この日のＡＴＮはシーナ＆ロケッツの名前をはじめてインターネット上で見た記念すべきページになりました。コメントしてくれたジョーイ・ラモーンに感謝しているよ。
This was our First Big Surprise, SHEENA & THE ROKKETS on the Web, Thanks for JOEY RAMONE and ATN.
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December 28, 1995
Index
of Previous News
What Joey Ramone Got For Christmas (And Other Mysteries Solved)
Is a solo album in Joey's future?
How did our (Very) Foreign Corespondent, Joey
Ramone spend his holidays? When we called Joey he was chatting it up with
his new pet parrot that he got for Christmas. He told us, "I began
the day making phone calls. First I called Roy Wood, then I called Veronica
Kofman from the Ramones UK fan club, and then proceeded to contact Len
Tuckey, who used to be married to Suzi Quatro but now manages [Slade singer/guitarist
] Noddy Holder. I wanted to wish Noddy a Happy Christmas and to tell him
what a big Slade fan I've always been. Then I spoke to this bloke named
Danielz from T-Rextasy, who's formed a T-Rex tribute band that's keeping
Mark Bolan's spirit alive. I called to wish him a Merry Christmas which
turned into a pretty cool conversation about Stonehenge, the current music
scene, and cool '70s glitter bands. While we were talking Danielz exclaimed
"I don't believe it, the Ramones are on the Simpsons right
at this very second! How cosmic." The last person I called was my
friend Joan Tarshis, who suggested we call Dave "Kinks" Davies,
so we proceeded to dial up Dave and left an insane Christmas message at
his hotel. I haven't heard back yet. Then it was off to June's house, my
mom's best friend, for Christmas fun and frolic and dinner. After dinner
we opened up the presents.
My brother, Mickey Leigh, and his wife Arlene got me an onyx Mayan pyramid
from Mexico, that you put under your bed, and it supposedly brings you
strength. (I need all the strength I can get.) CJ Ramone gave me my Christmas
present early while we were on the White Zombie tour. An authentic Louisville
Slugger baseball bat, that he ordered from the Louisville Slugger Museum
and Factory for the band and crew when we were in Louisville, Kentucky.
Imprinted on the wood it reads "Joey Ramone model. " I asked
him how he knew that after the Ramones broke-up I was going to become a
professional ball player. Veronica Kofman sent me a framed handwritten
letter from Mark Bolan. The thing that's wild about the letter is that
it talks about a very strange occurrence in my life. When I met Mark Bolan
in 1977, ten days before his death, I asked him about a T-Rex song I loved
that I couldn't find called "Solid Gold Easy Action," and in
the letter, he speaks of releasing a 12-inch single with "Solid Gold
Easy Action" on the B-side and writes: "reissued Bolan goldie
at the request of Joey Ramone." Wow!!! Arturo Vega, our in-house artiste
gave me a special collector's edition Elvis Presley Christmas CD he got
for me at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When you open up the CD, Graceland
pops out. It's really cool. Our tour manager Monte Melnick gave me a Deepak
Chopra book, the number one national best seller, Perfect Health.
I also got a book from Larry, my mom's friend called Rock's Movers and
Shakers.I opened up the book and was appalled to see that it said that
on August 15, 1983 I was rushed to the hospital to have emergency brain
surgery. They'll be hearing from my lawyers. It was Johnny, get with the
program!!! You might remember Kyoko from the illiterate cab driver incident
from the Ramone's Academy show "Road Report." Well she gave me
a really nice shirt, the new Howard Stern book, and a coffee mug with an
imprinted photograph of Marky and Johnny Ramone, our friends Sheena
and her husband Makoto (Sheena and the Rokkets,
the first Japanese punk band), Kyoko and myself backstage at Club Citta,
during our most recent Japanese tour. My dad gave me two bathing suits
for when I go on vacation to Florida next month. Talking about cosmic,
the other day I found a letter from Phil Spector that he sent me in 1982
announcing the re-release of the The Phil Spector Christmas Album.
The letter was "From the desk of--Phil Spector." In one of those
strange cosmic connective moments, my mom got me personal stationery which
read "From the desk of Joey Ramone." (The revenge of the wonderball.)
