R.I.P. Johnny Ramone

After losing Joey a few years ago, news comes out this morning of the passing of Johnny Ramone - guitarist, co-founder and driving force behind the Ramones - after a five-year battle with prostate cancer.

Johnny Ramone, guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band "The Ramones" that influenced a generation of rockers, has died. He was 55.

Ramone, who had been fighting a five-year battle with prostate cancer, died in his sleep Wednesday afternoon at his Los Angeles home surrounded by friends and family, said the band's longtime artistic director Arturo Vega.

"He was the guy with a strategy. He was the guy who not only looked after the band's interest but he also was their defender," Vega said in a telephone interview from New York.

Ramone, whose birth name is John Cummings, had been hospitalized in June at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Johnny Ramone was one of the original members of the struggling Ramones, whose hit songs "I wanna be sedated" and "Blitzkrieg Bop," among others, earned them an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Having grown up on the Ramones as a Sullen Teen™, and having had the honor of meeting Joey Ramone in the late 90's - who was very down-to-earth and personable, this is indeed sad news. Not so much because the Ramones were innovators and re-wrote rock and roll history, but because they were the real deal.

The Ramones were on the forefront of the backlash against 70's art rock and disco. They returned rock and roll to its roots by breaking it down to its very basics - three chords and pure energy. The combination of their non-stop energy and a desperation of the music-listening masses for anything but what was on mainstream radio at the time created a huge cult following and scores of imitators. You can still put on Subterranean Jungle or Rocket to Russia and the songs haven't lost their punch or become dated.

As an aside, in contrast with 98% of the music industry, Johnny was unashamedly conservative.

Johnny Ramone changed that by demanding more money for performances, but still kept a close watch on the band's budget; Vega recalled how Johnny Ramone would insist that the band drive nonstop between Boston and New York for shows instead of spending the night in a hotel.

In addition to his financial conservatism, the guitarist was politically conservative — the late Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) was Ramone's favorite president, Vega said.

Fans have remained loyal to the Ramones, and the Ramones over the years have been loyal to their fans. In 1979, while shooting scenes for the film "Rock 'n' Roll High School," the Ramones — ignoring the director's order — played a concert-length session for fans who had paid to be extras, Vega said.

"The Ramones never ever lost their image, their aura of being the ultimate underdog, the voice of the angry young man," Vega said.

God speed, Johnny.

UPDATE: Other folks remembering Johnny Ramone:

Uptown Girl

Say Anything

Michele Catalano - A Small Victory

The Leather Penguin

Rusty Shackleford

I'm sure Johnny Walker Red will chime in when the hurricane passes and his power is restored. And I know Glenn Reynolds, self-admitted music geek, should have some thoughts as well.