Johnny Ramone

John William Cummings was born in Queens, New York City, on October 8, 1948, the only child of a construction worker (a steamfitter) of Irish descent.[6] He was raised in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, where he grew up absorbing rock music.[7] As a teenager, Johnny played in a band called the Tangerine Puppets alongside future Ramones drummer Tamás Erdélyi (better known as Tommy Ramone).[8] As a teenager, he was known as a "greaser", though he was later described as a tie-dye-wearing Stooges fan. He was a lifelong New York Yankees fan. He also worked as a plumber with his father before the Ramones became successful, at one point attended military school,[9] and briefly attended college in Florida.

He met future bandmate Douglas Colvin, later to become Dee Dee Ramone, in the early 1970s while delivering dry cleaning. They would eat lunch together and discuss their mutual love of bands like the Stooges and MC5. Together they went to Manny's Music in New York City in January 1974, where Johnny bought a used blue Mosrite Ventures II guitar for just over $54. On the same trip, Dee Dee bought a Danelectro bass. They collaborated with future bandmate Jeffrey Hyman, later to become Joey Ramone, to form the Ramones with Richie Stern on bass. Stern left after a few rehearsals. Tommy joined the Ramones in the summer of that year after public auditions failed to produce a satisfactory drummer.

Johnny was responsible for initiating one of the major sources of animosity within the band when he began dating and later married Linda Daniele, who had previously dated Joey. Though the band remained together for years after this incident, relations between Johnny and Joey remained strained.[10] Years later, when Joey was in the hospital dying of lymphoma, Johnny refused to telephone him. He later discussed this incident in the film End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones, saying an attempt at such a reunion would have been futile. He did add that he was depressed for a week after Joey's death. When pressed, he acknowledged that this was because of the bond forged by the band. In their road manager Monte Melnick's book about his time with the Ramones, Johnny is quoted as having said, "I'm not doing anything without him. I felt that was it. He was my partner. Me and him. I miss that."

Alongside his music career, Johnny appeared in nearly a dozen films (including Rock 'n' Roll High School) and documentaries. He also made television appearances in such shows as The Simpsons (1F01 "Rosebud", 1993) and Space Ghost Coast to Coast (Episode 5 "Bobcat").[11]

Being almost exclusively a rhythm guitarist, Johnny solely used downstrokes throughout his career; he also used full, six-string barre chords and occasional power chords.[12][13][14] This unique technique, combined with his characteristic high gain tone from his guitar amplifier, produced a guitar sound that was far more aggressive and rhythmic than that of his contemporaries, heavily influencing early punk rock groups.[15]

Johnny solely saw himself as a rhythm guitarist. For the most part, he disliked lengthy guitar solos, and consequently never attempted to gain much skill in this area of playing. Despite this, Johnny did play simple lead guitar parts on a small number of Ramones recordings, such as "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" and "California Sun". A brief guitar solo can also be found on live versions of "I Can't Make It on Time", in which Johnny plays a descending E minor pentatonic scale, ending it off with a whole step bend. However, the infrequent guitar solos on the group's studio albums were usually overdubbed by Tommy Ramone, Ed Stasium, Daniel Rey, Walter Lure and other uncredited guests.[16] Most of these small leads were only added in an attempt to give certain songs a more commercial appeal; they were not common on the band's albums.

For example, Dictators bassist Andy Shernoff states that Jimmy Page's rapid downstroke guitar riff in "Communication Breakdown", an influential song that contained elements of protopunk,[17][18] was an inspiration for Johnny Ramone's downstroke guitar style.[19] Ramone, who has described Page as "probably the greatest guitarist who ever lived",[20] stated in the documentary Ramones: The True Story that he improved his downstroke style by playing the song over and over again for the bulk of his early career.[21] Recording engineer Ed Stasium once stated "Johnny makes it sound simple, but I can't do it, and I bet Eddie Van Halen can't. Not for an hour!".[12] This technique was also very influential on new wave of British heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden. His style has also been an influence on many alternative rock bands, as well as on thrash metal performers such as James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Scott Ian of Anthrax.[22] Guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert has cited Johnny Ramone as one of his influences.

Johnny Ramone favored Mosrite, an American guitar brand associated with 1960s pop and rock music.

