Johnny & Dee Dee Ramone Pop! Rocks Figure

What we have here is probably the cutest little friggin' doll this side of Hello Kitty.

'Cept for punk rockers.

This is the kind of crap that I wished I received at work during those bullshit team gift exchange Christmas party. You know, where they reserve a fucking meeting room for an hour and have some kind of potluck where nobody wants to be responsible for the entree dish and everyone ends up giving out ornaments or some other crappy $5-$10 gift, but only the one who everyone hates ends up being the only sap adhering to the low end of that price range.

Now that I have that off my chest, take a look at the cuteness and the press release.

Together, legendary guitarist Johnny Ramone, and legendary punk-rock bassist Dee Dee Ramone created a wall of sound that defined the driving force of the Ramones. For the first time ever in their history making legacy, Johnny and Dee Dee have been rendered as vinyl figures.



Both of these stylized 3.75-inch tall vinyl figures come decked in traditional Ramones leather jackets, and armed with their weapons of choice, (guitar and bass respectively). They're detailed right down to Johnny's infamous frown, Dee Dee's enigmatic glare, and the matching shoulder chains that bookended them on stage while changing the face of rock 'n' roll.



To guarantee you'll have them to rock around the X-mas tree, order now at:

http://aggronautix.com/products.cfm

Hey! Ho! Let's Go!

It took 23 months and 26 days until my daughter spoke for the first time.
Today, I was so overcome with joy when I heard my daughter utter:
“Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!”
I’m so proud. Of course, she has said a bunch of shit for months, but nothing as important as this.
I started on Dee Dee’s autobiography the other day, The Last Will and Testament of Dee Dee Ramone, he’s a good writer and possesses an active imagination. Too much at times, I ran across one passage that was too violent to be true (Dee Dee kills a Norwegian cop) and now question every godddamn thing he says. Including the parts where he claims his three-piece solo band sounded good playing those old Ramones classics.

The Power Of The Riff Compels You!

I don’t know about anyone else, but I totally have a boner for the new Mastodon album Crack The Skye. I’ve already pre-ordered it-no, it wasn’t the deluxe limited edition version. I figured that the album was enough (along with the making-of DVD that came with it) and it saved me enough dough that I could get a few more cd’s-making this first cd purchase of 2009.
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but cd sales are low, so I think that I’m not alone in my cd buying habits. You want to know something? While browsing around, I noticed that there are bunches of albums that have found their way into “bargain price” categories. For example, you can pretty much get the entire early Ramones catalog for under nine bucks per disc. So guess what else I bought in addition to the new Mastodon album? Why labels don’t figure this out is beyond me. There was a time when it was not uncommon for me to drop close to a $100 every other month for cds. Now, that figure is closer to a couple times a year, mainly on titles that I know I’ll like thanks to downloading them for free first. Most of those titles, by the way, are ones that I just need to fill out my collection; very few new discs make the cut.
The Ramones disc was a no brainer. I would probably pay the same price for an album download, so why not get the real thing along with the artwork and better sound quality? I did put back a bunch of titles, simply because I couldn’t justify the price. Seriously, why are labels so insistent on leaving prices at $15? I don’t care about the bonus material! I don’t care about the packaging! And, newsflash, nobody else does either! I would love for some of these bands to see that I didn’t buy their shit because I didn’t perceive it to be a very good value. But $6.99 for Road To Ruin? Please. I noticed a Peter Tosh album that I’ve wanted for quite some time had also been reduced. Guess what? Picked that one up too.
It’s true, the Mastodon title is new and I’ve only heard one song off it. That song is found on the video below, a video so awesome that I’m confident that the rest of the album-even if it’s only half as good as this song-is worth the purchase price. The purchase price, by the way, contains that aforementioned DVD.
Value!
However, seriously, whenever the video features killer hooks, a homage to John Carpenter’s The Thing, and the fucking abominable Snowman, you know it’s good.

