Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone

Too Tough to Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone Review

Is there any Ramone that is as ripped on by the majority of Ramones based retrospectives as Johnny Ramone? I've heard the terms quiet and abusive used to describe him, and his falling in love with Joey's girlfriend made a rift in the band that didn't even end with the band's split. Whether it's the End of the Century documentary or Vera Ramone's memoir, Johnny comes off as a dick. The descriptions and stories of Johnny are so consistent that it's surprising to see something like Too Tough to Die where the man is getting a tribute. It appears that this was originally thought out as a documentary on the Ramones 30th Anniversary Tribute and Benefit Concert, but Johnny Ramone was too weak to appear and passed away two days later, therefore the project became a tribute to Johnny as well. (I think that's how it happened)

At 76 minutes, you're not getting much here outside of a couple of songs and some interviews. Unfortunately, this documentary mixes the music and the interviews, therefore you'll be watching the Red Hot Chili Peppers play a Ramones song, and the middle of song gets interrupted by someone who's either in the band or a random celebrity fan. There's few uninterrupted tracks, and the quality of the performances is all over the place (X was horrible, RHCP were passable, and the Dickies were shoddy), but the set done by CJ, Marky, and Daniel Ray with rotating guest singers was as close as you'd get to a modern day Ramones set. The set was helped with some great performances by Henry Rollins, Eddie Vedder, and Dicky Barrett, making it the centerpiece of the documentary.

In the interview front, there's no mentions of anything critical or negative. Everyone is in praise mode and even the Joey/Johnny problem is passed off as a band issue that barely affected the band's work. The three dead Ramones are only seen through archival photos and film footage, and Johnny's only heard through an old interview. I wonder why he wasn't even shown planning the concert nor was there any footage of him listening or seeing the concert (as there's ways to do that). All you get is a scene during the concert where Rob Zombie calls him up so everyone can cheer for him. As mentioned earlier, Johnny was weak by this point so I won't go any further with that. You also see the footage of recorded announcements about Johnny's death and some key moments of the unveiling of his cenotaph during his memorial service.

Something that bothers me about this documentary is the continuation of making Richie Ramone an Unperson. The only time Richie was mentioned was by Tommy Ramone in his speech about the band. No archival footage or even an interview was done with him, but Clem Burke, WHO WAS WITH BAND FOR TWO SHOWS ONLY!!!!!, was interviewed and appeared in more than one spot. You can say that it's because he was in Blondie, one of the Ramones' peers at CBGBs, but Chris Stein and Debbie Harry were both interviewed and they're far more important than Clem. It's such a sore spot for me as only a hardcore fan would know that Clem was even a Ramone, but RICHIE WAS IN THE BAND FOR THREE FULL ALBUMS!! At least he got one of those lifetime Grammy awards they gave to the group last year, and they allowed him to talk for a bit. (Fuck, how come he always gets pushed away from Ramones products?) Maybe a notice of "Hey, we couldn't contact him on time" would have been better than the lack of mentions.

There isn't much to this unless you're a fan of the band. I rented this documentary a while ago, and the DVD is bare bones with a promo piece and a lackluster commentary track (still listenable for one part where the punk rocker asks Linda, Johnny's widow,  a question about one of Joey's songs that gets close to the Joey/Johnny problem). If you can rent it, find it for a cheap price, or watch it when it's on a Starz-affiliated channel (it's also On Demand sometimes) then watch it, but don't go out of your way to view it.

New Site!

First, there's more work to be done in this blog. I still have a long way to go in terms of books and documentaries and that's all coming in slowly.

In the meantime, I've started a new blog: Walk Among Us Music Reviews. It's more of an exercise than major work, but any comments and suggestions are accepted!

Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone

This is the first post in the new Books category for the blog. Ramones books aren't rare, but most are from family, friends, or biographers/scholars. Aside from Monte Melnick's On the Road with the Ramones, and the upcoming book Johnny was writing prior to his death, you know what you'll be getting isn't directly from any of the members of the group.

Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone oozes of the family and friends category to a fault. Vera Ramone, Dee Dee's first wife, writes about her long, troublesome relationship with the the band's most unstable member in a conflicting dichotomy throughout the whole book. In one side, her relationship with Dee Dee is full of lovely anecdotes of Dee Dee being goofy and an amicable husband, but the other side is pure horror. The horror is all based on his barely controlled drug use and his deteriorated mental condition, and how it leads to the brutal stories of domestic (physical and psychological) abuse that trumps some of the stuff that I've read in Pattie Boyd's Wonderful Tonight or John Lennon's biographies. The problem with the two opposing sides and the book in general is that, after writing about those impressionable moments, it all feels as it's swept under the rug with her unabashed love for the man. It's a battered wife story that unfortunately is common in life and in rock, and it never comes off well when it all sounds excused. It's great that this is not a hagiography of one of punk rock's infamous pioneers, but it's off-putting either way.

