against women). While I agree, it also seems a double standard since it’s the same tale as “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” except rather than Johnny hitting the other dude for dancing with “his” girl, he smacks her instead for being unfaithful. Both are ridiculous messages, despite being catchy tunes.

Dave Clark Five: Glad All Over
Growing up in the ‘60s, the DC5 were one of my favorite British Invasion bands (more so than even the Beatles at the time). Mike Smith’s (d. 2008) vocals were strong, and the band’s drive and harmony had me hooked. The “thump-thump” between chorus lines and Smith’s soaring keys hooked me in right away. They had so many great songs, like “Catch Us If You Can” (the first song of theirs to catch my attention when I saw the film Having a Wild Weekend), “Bits and Pieces,” and “Anyway You Want It.”

The Searchers: Needles and Pins
Written by Sonny Bono for Cher's solo album, fortunately it was the Mersey Beat group The Searchers who made it to the charts with the tune. I actually had the priveledge to hear them play at a Richard Nader show at a half-filled Madison Square Garden in the early '70s (one of my first shows). There has always been sort of a cult following for the Searches, more so it seems than many of the other MB bands.


The Ronettes: Be My Baby
The story goes that Ronnie Bennett only needed a single take to make this classic, one of the many great songs she did before being locked away for years by her producer husband Phil Spector (as for Phil, now that, my friends, is karma). And Ronnie being friends with Joey (as well as the Dead Boys and Patti Smith!) makes it all the more appropriate to be included here. This is not just a song, but it is iconic for the time and girl-group style.

The Shadows of Knight: Gloria
Along with “Wild Thing,” “Gloria” is one of the first songs a novice guitarist will likely pick out. Written by Van Morrison and first recorded by his band, Them, the cooler kids know that it’s the Shadows of Knight version that is definitive. Sure, Patti Smith would turn it over and make it her own, but in the garage rock lexicon, “Gloria” belongs to the SoK. This rendering below is a live recording, and is pretty long. Like “Roadrunner,” its basic melody can be played for an extended periods, looping along the identifiable riff.

The Chiffons: He’s So Fine
“Doo-lang-doo-lang-doo-lang…” My ex-managing editor, Stacy, had a fixation for this song back in the late ‘70s, and quite understandably. Even though they had so many great recordings, such as “One Fine Day” and the gender groundbreaking “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” the “doo-lang” of the chorus is instantly recognizable and keeps one singing along.

The Coasters : Charlie Brown
Mostly considered a “novelty” group (“Yakety Yak,” “Along Came Jones”), the Coasters also had many straight hits, such as “Poison Ivy.” They definitely were a fun band who pushed the envelope on what was becoming standardized doo-wop, into a bit of the wild side, which again makes it appropriate to be mentioned here. For example, this song is one of the first that has a juvenile delinquent as the main protagonist. I’m sure that sat well in the Deep South.

The Dovells : Can’t Sit Down
This song from 1963 was the precursor to some of the wilder side of American rock’n’roll that wouldn’t be tamed by the Beatles, such as the Count V’s “Psychotic Reaction” or even Sam the Sham and the Pharaoh’s “Wooly Bully.” The Dovells started out with the wonderful “The Bristol Stomp,” and continued to be hard edged through this song, which was quite frantic and fast for its period.

The Ramones : Blitzkrieg Bop
Do I really need to explain (a) why this is here, (b) how important this song is, and (c) just how amazing a tune it is (albeit overplayed)?


Bonus Videos:
Ramones: Needles and Pins


The Dahlmanns: Dancing with Joey Ramone


The Crests: Trouble in Paradise


Dave Clark Five: Having a Wild Weekend trailer


L7: Hanging on the Telephone


Sleater-Kinney: I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone

Videowave Clips Vol. 1: Joey Ramone, Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave, Jim Foetus, Bow Wow Wow, Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen

Text (c) Robert Barry Francos, 2011
Videos (c) Alan Abramowitz/Videowave, with permission

I became involved in the Videowave cable access program pretty early on, starting off as a photographer and ending as a videographer, but for most of the shows from the 1980s, I was floor manager for those clips below, being the connector between the set and the control room. Yeah, the guy with the clipboard and the headset. There was no money involved for anyone, but it gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of great talent, and also connected FFanzeen to some future interviews.

