Joey ramon

Jeffrey Ross Hyman was born to Noel Hyman and his wife Charlotte Mandel. ^[2] They lived in Forest Hills , ^[3] where Hyman and the rest of the future members of the Ramones went to school. Despite his happy life, Hyman was a bit of an outcast. ^[4] At 18, he was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder . He has a younger brother, Mickey Lee. His mother divorced her first husband, Noel Hyman, and Joey crushed the divorce. ^[4] She got married a second time, but soon her second husband died in a car accident while she was on vacation.

Hyman was a big fan of The Beatles , ^[5] The Who , The Stooges , and David Bowie . His idol was Pete Townsend from The Who (with whom he had a birthday on the same day). Hyman began to play drums at age 13 (dreaming of becoming the second Keith Moon ^[4] ) and played them all his teenage years; in addition, he was fond of painting ^[4] . Before joining the Ramones, Joey was a singer in a band called Sniper. ^[4]

In 1972, Hyman joined the glam punk band Sniper. They have played at clubs such as the Mercer Arts Center , Max's Kansas City and Coventry, along with New York Dolls , Suicide and Queen Elizabeth III . ^[6] Hyman played Sniper under the name Jeff Starship. ^[7] As his brother Mickey Lee said: “I was shocked when the band went on stage. Joey was the lead singer, and I could not believe that he was so good. He always sat in my house, played my guitar, wrote songs like “I Don't Care”, and then he suddenly turned out to be that guy on the stage from whom you cannot take your eyes off . ” ^[6] He played Sniper until the beginning of 1974, when he was replaced by Alan Turner.

In 1974, Jeffrey Hyman, together with his friends John Cummings and Douglas Colvin, created the punk rock band Ramones , as a result of which all three came up with new names and changed their surnames to Ramon. Cummings became Johnny Ramon, Colvin became Dee Dee Ramon, and Hyman became Joey Ramon. The origin of the name Ramon is associated with Paul McCartney , who in the early years of The Beatles (then The Silver Beatles) performed under the pseudonym Paul Ramon ^[4] .

At first, Joey played drums, and Dee Dee Ramon was a vocalist ^[8] . However, after Dee Dee’s vocal cords began to withstand live performances, their manager Tamas Erdeyi suggested Joey switch to vocals. After a series of unsuccessful auditions in search of a new drummer, Erdeyi himself sat down at the drums, changing his name to Tommy Ramon ^{[1] [8]} .

The Ramones had a strong influence on the punk rock movement in the United States, although they did not achieve significant commercial success. Their only record, having a sufficient number of sales in the United States and becoming "gold", was a collection of Ramones Mania. Recognition for the group came only years later, and now they regularly appear on the lists of the best music groups, such as “50 best artists of all time” and “25 best live albums of all time” from Rolling Stone magazine and “100 best hard rock artists Channel " VH1 . In 2002, according to the results of the Spin magazine’s voting, the Ramones were awarded the title of the second greatest rock band, they lost only to The Beatles .

In 1990, Joey became addicted to alcohol and drugs and was enthusiastically working on the album Mondo Bizarro , which he would later name as one of Ramones’s favorites ^[9] .

In 1996, after their last performance at the Lollapalooza Music Festival, the band split up.

Ramon had a voice in the tenor range. It is worth noting that he never learned to sing professionally, although professional vocals were a prerequisite for most rock bands. The characteristic crackle, hiccups and growls made his voice one of the most recognizable punk rock voices. His voice underwent changes throughout his career, gradually moving away from the original melodic style. The songs "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" and "Mama's Boy" clearly show this.

In 1985, Ramon joined the music industry activists group Artists United Against Apartheid , founded by Stephen Van Zandt , who opposed the Sun City resort in South Africa. Ramon and 49 other musicians, including Bruce Springsteen , Keith Richards and Lou Reed , recorded the song “Sun City,” in which they promised they would never perform at this resort.

In 1994, Ramon sang the song “Punk Boy” on Helen Love 's album “Love and Glitter, Hot Days and Music”. She, in turn, performed his song “Mr. Punchy. "

In October 1996, Ramon was the headliner of the alternative rock festival Rock The Reservation in Arizona . ^[10] Joey Ramone & the Resistance (Daniel Ray on the guitar, John Connor on the bass and Roger Murdoch on the drums) performed for the first time Louis Armstrong ’s song “What a Wonderful World” in Ramon’s treatment, classic Ramones songs and favorite Joey's songs.

Ramon wrote and recorded the song “Meatball Sandwich” with Youth Gone Mad. Shortly before his death, he became manager and producer of the punk rock band The Independents. ^[eleven]

His last record as a vocalist was backing vocals on Blackfire's One Nation Under. His voice sounds in the songs “What Do You See” and “Lying to Myself”. The album won the 2002 nomination for “Best Pop / Rock Album of the Year” at the Native American Music Awards.

Ramon produced Ronnie Spector 's album, She Talks To Rainbows, in 1999. He received critical acclaim, but was not commercially successful. The title track was previously featured on Ramones' ¡Adios Amigos! "

Joey Ramon died with his family on April 15, 2001 ^[12] from lymphoma ^[13] at the age of 49. He was ill with this disease for 7 years. He was buried 2 days later at the Hillside Cemetery in New Jersey ^[12] .

At the last hour, Joey’s brother, Miki, played U2 's song “In a Little While” ^[12] on his guitar. U2 (vocalist Bono was a fan and close friend of Ramon ^[4] ) on the Elevation tour dedicated the song “In a Little While” to Joey's memory.

In memory of Joey Ramon, a cover version of the song “Pet Sematary” was released on Rammstein 's single “ Ich will ”, performed live by keyboardist Christian “Flake” Lorenz with the band Clawfinger . Before the performance began, Flake announced that he was dedicating the song "Joey Ramon, who passed away on Easter days."

• Wanderers: Joey Ramon (Russian) // Classic Rock. - Ars Longa, 2001. - Vol. 4 . - No. 4 . - S. 48-53 . - ISSN 1997-7646 .

• Official site