Mastodon - New Music - More Music Videos

Happy Birthday, Joey Ramone

A week and a half ago, I stayed up later than I should. You see, I was taking advantage of some quiet time here at the house during those hours when Mother and child were both fast asleep. It is during these times in which I listen to music without interruptions or distraction, watch what I want to watch under similar environments, update Glam-Racket, write reviews, whatever. It's my time. I do whatever the fuck I want.
Anyway, Rock And Roll High School came on around midnight, and so I invested the ninety minutes or so that it would require of me because, well because it's the fucking Ramones. Sure, I'd seen it a few times, but it's been years since I'd watched it last.
Immediately following it was the Ramones documentary Raw. I'd never seen that movie; I've heard it was good, but I never bothered to buy/rent it since I already own the documentary End Of The Century and, as good as that movie is, considered it to be the "definitive" Ramones movie.
Nonetheless, I felt obligated to the "brothers" that I should invest another ninety minutes to watch it and prepare myself for the inevitable sleep deprivation that would surely arrive the follow day.
It was worth my body's investment and it reminded me of how great they were and how unfair it is that a full 3/4 of the original members are no longer with us.
With Dee-Dee being such a beautiful fuck up and Johnny being such a frustrating Republican, it's easy to feel bad that they aren't around while feeling a little frustrated with how they both lived their lives when they were with us.
Joey, on the other hand, was a guy that you could definitely admire and champion; if there isn't a better example of someone who's life was saved by rock and roll, I'm hard pressed to name one now. Marred with physical ailments, a strange appearance, and enough misdiagnosis to almost certainly lead him down a life of unseen potential, Joey ignored his lack of musical abilities and pressed ahead with that barely visible light that rock and roll can change your life.
All of these "flaws," ironically, would lead Joey towards a place where they actually served as positive attributes. The Ramones became the perfect vehicle for him and they world became a better place because of it.
Years after his death, a street in the village of New York City was named on his behalf. Befitting, I suppose, since he ultimately helped change the course of rock and roll for the better.
Joey Ramone would have turned 55 years old tomorrow.

The Ramones-End Of The Century

So a former assistant of Phil Spector files suit against him and I’m reminded to review The Ramones “End Of The Century” album.

By 1979, The Ramones understood that they’d essentially painted themselves into a corner by repeating their “formula” over the course of four albums. It was time for them to either go for broke or forever be linked with the underground minions of rock music. Since the bruthas regularly acknowledged their love for late 50’s/early 60’s AM radio, it was no big stretch of the imagination that they partnered with a legendary icon of this era: producer Phil Spector. At the time, however, the press made the pairing out to be a huge deal; I specifically remember when this album was released that the entire focus was on Spector and The Ramones teaming up. I remember reading that there was some “tension” during the recording of this album, but the whole idea of a Ramones presented in a monophonic wall-of-sound recording is, to this day, a very logical and positive idea.
From the lead-track, “(Do You Remember) Rock ‘N Roll Radio,” the combination works out in a great way. The song perfectly epitomizes the nostalgia of 60’s radio (and early 70’s too, with a sly mention of T-Rex) while eloquently containing the simplistic power of this New York City quartet.

Although not as essential as The Ramones debut, “End Of The Century” remains an important document in their catalog and I’ve found myself repeatedly spinning it lately. The remake of Dee Dee’s “Chinese Rocks” and side one’s closer “Let’s Go” hark back to traditional Ramones territory, but the biggest difference is how Spector puts Joey’s vocals higher in the mix. Curiously, Spector was taken by Joey’s vocal abilities and occasionally confided in him that the rest of the band was simply holding him back. For myself and most fans in general, Joey was always the goofy one up front while the rest of the Ramones managed to forge ahead with some rudimentary chords and energetic tempo. What Spector did is put the spotlight on Joey and force the rest of the band into a recording technique they weren’t accustomed to. Rather than roll tape and record the performance, Phil made the band do take after take of the same song. Since Joey was Spector’s baby, and since this was the first Ramones recording to feature Marky on drums, Dee Dee and Johnny became frustrated with Spector and disenfranchised with the entire project.
Personal dramas aside, the end result is an album that not only marked the first time they attempted to departure from the traditional Ramones sound and “End Of The Century” marked the last truly great Ramones album.