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Becoming Johnny Ramone (Sobriety, glitter, and hard-core Republicanism—the life of unlikeliest punk)
New York Magazine ^ | Mar 18, 2012 | Johnny Ramone

Posted on 03/20/2012 2:23:33 PM PDT by nickcarraway

SNIP

I've always been a Republican, since the 1960 election with Nixon against Kennedy. At that point, I was basically just sick of people sitting there going, “Oh, I like this guy. He’s so good-looking.” I’m thinking, “This is sick. They all like Kennedy because he’s good-looking?” And I started rooting for Nixon just because people thought he wasn’t good-looking. And then by the time Goldwater ran and he starts talking about bombing Vietnam, I said, “This sounds right to me.” I was in favor of bombing the enemy into oblivion. Same as any war: If you want to be in it, win it. I didn’t understand why we didn’t just bomb the place out of existence.

At the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, when I made my acceptance speech I said: “God bless President Bush, and God bless America.” That sure set them off. This wasn’t long after September 11—I was always so gung ho American, I felt that was a real attack on me.

One of the things I am most proud of that we did was a benefit at CBGB for the New York Police Department so they could get bulletproof vests. This was when New York wasn’t safe at all, before ­Giuliani fixed it up. We even had protesters outside the club, those commies.

The most unlikely place I was ever recognized was on the trading floor of the Stock Exchange. I walked down there and everybody knew who I was. They were handing me phones and asking me to say hello to their friends. I talked to everybody. That was in the nineties. I thought, “All these ­Ramones fans work on Wall Street?”

The band trusted me to get them as much money as I could, and we did fine. They never said a word to me about it or questioned me. I would say, “Money is our friend. It doesn’t do anything to you. It is good.” I used to say that all the time.

We made money over the long run while we were still together. I think that when we really got going, we paid ourselves a $150-a-week salary. When we came back from a tour, we each would get another $1,000. And then we started getting merchandise money, which was more than our regular salary. I was trying to watch the money. I figured if I could save a million dollars, I could retire. We weren’t getting rich, any of us.

Anheuser-Busch approached us in 1994 and bought a song for a commercial. I thought it was terrific. I liked seeing the commercial, and people would ask me how I felt about it, and I would tell them it was the easiest money I ever made. I never looked at it as anything bad. Sometimes something like that can be lame, but for beer, which is very American, it’s good.

I made more money after we stopped than I ever did while the Ramones were active. We made a lot of money from merchandising, and the records sold better than ever. Maybe everyone really does love you when you’re dead.

SNIP


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: music; republican
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1 posted on 03/20/2012 2:23:36 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

He has an interesting memorial at the Hollywood Forever cemetery.

2 posted on 03/20/2012 2:33:08 PM PDT by mgstarr ("Some of us drink because we're not poets." Arthur (1981))
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To: nickcarraway

A “Thanks for the post!” BTTT !!


3 posted on 03/20/2012 2:33:38 PM PDT by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: nickcarraway

He was great guy. I saw him once in Greenwich village actually helping someone lift a piano through a top floor window if you can believe it, just like something you would see in a cartoon with ropes and winches but I was too speechless to say anything. I kicked myself for years after for not offering to help, still do. He was standing right there on the sidewalk pulling the rope. Him and Joey didn’t speak for years because Joey accused him of stealing his girl and Joey went and wrote that song “The KKK took my baby away” too stupid to realize it was the Democrats who were the KKK.


4 posted on 03/20/2012 2:38:33 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke)
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To: nickcarraway

Wow!


5 posted on 03/20/2012 2:43:41 PM PDT by Deb (Beat him, strip him and bring him to my tent!)
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To: nickcarraway

That band had an interesting concept - each new person in the band had to agree to take on the stage name of “ramone”. None of those guys last name was ramone. Cool.


6 posted on 03/20/2012 2:44:38 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: nickcarraway; rdb3

In the spirit of freedom and the hard work that goes with it, Johnny Ramone was an absolute punk music hero.

Johnny is rumored to have said, “Ronald Reagan was the best president of my lifetime”.


7 posted on 03/20/2012 2:49:26 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
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To: nickcarraway

bookmark


8 posted on 03/20/2012 2:59:05 PM PDT by GOP Poet
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To: LurkedLongEnough

He did say that about Reagan. There’s a documentary I forget the name, that goes through their whole history and shows one of their last tours in South America and he says that right on tape in an interview about his Conservative beliefs. It was a very odd pairing....He was in a band with 2 heroin addicts, one alcoholic and he was clean as a whistle..never drank, smoked, did drugs and he gets cancer. Go figure.


9 posted on 03/20/2012 3:05:20 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke)
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To: LurkedLongEnough

He did say that about Reagan. There’s a documentary I forget the name, that goes through their whole history and shows one of their last tours in South America and he says that right on tape in an interview about his Conservative beliefs. It was a very odd pairing....He was in a band with 2 heroin addicts, one alcoholic and he was clean as a whistle..never drank, smoked, did drugs and he gets cancer. Go figure.


10 posted on 03/20/2012 3:05:47 PM PDT by GrandJediMasterYoda (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda; nickcarraway; musicman; GOP Poet; LurkedLongEnough; plain talk; mgstarr

Loved The Ramones. Here’s one of my favorite Johnny Ramone articles- talking about being a true rebel in a rebel’s world (a conservative punk)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2004/mar/11/20040311-085521-1823r/?page=all


11 posted on 03/20/2012 3:41:11 PM PDT by philled (“If this creature is not stopped it could make its way to Novosibirsk!")
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To: mgstarr

“He has an interesting memorial at the Hollywood Forever cemetery.”

Just a 10 minute drive from me and the entire Loco Live album is on my mp3 player.


12 posted on 03/20/2012 3:45:27 PM PDT by max americana
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To: nickcarraway

Alice Cooper (real name Vincent Furnier) offstage is one of
the straightest people around

Conservative Republican

Puts on great show....


13 posted on 03/20/2012 3:48:40 PM PDT by njslim (St)
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To: max americana

Are you in the Los Feliz area?


14 posted on 03/20/2012 3:53:42 PM PDT by mgstarr ("Some of us drink because we're not poets." Arthur (1981))
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To: nickcarraway
I've always been a Republican, since the 1960 election with Nixon against Kennedy. At that point, I was basically just sick of people sitting there going, “Oh, I like this guy. He’s so good-looking.” I’m thinking, “This is sick. They all like Kennedy because he’s good-looking?” And I started rooting for Nixon just because people thought he wasn’t good-looking.

That's how I got started as a Republican, too. I was seven years old at the time.

Plus, living in the city of Chicago, I didn't like Democrats because of the Daley machine.

15 posted on 03/20/2012 3:57:17 PM PDT by Charles Henrickson
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To: mgstarr

Hollywood.


16 posted on 03/20/2012 4:17:35 PM PDT by max americana
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To: nickcarraway

*bump*


17 posted on 03/20/2012 4:24:37 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: max americana

Santa Monica here.


18 posted on 03/20/2012 4:25:35 PM PDT by mgstarr ("Some of us drink because we're not poets." Arthur (1981))
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

Hey cut Joey a lil slack. He did the best he could with what he was given.


19 posted on 03/20/2012 4:31:06 PM PDT by rawcatslyentist (Mohammedan law every woman must belong to a man will delay the end of slavery until Islam has ceased)
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To: mgstarr

I can’t believe there are Freepers in Sta Monica until now. I was going to ask you how you cope with more libtards in your area than mine..


20 posted on 03/20/2012 4:33:30 PM PDT by max americana
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