Gabba Gabba Hey

A Conversation With the Ramones

Carl Cafarelli

• Publisher: Rare Bird Books
• Year: 2023
• ISBN:
  9781644283875
• Topic: Medios de comunicación y artes escénicas
• Subtopic: Biografías musicales

For the first time, you can read the Ramones' comments about their own history in this intimate series of interviews with the legendary band.

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, hear their music in TV commercials, or experience the unlikely adoption of "Blitzkrieg Bop" as a sports anthem. Guitarist Johnny Ramone barely lived long enough to see it begin, and drummer Tommy Ramone's death in 2014 wrote finis to the mortal part of the Ramones' story. The legend endured.

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.

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.