If you're looking for new bits of non-Dee Dee related Ramones dirt or stories, you won't find much here other than expanded information on older tales (The day when the band realized Johnny and Linda were together, some stuff on Joey's personal life). Her opinions on the band members and those around them coincides with what others have written about (Johnny Ramone is cold and distant, Joey was a romantic, etc..). If there's one story that unfortunately sticks to mind about the band in general, it's the 7-11 incident in Texas where Dee Dee savagely assaults Vera in front of the band, and no one but Monte gets involved.

I recommend the book to Dee Dee fans who want more information on his personal life and stories behind some of his later Ramones work, and I also recommend it to those that want to confirm stories and character portraits as Vera doesn't paint in broad strokes. However, her overall attitude about Dee Dee creeps me out, but...

Her book says enough to make my own opinion.

(On a side note- Is there anything outside of that Too Tough To Die Tribute DVD where Johnny Ramone doesn't come off as an asshole?)

Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996 Review

After a plethora of album retrospectives, it's time to go into other forms of Ramones media!

Ramones: It's Alive 1974-1996 is a 2-DVD live show set that sets out to be the ultimate retrospective of the band's many live performances. This is a collection of fan recorded footage (primitive era recording!), actual film footage of the famous 1977 It's Alive concert (thus this collection's name), and other recorded concerts and international TV show appearances. As much as it wants to be the ultimate retrospective, this DVD collection feels like someone is dangling a bigger collection of concert footage above you, only to take it away when you try to reach for it. It's a good, albeit incomplete retrospective of the band's concert run.

The available footage is good as you do get a retrospective of the band's progress and evolution from playing "Blitzkrieg Bop" in CBGB to headlining at River Plate Stadium in Argentina. The early fan footage on Disk 1 is the hardest to watch and listen as it was recorded with early camcorders and the tape those shows were on had aged significantly. It's also unfortunate that only one piece of footage was included from their initial year, as everything else on the disk (1976-77) has been well documented and represented. Setbacks aside, it's fun to watch the fan footage and the TV clips of the guys.

The compilation's marketed pièce de résistance is the 1977 It's Alive concert that was only seen in 30-second clips on numerous documentaries and Ramones related programs. I've written about the qualms I've had with the live album that was recorded from this concert, and I can unfortunately also write the same sentiments about the film footage. Yes, you are seeing the band play on stage in front of a live audience in England but you are not listening to the actual music that was played that night, and at this point you probably wont listen to the actual recording of the show's audio unless you dig deep somewhere. Again, I have to reference the Mark Prindle interview with Marky Ramone and the discussion about It's Alive's re-recording. The footage is also far from complete, but some of the missing songs have appeared on Youtube, and the footage itself appears to have been sped-up in some points.

Disk 2 jumps between different band eras, from the start of Marky's run all the way to CJ replacing Dee Dee and the end of the band's incredible run. The footage is better as most of it was professionally recorded and none of it is damaged. It's always great to get some bits of the brief time Richie was with the group (more would have been gladly accepted), as it always feels as if he's an unperson when it comes to Ramones merchandise. The songs vary greatly compared to the last disc, but it's fine to see how "Blitzkrieg Bop" became an experiment in speed playing.

While the rest of the footage is good, there's two great bits of footage missing: The rest of the River Plate Stadium concert, and the We're Outta Here footage. Again, you can see this footage on Youtube so there probably was a rights issue or a timing constraint that prevented the rest of the footage to come out. It puts a bit of a damper on things as those two concerts were a big deal for the band and need to be seen.

This DVD looks to be out of print, but you can get it for as low as $8 online on a few sites. It's a bargain price for what you're getting and I gladly recommend it for fans and even newcomers. Casuals listeners may be annoyed by the thirteenth version of "Blitzkrieg Bop", but you're getting a ton of music and history for a cheap price.

NEXT: Probably a book...

For my review of the It's Alive live album and its comparison to NYC 1978, click here!

