This is the original pre-edit hype for my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones. The official blurb is a little bit shorter, but we're preserving this one here for posterity.
THE RAMONES! The American Beatles! Except for, y'know, popularity and record sales. If someone tried to create a Ramones counterpart to the Beatles' mega-selling hits compilation 1, they'd have to use a negative number.
But the Ramones were arguably the single most influential rock 'n' roll act to emerge from that curious muddle of magic and mediocrity called the 1970s. Two of the group's founding members--singer Joey Ramone and bassist Dee Dee Ramone--didn't live to see the Ramones become icons of popular culture, to hear their music in TV commercials, to experience the unlikely adoption of "Blitzkrieg Bop" as a sports anthem. Guitarist Johnny Ramone barely lived long enough to see it, and drummer Tommy Ramone's death in 2014 wrote finis to the mortal part of the Ramones' story. The legend endured. We can't even imagine how bland the sound of rock 'n' roll would have become if the Ramones hadn't saved it at the end of the '70s, the end of the century, when we needed change and we needed it fast. 1-2-3-4!
In 1994, as the Ramones celebrated their 20th anniversary, then-current members Joey, Johnny, drummer Marky, and bassist C. J. knew the group's Road To Ruin would soon approach its end. Given an opportunity to assess where they'd been and what was left to do, they agreed to a series of interviews discussing the entirety of the Ramones' story.
This is that story: a career-spanning discussion of the Ramones' career, an intimate glimpse at how the Ramones viewed their work, their experiences, their impact, their legacy, their fans, and each other. It's a unique and fascinating peek into what it was like to be one of the few, the proud, the Ramones.
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame cited the original, truncated magazine appearance of these interviews as "essential reading." Now, for the first time, you can read the Ramones' published comments about their own history, and much, much more than ever could have fit into a single magazine issue.
The Ramones. Joey, Johnny, Marky, and C.J., in their own words. The American Beatles? Your sedation may vary.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, and on the web at http://sparksyracuse.org/ You can read about our history here.
I'm on Twitter @CafarelliCarl
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