She didn't really know what to get me, but knew I needed personal stationery,
so this was to be part of my gift. Now I've got to tell her what I want.
For me it was a real international Christmas, because most of my gift-giving
was of Japanese decent, purchased during our farewell Japanese tour in
October. But to me Christmas isn't just about gift giving, it's getting
to spend time with people you really care about ."
After spending the day with friends and family, Ramone, his mother Charlotte
Ramone and his real-life brother Mickey Leigh of Stop (whose new record
Never was just released on Smut Pedlurz Records, a division of Bomp!
Records, distributed through Caroline) met up at CBGB's for a show Christmas
night benefiting kids with AIDS presented by Cable TV maven George Taft
(Destroy TV and a member of Iron Prostrate). Stop was one of the
acts performing on the bill along with SFA, Bugout Society, Fastlane, Sisters
Grimm, Stallions, Endangered Feces, and George Tabbernacle Choir. After
Stop's set , Joey got on stage with Taft, and Stop to perform a unique
doo-wop-esque punk version of the Ramones "Merry Christmas I Don't
Want To Fight Tonight," followed with a classic version of "Blitzkrieg
Bop" with the George Tabernacle Choir. No one knew Ramone was coming
to the show, and afterwards, fans kept coming up to him, asking if he was
indeed Joey Ramone. "I told them I was, after all it was Christmas."
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of Previous News
Off-Beat Pays Tribute To '50s Beat Culture
Soul Coughing do their '90s Beat thing on Off-Beat
Fifties Beat culture will be paid tribute to in
a unique tribute album, Off Beat: A Red Hot Sound Trip, that will
benefit AIDS prevention groups. The album includes a diverse group of artists
who have each been influenced in some ways by the Beats. Among them: Emergency
Broadcast Network, Soul Coughing, Moby, My Bloody Valentine, My Bloody
Valentine vs Mark Eitzel, Laika, Meat Beat Manifesto, Barry Adamson, David
Byrne vs tomandandy and DJ Krush. Off-Beat is the last album overseen
by Jim Nash,. the co-founder and president of Wax Trax! Records who died
of AIDS this past October 10. The album will be released in January '96.
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of Previous News
Remembering Dean (Martin, That Is)
Frank Sinatra is probably freakin' about now.
First his Rat Pack buddy Dean Martin dies, then no less a paper of record
than the New York Times declares that Martin was a key influence
on one of the greatest and most influential of all rock 'n' rollers: Elvis
Presley. In this past Tuesday's (Dec. 26) Martin obit, Stephen Holden writes:
"The singer, who once said he 'copied Bing Crosby 100 percent,' was
the link between Crosby' and Perry Como's relaxed crooning style and the
soft, sultry side of Elvis Presley, who named Mr. Martin a boyhood idol
and whose ballad hits like 'Love Me Tender' copies Mr. Martin's bedroom-voiced
diction." Sinatra, as you must know, was an outspoken critic of rock
'n' roll in the '50s (he dismissed it as "noise"). Although we
haven't exactly spent a lot of time thinking about Martin recently, his
death did prompt us to remember that his boozy, "I don't give a damn"
style contained a kind of rock 'n' roll attitude that such anti-heroes
as Sid Vicious emulated (Vicious, as you also know) even covered Sinatra's
"My Way"). Amazing what rock 'n' roll draws on for inspiration.
So raise your glass to Dean.
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of Previous News
Alice In Chains Destroy Jan. Issue Of Addicted To Noise
Featured in upcoming issue.
Thanks right. Those architects of the Sludge Factory,
Alice In Chains are featured in the Jan. issue of Addicted To Noise. ATN
headed north, up to Seattle, to go one on one with the masters of alterna-hard-rock.
ATN is proud to present: "6 For '96," in which we introduce you
to six artists you've probably never heard of, but that we think you'll
dig in a big way. Plus Survival Research Labs, Pavement, Electrafixion
and Flaming Lips Part 2. And all the usual columns, album reviews and other
cool stuff. Exclusively on-line, Jan. 1.
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of Previous News
Springsteen Hits The Road (Again)
In the early days, before Bruce got mellow.