We're Outta Here Addendum

We're Outta Here Box Set

When the album was first released in 1997, some copies were bundled with a "Ramones Film Crew" VHS. It's reported to be a long documentary about the final concert with interviews and prior concert footage in between. I own it but I haven't seen it due to not owning a reliable VHS player (Mine is older than the documentary). It hasn't been re-released in the US, but it's available in Europe on DVD (It's possibly PAL and Region Coded, so importers beware).


The Final Update?

No, this is not the final update. There's still a ton of Ramones products that I've yet to purchase and there may even be new releases to pick up. I still don't own the You Don't Come Close live CD, Weird Tales of the Ramones, and tons more. I might not get to it all in a weekly or even monthly basis, but I'll still review the stuff as soon as I get it.


"Blitzkrieg Bop"
This is the final Blitzkrieg Bop performed by the four Ramones, and it comes in at one minute, 36 seconds. Compared to the 2:13 original, the band eliminated 37 seconds of slowness! Quality-wise it's subjective, but the impact is amazing. If you are really picky about it, there's a two second intro to this song, making it about 1:34 seconds. Yes, it's that fast!

Album Info

All times are from my iTunes tracklist.

Album Length: 1 hour, 4 minutes
# of Tracks: 32
Shortest Track: "Gimme Gimmie Shock Treatment" - 1:16
Longest Track: "Any Way You Want It" - 3:17
Length of "Blitzkrieg Bop": 1:36 (-37 seconds from original studio cut)


NEXT: WHO KNOWS??

We're Outta Here! (the album)

We're Outta Here is the live recording of the Ramones's final concert that took place on August 6, 1996. The band was finished after the River Plate Stadium event in Argentina earlier that year, but they were offered a spot in Lollapalooza and thus their retirement was halted for a while. This halt gave us the final product that was made when the band was active - We're Outta Here!.

What separates this recording from the rest of their live albums (besides the historical value) is the guest stars that appear. We get Lemmy from Motorhead playing his own song "R.A.M.O.N.E.S", Tim Armstrong and Lars Fredericksen of Rancid on "53rd & 3rd",  Chris Cornell and Ben Shepard of Soundgarden on "Chinese Rocks", and Ramones Fan Club member Eddie Vedder (of Pearl Jam, of course) on the final track, "Any Way You Want It". Before I forget, Dee Dee Ramone makes a surprise return on "Love Kills", but Dee Dee screws it up and...it's a Dee Dee thing. The inclusion of all these guests is strange, as the Ramones didn't have many guests on their albums (outside of singles, "Go Lil' Camaro Go" on Halfway to Sanity and the few tracks on Acid Eaters), but they add their own touches here and there (My favorites were Lemmy and the guys from Rancid. Eddie sounded a bit off.).

The setlist is the same as what a full Greatest Hits Live would have been, with live cuts of that album's bonus tracks included ("R.A.M.O.N.E.S.", "Any Way You Want It"). The only qualm that I found in it was that there is very little breathing space between the songs as one song starts right after the other with no cuts in between. I don't think the band was able to pull off this feat at the end, when Joey's singing was not as it used to be and we get that strange style where he stresses words out to fill in parts.

Unless you're a completionist, this is the definite second live album to obtain. It's the band's final product while they were active, and at a 32 song length, this is a good value as well. Not as great as NYC 1978, but better than Greatest Hits Live or even Loco Live.

Greatest Hits Live Addendum

Extras

As far as I know, this album holds the first release of "Any Way You Want It" on any album. "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." was already available on different versions of Adios Amigos. Both songs are also available on Weird Tales of the Ramones, and their live versions are on We're Outta Here.

Album Info


All time references are based on my iTunes tracklist.


Album Length: 37.6 minutes

Shortest Track: "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." - 1:24
Longest Track: "Pet Sematary" - 3:40


"Blitzkrieg Bop" is on the album. Coming in at 1:37, it is eight seconds shorter than the Loco Live version and 36 seconds shorter than the original cut on Ramones.


NEXT: It's officially the end of the Ramones with WE'RE OUTTA HERE!

Greatest Hits Live

Again, let's get this out of the way: The Ramones never had hits in the vein of the Clash or the Sex Pistols. The band was excellent, but they rarely got something to chart well enough. If this was a "Greatest Hits" compilation, then there would only be three songs on it ("Baby, I Love You", Pet Sematary", and "Poison Heart"). Of course, the band does not mean hits in the charts, but hits among the fans of the group...(Lampshade, please.)

