Joey Ramone

All Music Guide:

Joey Ramone's signature bleat was the voice of punk rock in America. Sporting a leather jacket and torn jeans (like his bandmates) and hiding his face behind a pair of sunglasses and a thick shock of dark hair, the lanky Ramone helped define punk's early image as well and his two-decade-plus tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.

Ramone was born Jeffrey Hyman on May 19, 1951 (though he frequently claimed the year was 1952) in Forest Hills, part of the Queens section of New York City. Rock & roll gave the teenaged Joey Ramone an escape from his parents' divorce and he began playing in glam-influenced bands in the early '70s. He co-founded the Ramones in 1974 with friends John Cummings and Douglas Colvin, upon which point all three adopted Ramone as their stage surname. Joey Ramone initially served as the group's drummer before switching to vocals and having his former spot taken by manager Tommy Erdelyi. The Ramones quickly became regulars at the Bowery club CBGB's and their brief, rapid-fire concert style became the stuff of legend. When the Ramones recorded their debut album in 1976, it heralded the true birth of punk rock; although groups like the Stooges, MC5, and New York Dolls laid the groundwork, the Ramones' hooky, three-chord songwriting, cheerfully dumb humor, and boundless energy created the blueprint that countless punk bands would follow in the decades to come. Their 1976 tour of the U.K. helped ignite that country's punk scene as well and their impact on American music was never more apparent than in the '90s, when a legion of punk-pop bands who never could have existed without the Ramones' music took that sound to the top of the charts.

Despite their enormous influence, a career that spanned two decades, and a handful of undisputedly classic albums, the Ramones never became stars in their own right -- even though the sound they'd pioneered came to dominate popular music during most of the '90s and even though the band recorded during that decade with a newly clean and sober focus. After touring with the 1996 Lollapalooza festival, the Ramones concluded that the stardom they'd always coveted was never to be and they disbanded before the end of the year. Despite having released the collaborative EP In a Family Way with his brother Mickey Leigh in 1994 (under the name Sibling Rivalry), Joey Ramone largely shunned the spotlight following the breakup. He did make occasional public appearances and worked for a time as a radio DJ; toward the end of the decade, he also began working sporadically on a solo record. He assembled a band featuring guitarist Daniel Rey, bassist Andy Shernoff (ex-Dictators), and drummer Frank Funaro (Cracker) and played several gigs in the New York area. Sadly, before the record could be completed, Ramone succumbed to lymphatic cancer on April 15, 2001; he was 49 years old.

Wikipedia:

Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001) was an American musician, vocalist and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as front man of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon.

Biography

Early life

Born Jeffry Ross Hyman to parents Noel and Charlotte Hyman, he was raised in the Jewish tradition. They lived in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, where Jeffry and his future Ramones bandmates attended Forest Hills High School. Jeffry was happy but something of an outcast. When he was 18 years old he was diagnosed with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). He grew up with brother Mickey Leigh and stepbrother John. His mother divorced and remarried three times.

Jeffry was a fan of The Beatles, The Who, David Bowie and The Stooges among other bands (particularly oldies and the Phil Spector-produced "girl groups"). His idol was Pete Townshend of The Who (with whom he shared a birthday). Jeffry took up drums at 13, and played throughout his teen years. Before he joined the Ramones, he was the singer in a band called Snipers.

Sniper

In 1972 Hyman joined the glam punk band, Sniper. Sniper played at the Mercer Arts Center, Max's Kansas City and the Coventry, alongside the New York Dolls, Suicide, and Queen Elizabeth III. Hyman played with Sniper under the name Jeff Starship. Mickey Leigh: "I was shocked when the band came out. Joey was the lead singer and I couldn't believe how good he was. Because he'd been sitting in my house with my acoustic guitar, writing these songs like 'I Don't Care', fucking up my guitar, and suddenly he's this guy on stage who you can't take your eyes off of." He continued playing with Sniper until early 1974, when he was replaced by Alan Turner.

