Hey! Ho! Let’s go…

Isn’t it funny how you can look back at one specific moment in time, and realise just how much of an impact it has truly had on your life?

Or, is that just the nostalgia-hungry, stuck-in-the-past musician within me talking?

Last week, I couldn’t help but notice on various social media platforms that it had been 19 years since the passing of the legendary guitarist, Johnny Ramone, of the even more legendary New York punk pioneers, the Ramones.

Whilst most people remember where they were when John F Kennedy was shot, or when the Twin Towers collapsed, I remember where I was when I heard the news of Johnny’s passing – and more importantly, how it has influenced me since.

My earliest memories of hearing the Ramones music was when my brother would listen to their song, ‘Beat on the Brat’, on repeat as I tried to fall asleep in the bedroom that we shared when we were kids.

I thought the song was hilarious. And I never in a million years thought that I would ever take this band seriously at all.

I recall John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers saying that when he first saw the Ramones, he thought they were a bunch of cartoon characters, before realising the significance of their music and their style.

I have to say that I whole- heartedly agree with him on that one.

Fortunately for Mr Frusciante, he went on to become great friends with Johnny… but unfortunately for me, I did not. (Although I am aware that Johnny’s political views were somewhat controversial, so the man probably would have done my head in.)

As they say, though, you should never meet your heroes, anyway.

So, there I was, internally giggling away to myself, as singer Joey Ramone repeated the words, ‘Beat on the brat with a baseball bat, oh yeah!’ over-and-over again, every night as I drifted off to sleep.

Around that same time, I had started to learn to play the guitar, and I was naively convincing myself that all it would take was a few weeks of practice, and I would be receiving that big phone call to join Metallica or Slayer, or some of them boys.

‘life-changing moment’

It was around then that I heard of the passing of Johnny Ramone, and decided to delve into the Ramones back catalogue of music – an impressive 14 studio albums, and a handful of live albums, spanning over a career of 22 years.

It wasn’t long until I considered myself a fully-fledged, die hard fan of them, and then along came their ‘End of the Century’ documentary – an honest depiction of the ups and downs of the band’s career – which I must have watched at least three dozen times in my teenage years.

Now, I might be paraphrasing here, but there were two lessons when it comes to music that I took from that film, and both have stuck with me until this day.

The first was when Johnny stated that: “You could spend 15 years learning to play like Jimi Hendrix, or you can just get out there and play to the best of your capability,” and drummer Marky Ramone claiming that: “While most people think that our music is easy to play, it requires a lot of stamina.”

That was the specific moment in time that I referred to at the beginning of this column. As something… just clicked.

This was a one-way ticket to approaching music with a minimalistic, but energetic, sense of enthusiasm.

No longer was I comparing myself to those out-of-my-league in terms of talent.

Instead, I had discovered a band that opened doors to a whole genre in itself, that promoted a concept in which anyone could ‘have a go’.

With this realisation came the discovery of many other groups with the same ethos, and away I went into school the next day, and asked a few boys to start a band.

Now, nearly 20 years on, I sit here reminiscing about this all, with a-million-and-one stories to tell about the misadventures and questionable scenarios I’ve landed myself in as a performing musician, as well as the wonderfully inspiring times – and it’s all thanks to Johnny Ramone.

So yes, I will always think back to that day when he passed away with a somewhat morbid but life-changing appreciation for him.

One highlight in my most recent years was when my band had to the chance to perform with one of the three Ramones drummers, Richie.

What began as a somewhat rough weekend (as we had to deal with the ego of some maniac from LA who was playing guitar for him), everything seemed to fall into place as we took the stage in Dungannon for a special performance following their Belfast and Dublin shows.

Forgetting the demanding ghoul of a guitarist (who I believe has since been fired), it was also a pleasure to watch an actual members of the Ramones rock the same stage where I played some of my first gigs in my teenage years.

It was a true ‘full circle’ moment, as the man would say.

The other day, I was driving home from work listening to Blondie, a band from the same era and scene as my beloved Ramones, and it got me thinking about how much these four leather jacket wearing, self-proclaimed freaks from New York have inspired the world of music – for better and for worse.

It made me think of a quote I once heard from Blondie’s iconic singer, the beautiful Debbie Harry, who I believe said, “I don’t think music would sound the same if it weren’t for the Ramones.”