"Anybody else would probably be happy if they had what we have," says Dee Dee Ramone in the first scene of the Ramone's End of the Century.
There is no hiding in this documentary. Everything is laid out on the table: the good, the bad and the ugly truths of being in a band and dealing with the jealousy, relationship drama, America's rejection and drug addiction that came along with it.
For the uninitiated, The Ramones were formed by four neighborhood kids from Queens who were brought together by their love of bands like The Stooges and the New York Dolls. Their glaringly opposite personality clashes didn't stop the band from twenty-two years of staying together, which included the biggest clash of all, ultra conservative right-wing Republican, Johnny Ramone stealing and later marrying leftist and fragile looking Joey Ramone's girlfriend. This resulted in the two 'friends' not speaking for fifteen years, yet continuing to play and share the space of small tour vans together. This tension is apparent in the interviews on the documentary.
What kind of music would result from a group with such different views? What kind of group would this produce? A group called The Ramones. With their two minute songs consisting of quick riffs, high energy and dark humor, they rejected the conventional music of their day and were able to produce a whole new movement of music for the disgruntled, outcast misfits all over the world.
And yet they could only watch as the bands they inspired went on to get airtime and sell more records than they did. Bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols, among others.
In 2001, Joey died of lymphatic cancer at the age of 49 and Johnny died, also of cancer, in 2004. The bassist and all around bad boy of the group, Dee Dee Ramone was often the instigator of fights between himself and Johnny as well as bringing trouble to the group with his drug addiction. He died in 2002 from a heroin overdose. The ever-changing Ramones #4 drummer spot included Tommy Ramone, who often acted as manager and sometimes drummer, as well as Marky Ramone and CJ Ramone, who replaced Dee Dee on bass after he left to work on his not-so-great rap career. CJ, from the interview, seems like he would have been better suited to a hard rock or heavy metal band and not a band like the Ramones. All three rotating members are still alive.
In End of the Century we get the true stories of each member from the band members themselves, including the ever-changing Ramone #4, as well as music icons such as Legs McNeil, Deborah Harry, Chris Stein and Joe Strummer, in his last interview before his death. We also get to hear about the Ramones early life from Joey's mother and brother, as well as neighborhood friends.
Article comments
1 - Road Dog
A great addition to this movie is the book "On The Road With The Ramones".
This is a MUST-HAVE book for all Ramones fans. It's an inside look from the people who were actually there witnessing and experiencing all the extreme highs and lows of rock's greatest bands.
This book is guaranteed to top ANY books written by ANYBODY claiming to be an expert on the Ramones. Monte A. Melnick IS the expert, and he has written an insightful and truthful book about Rock's major influence in this or any other century. The pictures are as cool as the subject matter, and the layout of the book is a tribute to Sanctuary Publishing. Anyone wishing to peer into the past and learn what the Ramones really were all about, and how they evolved should buy this book today!