THE RAMONES: Halfway To Sanity...And Back Again!

THE RAMONES: Halfway To Sanity...And Back Again!

FEATURES

by Kris Needs

1987. It’s a full decade after the Summer Of Hate, and we have the 10th studio album from the Ramones. And whadaya know! Even though there must now be a couple hundred Ramones songs thrashing around on various vinyl, the band still has the same sound after all these years.

Of course, there have been minor aberrations. The Sound has sometimes been harder, softer, faster, slower, or even drenched with strings and Phil Spector’s “wall of sound” on End Of The Century— but they have never strayed toofar from that original, simple concept of short, sharp, classic pop songs with sicko lyrics and high-octane no-gaps delivery. That, reckons Joey Ramone, is the secret of their success as one of the few survivors of the mid-’70s punk explosion.

Now, with a new generation of hardcore-metal maniacs craving no-frills, fulltilt thrash, the Ramones are finding themselves with a brand new audience, comprised of many who probably weren’t even 10 years old when the band first appeared. Joey reckons they’ve never been more popular than they are right now.

It would be true to say that Halfway To Sanity, the Ramones’ latest album, is their most anticipated in years. Joey thinks, quite naturally, that it’s their best album ever—but I dunno about that. The first three caused such an explosion on the rock ’n’ roll scene that it would be a next-to-impossible feat to top those. But it’s certainly their strongest album this decade: a work of epic sicko-ness with the band firing on all cylinders.

No blanding out of faculties here. In fact, it’s just the opposite. The Ramones’ place in the punk hall of fame stands, while others fell long ago. Why, Joey is even wearing ripped jeans again!

And here’s the great man himself, seated in his favorite East Side bar! As mentioned, Joey’s justifiably proud of the album, but his triumph is clouded today by the dramatic personnel shakeups which forced a postponement of the band’s prestigious New York dates. Drummer Ritchie Ramone recently quit after four years with the group, basically over a pay raise. “Not enough,” said Ritchie on the eve of the N.Y. gigs, expecting to be asked back on his terms. But in came old mate Clem Burke, formerly of Blondie, now a member of the Eurythmics, looking for a job during his current layoff from Annie and Dave. Clem played just one gig with the Ramones in Trenton, New Jersey, before he up and left too. Official reason is ‘‘personal differences.”

Inevitable rumors, which spring out of such situations, say “money.”

What happened next is a classic rock ’n’ roll coincidence: the day Clem left, the Ramones were contemplating offering their old drummer (before Ritchie) Marky his job back. Suddenly, the phone rang and it was Marky! A few hours rehearsal, and he was back in the fold, playing the Ritz and the rest of the tour. A happy ending or what?

But Joey still feels hurt by Ritchie’s actions.

“He went about it like a real pussy. He just whimpered it to me that he wanted to leave after a gig in East Hampton. Basically he wanted a pay raise, but you’d think after being with us for four years— if he felt that he was entitled to additional money, he’d come to the band and talk about it. Do it like a man, and not go to the management and say ‘If I don’t get this money, I quit.’ It’s more or less saying ‘F— you guys, I’m more important than you are.’ I just felt screwed. It was the way he went about it.

“Then he started doing these numbers before the beginning of the tour, pulling this blackmail shit. His head is so swollen he thinks he’s more important than we are! So we gave him the money, and he still pulled this shit with us. Now, me and Ritchie were friends, which is why I have mixed feelings about this. He was more than just the drummer in the band. But he was just out for himself. He said he would do the New York shows for five hundred a night. I’m sure he felt he had us by the balls—our album was coming out and there was a lot of press coming.

I heard he and his wife had a champagne party celebrating ‘Ritchie’s victory.’ Twenty-four hours later, he heard a statement on the radio that Clem was in the band.’’

At the time, Joey was very excited about the acquisition of “Clemmy Ramone.” Now, he’s just pleased that the Ramones are back on the rails. Marky was always a quiet, no-nonsense type, not to mention a hard drummer. So it looks like the band is finally ready to get out and promote Halfway To Sanity.

“The album’s very, very intense,” says Joey. “It’s basically in the mold of Too Tough To Die, but it’s even harder. This album is real raw, real exciting. It’s us. It has that crunch, y’know? It’s like taking a piece of wood and a sander, and going against the grain. It’s very optimistic and positive. To some degree, it’s introspective. And it’s very topical in a lot of ways.