With the last album being their final studio release, the band set out its final tour which gave us two different live albums. The first was "Greatest Hits Live", an album that's often considered to be a record company mandate and not something the band cared about - and it shows. What you're getting here is not a complete concert, but half of what was one of the final New York City concerts for the band.

The songs and albums chosen for this album were:
Ramones - 3 ("Blitzkrieg Bop", "Beat on the Brat", "53rd & 3rd")
Rocket to Russia - 4 ("Sheena is a Punk Rocker", "Rockaway Beach", "We're a Happy Family", "Do You Wanna Dance?")
Road to Ruin - 1 ("I Wanna Be Sedated")
End of the Century - 1 ("Do You Remember Rock & Roll Radio?")
Too Tough to Die - 1 ("Durango 95")
Brain Drain -1 ("Pet Sematary")
Mondo Bizarro - 1 (Strength to Endure")
Adios Amigos - 3 ("I Don't Want to Grow Up", "Cretin Family", "The Crusher")
Singles -3 (The live rendition of "Spider-Man", plus the two bonus studio cuts: "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." and the cover of "Any Way You Want It")

If you were around/ conscious of the band during this time, then you already had Loco Live and It's Alive available to you. Do you really need Greatest Hits Live today? If you are a fan/completionist, then yes. Casual fans and those who want to start listening to the band need not apply. Outside of the live versions of a few Adios Amigos songs, there's nothing new on this album except for the studio cuts that can be found on compilations like Weird Tales of the Ramones. Plus, you're getting a few songs compared to the monster tracklists of the other live albums. Even the bonus concert on the Leave Home expanded release has the same number of songs available to you for a lower price, and that one is justifiable as the band was still young when it was recorded.

If you decide to purchase this record, then I would say that there are some great things about it. For one thing, I enjoyed this performance more than the one on Loco Live. Every member sounds lively, and Joey does bring in a few great performances. I especially enjoyed his kick ass performance of "Pet Sematary", as I can't stand the studio cut. The rest of the songs have been done to death, but the band had slightly increased their speed again, so there's always a reason to give it a listen.

"Cretin Family" however, is still a horrible song even if it's done live.

It's a fifteen year old album that would hold up well if it was the only Ramones live release. There are so many recordings available to the consumer at this point that it makes this release unnecessary. If they would release this album in a complete state, then I would gladly re-evaluate it. At this state, stick to NYC 1978 or Loco Live.

Adios Amigos Pt. 2 - The Other Members

(It's been a while since I last promised the complete Adios Amigos review. I never expected the review to go past 2010, but it's better late than never.)

What about the other three members's input (Joey, CJ, and Marky)?

Joey brings two great songs in the mix, starting with the T.Rex homage "Life's a Gas". It's a sentimental song, and while it drags for a song that repeats its verses and chorus, Joey sounds like he believes every word he sings. (It's probably the best time to mention that Joey is in great form on most of this album.) It's a deep cut gem, and one that Joey fans shouldn't pass, His other contribution is "She Talks to Rainbows", a song about unrequited love for someone with a mental disorder, and another song whose mood is so thick that it's depressing. This is one of the best tracks on the album, and one of the best songs that Joey wrote for the band in general.

CJ has two songs of his own, "Scattergun" and "Got Alot to Say". Both are not as strong as Joey's input, but they have their own moments of joy. "Got Alot to Say" is a humorous song about someone who really doesn't have a lot to say, and its short length makes it a tight and quick affair. "Scattergun" is slower and sounds like something that would have fit nicely in Mondo Bizarro as it's akin to "Main Man". It's not my cup of tea, but it's better than some of Dee Dee's work on this album.

With Joey and CJ bringing in most of the active member input, Marky wrote one song, "Have a Nice Day". It's similar to his previous work, "Anxiety",  in that both are short and both follow the classic Ramones song structure from their earlier albums. It's a good song, but Joey sounds a bit rough on this one (probably trying to match the speed on it).

Before I finish this up, I would like to mention that "I Love You" is a boring cover in the same vein as most of the Acid Eaters album - an almost note-by-note copy with nothing new except for Joey's horrible vocal performance.

The three Ramones's output brings in one classic song, a great one, and three good ones. Does that mean that they were more than capable of working without Dee Dee? No, but it does mean that the rest of the band were better songwriters by the end. It's possible that Dee Dee sold them the songs and they ran with it instead of making more of their own tracks. They had the potential to make a fun album here, and it's mostly a successful effort. Buy it and enjoy it outside of its historical value. The deep cuts are worth a listen.