Ramones

In 1974, Jeffry Hyman co-founded the punk rock band the Ramones with friends John Cummings and Douglas Colvin, upon which point all three adopted stage names using "Ramone" as their surname: Cummings became Johnny Ramone, Colvin became Dee Dee Ramone, and Hyman became Joey Ramone. The name Ramone stems from a story that Paul McCartney of The Beatles would check into hotels under the pseudonym "Paul Ramon" while touring.

Joey initially served as the group's drummer while Dee Dee Ramone was the original vocalist. Ramones manager Tommy Erdelyi suggested Joey switch to vocals while Tommy took over on drums.

The Ramones were a major influence on the punk rock movement in the United States, though they achieved only minor commercial success. Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania. Recognition of the band's importance built over the years, and they are now regularly represented in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone lists of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time and 25 Greatest Live Albums of All Time, VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock, and Mojo's 100 Greatest Albums. In 2002, the Ramones were voted the second greatest rock and roll band ever in Spin, trailing only The Beatles.

In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played their final show and then disbanded. Within eight years of the breakup, the band's three founding members – Joey, Johnny, and Dee Dee – had all died.

Vocal style

Ramone's vocal style was unorthodox in that he had no formal training in an era where vocal proficiency was arguably the norm for most rock bands. His signature cracks, hiccups, snarls, crooning and youthful voice made his 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." 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".

Other projects

In 1985, Ramone joined Little Steven Van Zandt's music-industry activist group Artists United Against Apartheid which acted against the Sun City resort in South Africa. Ramone and forty-nine other top recording artists, including Bruce Springsteen, U2, Bob Dylan and Run DMC, collaborated on the song "Sun City" in which they pledged they would never perform at the resort.

In 1994, Ramone appeared on the Helen Love album Love and Glitter, Hot Days and Music singing the track "Punk Boy". Helen Love returned the favor, singing on Ramone's song "Mr. Punchy".

In October 1996 Ramone headlined the "Rock The Reservation" alternative rock festival in Tuba City, Arizona. 'Joey Ramone & the Resistance' (Daniel Rey on guitar, John Connor on bass guitar and Roger Murdock on drums) debuted Ramone's interpretation of Louis Armstrong's "Wonderful World' live, and as well as Ramone's choice of Ramones classics and some of his favorite bands and songs; The Dave Clark Five's "Any Way You Want It", The Who's "The Kids are Alright and The Stooges' "No Fun."

Ramone 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.

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.

Ramone also produced the Ronnie Spector album, She Talks to Rainbows, in 1999. It was critically acclaimed, but did not perform too well with the public and went virtually unnoticed. The title track was previously on the Ramones' last studio album, ¡Adios Amigos!.

Death and influence

Joey Ramone died of lymphoma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on April 15, 2001, after a seven-year battle. He was reportedly listening to the song "In a Little While" by U2 when he died. 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 vocals, Joey was the iconic godfather of punk."

On November 30, 2003, a block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. It is the block where Hyman once lived with bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, and is near the former site of the music club 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 brother and, until 2007, his mother, Charlotte. Joey Ramone was interred at Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

In 2001, when Joey Ramone died, the Ramones were named as inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, prior to the actual ceremony held early the following year.

Several songs have been presented as a tribute to Joey Ramone, including "Hello Joe" by Blondie from the album The Curse of Blondie, "Don't Take Me For Granted" by Social Distortion and "Here's To You" by Minus3, "You Can't Kill Joey Ramone" by Sloppy Seconds and Joey, by Raimundos. In addition, surviving Ramones Tommy, CJ and Marky and Daniel Rey came together in 2002 to record Jed Davis's Joey Ramone tribute, "The Bowery Electric".

In September 2010, the Associated Press reported that "Joey Ramone Place," a sign at the corner of Bowery and East Second Street was New York City's most stolen sign. As of September 27, the sign has been moved to 20 feet above ground level. Drummer Marky Ramone thought Joey would appreciate the fact that his sign would be the most stolen adding "Now you have to be an NBA player to see it."

After several years in development, Ramone's second posthumous album was released on May 22, 2012. Titled Ya Know?, it was preceded on Record Store Day by a 7" single re-release of Blitzkrieg Bop/Havana Affair