“It’s a real band effort. There were a few years down the road when there was a lot of inner turmoil and friction within the band. But we worked it out. I think our last tour of England did it. It was mainly me and John having the problems, and we made a conscious effort to work out our differences. It was pretty wild—like psychotherapy on wheels! Since then it’s been nice. I remember a lot of years there’d be a total lack of communication between some of us guys, rivalry and siding. I guess all bands have it. We’ve been together 13 years. We tour all the time— that’s what we’re all about. We like to play, that’s what excites us. That’s why were doing what we’re doing.

“When we started out, these kids were eight or nine years old. Now they’re 19— and we’re their favorite band. Kids are getting turned on to us by their parents! And this has been our best year as far as attendance goes. We just do great everywhere, but it’s not any one kind of kid. We get some of the original people who didn’t get too old, but we also get all the thrash kids, heavy metal kids. I guess things started picking up for us again with hardcore. We’re the direct link. We’re very primal. It’s that jungle music!

“If you’re doing well, you don’t mind if Bon Jovi co-exist with you. ”

—Joey Ramone

“Most bands make one or two great albums and that’s it—it’s downhill from there. They maybe have one decent song on their album. No one puts 12 songs on an album because you’re not gonna get paid for those songs—they all have eight or nine these days. We’re fans, so we know when you buy an album, you want 12 songs. That’s how it should be.

“The real glory of what rock ’n’ roll is all about doesn’t seem to exist any more. Everyone’s trying to be a banker or an accountant, with their bleached hair. You can almost visualize the attache in their hand!

“The thing that gets me about America, and the real straight masses is that most of them lack opinion because they’re brainwashed and told what to do. But there’s so much great music that’s gone down. Yet they’re oblivious to all the greatness, y’know. Poison, Curiosity Killed The Cat, all the fluff-metal now. . . That’s what my parents listen to and I don’t wanna listen to what my parents listen to!”

The Ramones have never felt the need to change their sound.

“It’s good,” says Joey. “Most people lose sight of what they’re doing. It’s the attitude within. We’re not trying to be something we’re not. We maintain, and the kids know that, and I think more and more people are getting disgusted with all the shit that’s around, all the false music.

“I think we’re more angered now than we were before! It’s sickening! And this business really sucks! But we love what we do. That’s why we maintain. We never had it easy. We never got a break.

“People are still a bit freaked by us. They won’t let us in because we won’t kiss their ass. We’re rockin’ the system here! You’ve got to compromise yourself if you wanna get in. Seems like everyone did. Even the Clash became like disco music in the end!

"Sticking to your initial beliefs and high ideals. That reigns supreme with us. That’s the only thing that’s important.

“To me, what happened in ’76 was like what happened in 1964 in England. By 1977, there were all kinds of exciting things happening, people doing innovative things. We went to England, came back—and at that point, the world changed. It was everywhere! We really changed the course of rock history and revolutionized rock ’n’ roll. It was a real exciting time. Then ail the stuff started following it like new wave—the softer variation. That’s when it started becoming somewhat acceptable in America with radio picking up on it—it’s always the safe stuff. Horrible bands like the Knack with the skinny ties! Now it’s just safe, and nobody has to worry about anyone shaking things up.

“We’ve touched everybody. Everybody has been changed by us. We have a definite trademark sound. That’s something that everyone tries to achieve, but few do. Since the beginning of rock ’n’ roll, there’s only been about 10 or 15 bands that had definite sounds that everyone tries to emulate—like Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, the Who.. .the Ramones! We stand alone, even though all these scenes and movements have come out surrounding us. They come and go—we maintain.

“But finally we’re getting a bit of justification here—last year we won best rock ’n’ roll album of the year in the New York Music Awards. That was nice. It shows there’s a bit of appreciation.

“For the most part it was a public poll, and we were up against Run-D.M.C., Talking Heads, the Beastie Boys, Lou Reed... I was in shock, but it’s a good feeling—makes you like people a little bit more! And if you’re doing well, you don’t mind if Bon Jovi co-exist with you. They wear the same ripped jeans we used to wear in ’76! Now it’s hip to look that way!”

And speaking of “what goes around...,” bassist Dee Dee Ramone is now a rappin’ star in his alter-ego, Dee Dee King. The 12-inch “Funky Man” is out, and will be followed by an album. Joey? Joey?

“Yeah, he’s a funky man now! It just happened overnight. Now he’s a rapper.” He scratches his head.

I, for one, am totally pleased to see the Ramones getting their just rewards after so long in the biz. They’ve stuck to their guns, worked their buns off, and made thousands of people delirious with delight.

Halfway to sanity? There’s more in those Ramones heads than you might think! HI