My Ramones Book Release Party At The 443

Photo by John Tierney

I can't even.

A million thanks to everyone who played a part in Saturday's rock 'n' roll party celebrating the release of my new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Celebration Of The Ramones. This evening meant a great deal to me, and it was such a blast for me to be able to revel in the experience surrounded by family and friends.

Where to start with thank-yous? Well, it's gotta be with the bands and the venue. The 443 Social Club And Lounge on Burnet Avenue in Syracuse is a superb place to hear live music, and I'm in eternal debt to Julie Leone for agreeing to host this thing under her rockin' 443 roof. Julie's the best, and she surrounds herself with the best. The category of "best" includes the 443's sound man David Kane, who made sure all things cretin-hoppin' remained properly Blitzkrieg-boppin' throughout the night. I'm told he even made me sound adequate, but we'll get back to that in a second. Julie's all-star 443 wait staff was outstanding, and I hope they all pocketed a small windfall in tips. Whatever they got, they deserved even more.

I know drummer Paul Doherty from his work with Syracuse's early '80s punk-pop teen sensations the Trend. Paul was a cheerleader for my Ramones book from the get-go, shoutin' a big ol' rah-rah-RAH! from the sidelines long before the book was announced publicly. So it was a no-brainer to invite Paul's fantastic current combo Perilous to play at the book release party. Whatta band! An upstate New York supergroup joining members of the Trend, Hurtin' Units, Screaming Meemies, and Buffalo's phenomenal pop combo Pauline and the Perils, Perilous is FABULOUS, and you've gotta see them if you ever have the chance. Their 2022 single "Rock & Roll Kiss" has been a huge This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio fave rave; it was on their debut EP Perilous, it was on This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Volume 5, and it was--of course!--on Sunday night's radio show. We'll hear Perilous' brand-new single "Last Of The Dying Breed" on next week's broadcast. I'm a fan! Thanks once again to Paul, Bob Cat, Renee, and Pauline for enhancing this shindig. We promised the loudest book release party in recent memory. The bands delivered on that promise.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the Flashcubes here before. Yeah, my rock 'n' roll trinity is the Beatles, the Ramones, and the Flashcubes, and I mean it, man. As Johnny Ramone hisself says in Gabba Gabba Hey!, "I remember the Flashcubes." 'Cubes guitarist Paul Armstrong brought his boys 1.4.5. to the 443. I've always loved 1.4.5., and the group's current lineup of PA, Tommy O'Reilly, Judd Williams, and Perilous' Bob Cat retains and expands upon the sheer oomph of 1.4.5.'s c.v. Like Paul Doherty, PA has also been an enthusiastic supporter of my Ramones book, and I'm just delighted that 1.4.5. was able to participate in this show. THEY EVEN DID A COUPLE OF THE FLASHCUBES' OLD PUNK NUMBERS, as written by PA! I didn't expect to hear "I Need Glue" and "Got No Mind" live at the 443 Saturday, but I was beyond happy to hear 'em. Thank you, 1.4.5.!

PA also shared his story of meeting Joey Ramone in the 1990s. Paul identified himself as a member of the Flashcubes. Joey recognized the name, and asked Paul if he'd ever seen the 1978 picture of Joey holding the Flashcubes' "Christi Girl" 45 while standing with Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen.

Duh.

Photo by Bill Baldwin

When we were setting up details for this gig, PA didn't flinch when I made one bucket-list request: I've always wanted to perform, at least once, with a rock 'n' roll band. This event seemed like my best (and only) shot. I certainly can't play and my vocal pitch is questionable, but I figured I could probably yelp out sort-of in-tune vocals on one Ramones cover. Perilous closed their set with "Cretin Hop," and PA gave me my choice among the four Ramones songs 1.4.5. planned for their own encore. For that encore, a hybrid Perilous-1.4.5. group (PA, Tommy, Bob Cat, with Paul Doherty on drums) played "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" and "Chinese Rocks," then had Pauline and I join them for "Rockaway Beach." I left the stage, and the live music ended with "I Just Want To Have Something To Do." What a great, great treat for me. And I'm told I didn't embarrass myself too much. People keep telling me I did...um, well. Man, I'll settle for "not awful."

(Oh, and much gratitude to all the otherwise-sane people in attendance who put up with me reading excerpts from the book of Gabba Gabba Hey! in between the bands' performances. You folks are way more patient than I can demand Ramones fans to be.)

Thanks as well to my lovely wife Brenda, daughter Meghan, and Meghan's fiancé Austin for being there, to my high school pal Jay and his wife Lucy, and my TIRnRR co-host Dana Bonn. Believe me: this book probably wouldn't have happened if not for TIRnRR. I wish I could thank everyone individually, but the night was a whirlwind and my lobotomized brain would wind up snubbing too many people. Stupid lobotomized brain. Nonetheless, a shout-out to Dave Murray, who urged me over the course of decades to write a book, and who posted a tribute to my 443 book release party on his own blog, The Ego Has Landed. (Dave's currently working on his own second book, which will be his first novel Tougher Than The Rest. It is very, very good.) 

Photo by Jackie Lewis

Also gotta thank the Flashcubes' Gary Frenay and his wife Jackie for showing up at this thing; we originally planned to also have Gary play at the show, but circumstances made it necessary for him to bow out from performing. I'm so glad he and Jackie were able to attend...and Gary's on the hook to perform on behalf of my next book, if that comes to pass. 

Photo montage swiped from Paul Armstrong

This was a dizzying and delirious evening, and truly a dream come true. Thank you, thank you, and thank you to all who came out to the 443, all who bought books, and the amazing number of people who asked me to autograph their copies of the damned thing. I felt like a rock star! And finally, thanks again to my friends at News Channel 9--Tim Fox, Steve Infanti, and my next-door neighbors Erik Columbia and Kate Thornton--for their help in promoting my book and the event on Bridge Street, and to everyone at Rare Bird Books for saying "Gabba Gabba, we accept you."

NEXT UP: My first in-store! That's at 6:00 pm this Thursday, May 18th at Parthenon Books, 333 S. Salina Street in Syracuse. We'll talk a bit more about that in this space tomorrow, but you can see the event listing right here.

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Carl's new book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones is now available, courtesy of the good folks at Rare Bird Books. Gabba Gabba YAY!! https://rarebirdlit.com/gabba-gabba-hey-a-conversation-with-the-ramones-by-carl-cafarelli/

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