In the wake of his short but highly successful
U. S. tour (and a Christmas break), Bruce Springsteen is ready for round
two. The tour begins in Montreal on January 7, followed by dates in Toronto;
Detroit; Youngstown, Ohio (there is a song titled "Youngstown"
on the Boss' The Ghost of Tom Joad album); Cleveland; St. Louis;
New Orleans; Houston; Austin; and Atlanta. More U. S. dates are expected.
Springsteen heads for Europe in late February and will tour there through
March and into April. The Ghost of Tom Joad is considered his best
since Tunnel of Love.
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of Previous News
Atlantic Records Made Us Do It, Take 2
Alright already. What's with you guys (and girls...and
women...and men...and kids... and....). Not only does Atlantic Records
take out an ad in Addicted To Noise, but they come up with this contest
that allows three people to win a copy of this Spew+ thing and only some
of you actually use the handy banner at the top of "Music News Of
The World" to link to it. Hey, we want 1000s of you over there. Millions!
So get going. Now you might be wondering what this Spew+ thing is. If so,
read on. First, it's a CD. Put it in your CD player and you hear a bunch
of songs by a bunch of groups that record for Atlantic Records (like CIV
and Rusty and Collective Soul and The Inbreds and Jill Sobule and Jewel
and the Dragmules and others). Ok. That makes sense. But then, you take
the same CD and put it in your CD-ROM drive, and suddenly you're seeing
video of the groups, looking at song lyrics, all kinds of stuff. It's like
a music video game or something. How did they do it? Who knows. Who cares.
But the thing is, every week day they're giving three of them away to the
first three people who answer the day's Spew+ trivia question correctly.
Like we said earlier, you use the banner at the top of this page to get
to the Spew+ site so you can enter. If you don't win, you might consider
asking your folks to get you one and put it in your stocking or under the
tree. OK.
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of Previous News
Black Grape Opens Up For Stone Roses Tonight
Excellent debut.
Black Grape opens
up for the Stones Roses tonight in Sheffield, England, home of Def Leppard.
After this, the band will tour Japan. Ryder told Vox magazine that
he expects to be doing "this fucking thing for the next two years...it's
fucking hard. Anyone who goes away on a tour comes back fucked." The
infamous malcontent also groused that he'd just as soon take another three
years off, like he did after the demise of his last band, the Happy Mondays.
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of Previous News
Say It's Your Birthday: Alex Chilton
Chilton's Big Star has earned him an eternal place in the history of
rock 'n' roll.
Look up "cult hero" in the dictionary
of rock 'n' roll and you'll find a picture of Alex Chilton. Born in Memphis,
Tenn. on this day in 1950, Chilton started out at the pinnacle of commercial
success and has been determinedly working his way backward ever since.
He was only 16 when the Box Tops debut single, "The Letter,"
crashed into the charts and went all the way to #1. That and other goodies
like "Soul Deep," "Cry Like A Baby," and "Sweet
Cream Ladies" catapulted the underage Alex to the forefront of blue-eyed
soul singers. When the Box Tops fell apart in 1970, Chilton put that voice
in mothballs along with his band uniform and promptly became somebody else.
The next Alex Chilton was one quarter ( then one third, then a half, but
that's another story) of an Anglo-pop retro-futurist combo called Big Star.
The Box Tops sold oodles of records and influenced no one; Big Star sold
no records but influenced oodles of important noodles. (Like the Replacements,
who recorded a song called, "Alex Chilton," and at times appeared
to worship Big Star's shambolic non-success as much as their music.) When
Big Star folded, Alex stumbled forward solo and became somebody else again.
Or, to be more accurate, several somebodies, because to this day you never
quite know who'll turn up to fulfill an Alex Chilton contract. It could
be the inspired roots music lover of Feudalist Tarts (1985), the
raving lunatic of Bach's Bottom (1981), or the intimate charmer
of Cliches (1994). Alex Chilton truly contains multitudes, and we
wish every single one of them a happy birthday. Other birthdays today are
jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines, R&B band-leader Johnny Otis,
other Neville Brother Charles and other Winter brother Edgar.
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Copyright ｩ 1995 Addicted To Noise. If you
use our news, attribute to:
Addicted To Noise, the on-line rock & roll magazine, http://www.addict.com/