Johnny first bought a guitar (brand unknown) in 1965 but didn't really learn how to play it, "just fiddled around for about a year."[23]

1974–1977:

• Mosrite – Blue 1965 Ventures II "Slab Body" – Johnny's first, and main guitar between 1974 and 1977, when it was stolen from his storage unit. Had many distinctive dents on the finish due to the fact that Johnny could not afford a case to protect it, and so would cover it with a trash bag while riding the bus around town.
• Mosrite – Sunburst 1965 Ventures II "Slab Body" – Bought in the mid-1970s. One of the instruments stolen in the 1977 storage unit theft. Later ended up for sale in a music store along with a pair of Johnny's jeans.
• Fender – White 1972-1974 Stratocaster – Used on the recording and live performances of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend". Also used for overdubs for the first two Ramones albums and as a backup for live shows. Bought by Johnny from Tommy Ramone and later stolen in the 1977 storage unit theft.

1977–1980:

• Mosrite – White 1965 Ventures II "Slab Body" – Bought in 1977 with the intention of making it a back up to the blue Mosrite. When the Blue Mosrite (along with all of his other guitars save for the Rickenbacker 450) were stolen from his storage unit, this Ventures II became his main guitar until the band disbanded in 1996 – later sold to producer Daniel Rey.[24]
• Rickenbacker – 1966 Fireglo 450 – Often thought to have been traded for another Mosrite, was actually kept at home. All of Johnny's guitars were stolen in 1977 save for this one and the White Mosrite Ventures II which was purchased shortly before the 450.[25]
• Rickenbacker - Late 1950s Gold 450 – Used on the Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, later stolen. Johnny claimed later that it was stolen at a gig with Cheap Trick on July 12, 1978 in Portland, ME. Robin Zander of Cheap Trick was playing an identical model, and Johnny Ramone always claimed that Zander stole his. However, Cheap Trick was playing that night in Johnstown, PA,[26] and didn't actually play a gig with Cheap Trick until Aug. of '79 in the U.K.,[27] long after Robin had already been seen playing his Rickenbacker 450 on Jan. 11, 1978 in Houston, TX. After Johnny's death, Zander said he thought it was Johnny's guitar, but maintains that he purchased it at a pawn shop in Tulsa Oklahoma for a few hundred dollars, and was unaware it was Johnny's until around 1991.[28] Photographic evidence of photos of both guitars, shows that Johnny's guitar was missing its original three screw truss rod cover. Robin's guitar has a four hole truss rod cover which has different locations for the screw holes. Photos of the headstock without the truss rod cover show no indication that a different hole location had been filled in where the screw would have been for a 3-screw cover.[29] So the whereabouts of Johnny's stolen guitar remain unknown.
• Fender – Black 1970s Stratocaster. Whereabouts unknown.
• Yamaha- 1970s acoustic, used sparingly in the studio. Can be seen in the 1979 film Rock 'n' Roll High School during the performance of "I Want You Around".

1980–2000:

• Mosrite – Red 1965 Ventures I/V1 – owned by T.bags of Deadones USA. Used for TV appearances throughout the 1980s and sold to a former tour driver in 1990. Reportedly sold at auction in January 2015 for $71,875[31]
• Mosrite – Blue Ventures II (Carved Body) – Mint condition, never played on stage. Was saved as a backup guitar, and was traded to Johnny in 1988. Eventually autographed and sold to a band roadie who later consigned it for sale at Northern Guitars in Queens, NY. Subsequently, it was purchased by a fan of the band in 2000. Currently, resides in New Jersey.
• Mosrite – Gold (Refinished) 1965 Ventures II "Slab Body" – Johnny's main second guitar from 1984 to 1989. Was Brown (Refinished) when Johnny bought it.
• Mosrite – White 1 pickup – Made by a friend of the band and used as backup during live shows.
• Mosrite – Sunburst 1966 Ventures II "Carved" model with 1 pickup – Used in the video for "Time Has Come Today."
• Mosrite – White Ventures (2) – custom-made for Johnny by Mosrite founder/owner Semie Moseley in the late 1980s.
• Fender – Red 1970s Stratocaster – used in a live dub by Johnny in 1985
• Fender – Blue Sparkle Mustang - Destroyed when the band's equipment van left a show, and the doors were accidentally left open.
• Hamer – White custom endorsement guitar – Johnny owned two. One was traded in the 1980s for the Brown (later refinished Gold) 65 Mosrite Ventures II, which became a backup guitar.
• Boss – TU-12 Chromatic Tuner
• Marshall – JMP Super Lead 100W Head
• Marshall – JCM 800 100W Lead Series Head[32]

Johnny used light gauge Fender Electric strings through most of the 1970s, later changing to Dean Markley.

