NEW YORK (AP) - Singer Joey Ramone, the punk rock icon
whose signature yelp
melded with the Ramones' three-chord thrash to launch an explosion
of bands
like the Clash and the Sex Pistols, died Sunday. He was 49.
Ramone, the gangly lead singer with the leather jacket,
tinted glasses and
permanently torn jeans, was hospitalized in March 2001 with lymphoma.
His
death was confirmed Sunday by Arturo Vega, the Ramone's longtime
artistic director.
The Ramones - its four members adopted the common last
name after forming
the band in 1974 - came out of Queens, a motley collection of
local losers
with limited musical skills. Joey became the lead singer only
after his
drumming proved too rudimentary to keep up with his bandmates'
thunderous riffs.
While British bands such as the Sex Pistols and Clash
received the media
attention once punk rock exploded, both were schooled by the Ramones'
tour
of England that began on the U.S. Bicentennial - July 4, 1976.
``They changed the world of music. They rescued rock
and roll from
pretentiousness and unnecessary adornments,'' said Vega.
Their ``do-it-yourself,'' garage-rock influence still
echoes today in bands
like Green Day and the Offspring. The low-tech Ramones spent just
two days and $6,000 recording their 1976 debut album.
``They're the daddy punk group of all time,'' said
Joe Strummer, lead singerof the Clash, in a recent Spin magazine
interview.
Despite their influence and critical acclaim, the Ramones
never cracked the Top 40.
Bruce Springsteen, after seeing the Ramones in an Asbury
Park, N.J., club,
wrote ``Hungry Heart'' for the band - but his manager convinced
The Boss to keep the eventual hit single.
The Ramones' best-known songs reflected their twisted
teen years in Queens:
``Beat on the Brat,'' ``I Wanna Be Sedated,'' ``Now I Wanna Sniff
Some
Glue,'' ``Teenage Lobotomy,'' ``Sheena Is a Punk Rocker.''
Joey Ramone was born Jeffrey Hyman on May 19, 1951.
His career started
during the early 1970s glam-rock era, when he played in several
New York bands - occasionally under the name Jeff Starship.
But his collaboration with Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy
Ramone was something
special. They became fixtures in downtown clubs like CBGBs and
Max's Kansas City, joining fellow punkers like Patti Smith and
Richard Hell.
The scene eventually produced commercially successful
bands like Blondie and the Talking Heads.
The Ramones recorded their first album of two-minute,
three-chord blasts in
February 1976. The band then earned a loyal cult following with
a seemingly
endless string of tours where they would crank out 30 songs in
90 minutes.
In 1979, Joey and the band appeared in the Roger Corman
movie ``Rock N' Roll
High School,'' contributing the title song to the soundtrack.
They also did
the title track for the film ``Pet Semetary,'' based on the book
by Ramones fan Stephen King.
Their last real stab at commercial success came in
a bizarre 1980
collaboration with producer Phil Spector - a session that bassist
Dee Dee
Ramone recalled most for Spector's pulling a gun on the band inside
his Beverly Hills mansion.
Joey eventually wound up singing a syrupy version of
Spector's classic
``Baby, I Love You'' - the strangest recording of the band's 22-year
career.
The Spector-produced ``End of the Century'' did become the Ramones'
best-selling record, hitting No. 44 on the charts.
Five years later, the band released ``Bonzo Goes to
Bitburg'' - Joey
Ramone's angry rant about President Reagan's visit to a German
military cemetery.
The Ramones disbanded in 1996 after a tour that followed
their final studio
album, ``Adios Amigos.'' A live farewell tour album, ``We're Outta
Here!'', was released in 1997.
Since the band's demise, Joey Ramone kept a fairly
low profile -
occasionally popping up to perform or host shows at Manhattan
clubs, making
occasional radio show appearances, and working on a solo album
that was never released.