Back then, the technology was top of the line U-Matic 3/4-inch tape, but in today’s HD world, well, it looks worse for wear. However, the artists are what matters, and what they say is still relevant for fans, if dated. However, it is not as passé as some of the fashions being worn by the artists and especially the interviewers.

Here is a selection of a half dozen of bits of interviews from shows on which I worked. Meanwhile, Videowave is still on in many of the tri-state markets, and new shows are still being created. These interviews were taped at Young Filmmakers Studio (no longer in business), on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side, during the first half of the 1980s, except for the first one, done on-location. The stage background was a painted on shower curtains by the late artist Chester Parnell.

Here is the first in what I hope will become a series of blogs, but I will only put up ones that has a direct link to either FFanzeen, or to me directly.

1. Joey Ramone, April 1997
With me on camera at Arturo Vega's apartment, Jimmy Marino interviews Joey R. on the night he was filming a clip to be shown at a party for Boston DJ Oedipus, which we got to watch being taped, and included Aurturo paint the “blood” on the apron. The apron was thrown into a corner after the interview, and I took it home as a souvenir; I later heard that Joey had a fit, and I returned it with an apology. If I still had it, it would be framed and put on the wall. RIP, Joey…


2. Lydia Lunch, October 1983; November 1985
Merle Ginsberg (who has gone on to a media-focused career: www.buddytv.com/info/merle-ginsberg-info.aspx) interviews Lydia first, followed by my then-FFanzeen Managing Editor Julia Masi. I had interviewed Lydia back in 1977 when she fronted Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and she was a complete asshole, but she was still quite young. A lot of her anger came across as bullshit poseur, and that’s what turned me off to her. The whole I’m cool because I’m a nihilist; aren’t I just terrible and annoying? came across as performance art to me. At the time of the first interview shown here, which I floor managed, she was collaborating with Nick Cave, Clint Ruin and Marc Almond, as well as doing “poetry” with Exene Cervenka of X. I don’t believe I was present for the second interview, though. It could also be noted that she did not remember me from our first encounter.


3. Immaculate Consumptive (Clint Ruin and Nick Cave), October 1983
This is just a short clip of Merle interviewing Clint Ruin (Foetus on the Wheel, etc) and Nick Cave (Birthday Party, Bad Seeds, etc.), which was taped the same day as the first Lydia Lunch interview above (explaining why Merle is wearing the same outfit). While Lydia was being taped, they sat in the back of the studio finishing bottles of whatever it is they were imbibing, and by the time it was their turn, they were completely blitzed (note the bottle in Cave’s hand). Though they were pissed to the gills, they were not disruptive to whatever was going on around them, I’m happy to say. The pre-chaste Dawn Eden talks us down at the end, and I believe the photo of her is one I took when she was interviewing the Buzzcocks on a hotel bed.


4. Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow) , July 1983
They had recently played at a club called the Brooklyn Zoo (great show, BTW), and from there went further on their tour when disaster struck. This was actually the beginning of the end of the band, though Merle or Annabella could not have known that. It was really hot in the studio that day, as it was mid-summer and the air conditioner broke, but Anabella was a true dear and stayed around in a sweat without complaint.


5. Lene Lovich, March 1983
Introduced by Michele Piza, Lene was a pleasure to work with, as she was when Videowave interviewed her again in 1990, on location near Grammercy Park. Here in the studio, she was interviewed by David G. (Rosenberg), and was very open and friendly. American born and living in England, she later shared the interview stage with fellow expatriate Holly Beth Vincent (to be shown in a later blog), who gave me the impression she did not want to be there (though Alan had a different, more successful experience with her that day). But Lene, no one had any argument about her positive energy on that day, and in ’90.


6. Nina Hagen, February 1984
Nina Hagen did everything she could to be a thorn in the side of all of the people working on the show, including holding up a can of guava juice in front of her face and refusing to take it down for a long, expensive waste of time. Again, I wonder how much of her “personality” is real, and how much is affectation. I do know that I wanted to smack her. Merle was a total pro, though, and she did not reflect the previous goings on during the interview.


Should I continue this series, readers?