Johnny was one of the few conservatives in the punk rock community and was a staunch supporter of the Republican Party. He made his political affiliation known to the world in 2002 when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After thanking all who made the honor possible—clad in his trademark T-shirt, ripped blue jeans and leather jacket—he said "God bless President Bush, and God bless America".[34] He said in an interview, when questioned on his conservatism, "I think Ronald Reagan was the best President of my lifetime." This was evident when the band released the UK single "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" in 1985; Johnny pressed for a name change, finding the title insulting to Reagan, and the song was retitled on American releases as "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)" after a line from the song's chorus. In this same interview he claimed that "Punk is right wing".[35]

Johnny is quoted by The Observer as saying: "People drift towards liberalism at a young age, and I always hope they change when they see how the world really is."[36]

Johnny's father was a strict disciplinarian. Johnny is quoted as saying: "My father would get on these tangents about how he never missed a day's work. I broke my big toe the day I had to go pitch a Little League game and he's going, 'What are you – a baby? What did I do, raise a baby? You go play.' And even though my toe was broken I had to go pitch the game anyway. It was terrible. It would always be like that. I'm glad he raised me like that but it would always be, 'What are you – sick? You're not sick. What did I raise – a baby? I never missed a day's work in my life.' Then I went to military school, and in military school, you couldn't call in sick."[9]

Johnny's early adulthood was marked by bouts of delinquency which he stated were inexplicable at the time. "I didn't become a delinquent until I got out of high school. I had a two-year run. I'd go out and hit kids and take their money and rob everybody's pocketbooks. Just being bad every minute of the day. It was terrible. I don't know what my problem was. Things that were funny to me at the time were horrible. If I found a television set sitting in the garbage, I'd take it up to the rooftop, watch for someone walking down the block and drop it in front of them on the sidewalk. It was funny watching them see a TV set come crashing down 30 feet in front of them. To me it was hysterical, but it was also a mean and terrible thing to do. I also found a way of stopping the elevator. I could open up the door and stop the elevator. I would wait for an old lady to get in and stop the elevator. They'd be yelling and pushing the alarm, and I would keep them there. At about 20 years old, I stopped drinking and doing drugs, got a job and tried to be normal."[37]

In his autobiography "Remain In Love" Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz recalls Johnny's abusive behaviour during a 1977 European tour with the Ramones. According to Frantz, Johnny was physically abusive to his then girlfriend Roxy Whitney. While in London "Frank Gallagher went to Heathrow Airport with Tommy and Johnny Ramone to pick up their girlfriends, Claudia, Robin and Roxy, who were arriving from New York. Roxy had brought Johnny a new leather jacket because his had been stolen while the Ramones were performing in the Effenaar Club in Eindhoven, Holland. The Perfecto jacket was a very important part of the Ramones' look, so you would think that Johnny would be grateful, but no. To Frank's horror, while still inside Heathrow, Johnny began slapping Roxy, yelling and hitting her around the head". [38]

Trying to stop Johnny's abusive behaviour during that tour, Frantz recalls himself and Talking Heads Bassist Tina Weymouth talking about it to the rest of the Ramones: "Tina and I spoke to the band, but the other Ramones seemed unable to do or say anything about it. They looked the other way and Tommy in particular asked us to please not confront him about it. It seems like the entire band was bullied by Johnny. They were unwilling to speak out about it."[39]

In 1983, Ramone was severely injured in a fight with Seth Macklin of the band Sub Zero Construction.[40][41] He was saved by emergency brain surgery. This incident was said to have inspired the next album's title, Too Tough to Die. He never spoke of the incident in the following years.

Johnny Ramone married his wife Linda in 1984 at the office of the city clerk in New York City. She had originally dated Joey Ramone but left him for Johnny.[42][43] Joey and Johnny continued to tour as the Ramones after this, but their relationship worsened, however, despite reports that they had stopped talking to each other altogether, Johnny talks fondly of Joey in his book Commando. In the documentary End of the Century, Johnny told how Joey's death had a profound impact on him emotionally and that he was depressed for "the whole week" after his death.

According to Linda, Joey had been sending Christmas cards to Johnny every year.[44]

Johnny Ramone was Catholic. Though he considered himself religious he did not attend church, due to physical abuse he suffered at the hands of nuns as a youngster.[45]

For his hobbies, Johnny Ramone was an avid collector of baseball cards and movie posters.[46] He was a devoted fan of baseball and the New York Yankees.

Ramone's monument at Hollywood Forever Cemetery

On September 15, 2004, Johnny Ramone died in his Los Angeles home at the age of 55, 23 days before his 56th birthday, following a five-year battle with prostate cancer.[47][48] Many of his friends and musical contemporaries came to pay their respects. His wife Linda kept his ashes.[49]

• Official website
• Johnny Ramone at IMDb
• Johnny Ramone at Find a Grave