Johnny Ramone - American Patriot

Here's another reason why The Ramones was one of the greatest bands in rock history: their attitude. All politics and other social commentary aside, The Ramones is one of my all-time favorite rock bands. Despite what many people think, the "punk rock" movement did NOT start in the U.K., it started in New York. Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and the other "Ramone" brothers (they weren't all really brothers, by the way) started out in NYC and (after going to London) had a phenomenal influence on rock music (up to and including the whole "Seattle sound" B.S. with overrated bands like Nirvanna and Pearl Jam).

Their lyrics were simple, their songs were short (often two minutes or so), and their style was just not meant for Top-40 radio. Hence, they never really achieved the commercial success they deserved. Other bands who were influenced by The Ramones ended up earning some pretty decent coin. That's unfortunate. But all TRUE rock fans know that Kurt Cocaine was nothing compared to Joey Ramone. Anyway, the point of my rant is this: Johnny Ramone was (and is) a staunch conservative. That's right. While his contemporaries were shooting heroin and talking about how horrible Capitalism was (while they were earning tons of money from it), Johnny Ramone was telling it like it is. He didn't always WIN the arguments (hell, he was outnumbered) he DID have a big influence on the music.

Here's an excellent Washington Times article by Steve Miller (no, not THAT Steve Miller) on Johnny (one of the last surviving Ramones). If you're not a fan now, you will be. Next, go to Amazon.com and get the Ramones Anthology (and video). Make sure it's got "Something to Believe In" (an excellent spoof on all those 80's fundraisers) - then come back and try to tell me how great Eddie Vedder is.