On March, 31st Mickey Leigh posted the following to JoeyRamone.com wrote:

Post subject: Joey Ramone Birthday Bash 2011

As always, the first announcement of this event is posted for the most ardent of his fans right here, on Joey's website.

The birth and career of my brother is set to be celebrated once again, and I hope that many of you will be able to join me at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash 2011. I want to keep it uplifting so I'm not going to start talking any timelines. I think all of us here are well aware of what this year marks. I always want this to be a special occasion, and something for us to be happy about so:
"Don't be sad, cause I'll be there" - as he would say it.
I know many of you are coming regardless, but I'm sure are still anxious to hear who some of the performers will be. I can't give you the whole line-up yet, but can tell you who I am sure will be coming at this point.

From the band the Ramones played with at The Roundhouse in 1977 (my last tour with them) - The Stranglers' singer/songwriter/guitarist Hugh Cornwell will be performing the classics that made that band legendary. Joining Hugh on drums is Elvis Ramone also, and far more- well known as Clem Burke of Blondie. On bass is Fish -more info on him later.

Black 47 -a revered NYC band Joey went to see frequently, and had even hoped to produce a record for.

Richard Lloyd- co-founder of Television, the band that paved the way for all others to play at CBGB.
Richie Ramone, Tommy Ramone, Holly Beth Vincent, Ed Stasium, Al Maddy, Andy Hilfiger, and many others (TBA.. including myself, will be performing songs from the upcoming Joey Ramone solo album.
Also on the bill is Sunday Masquerade.

Please keep in mind this is just a preliminary notice. More to come soon.

Tickets for the 11th annual event are on sale. Joey Ramone died 10 years ago today.

Continue reading "Joey Ramone died 10 years ago today, his next birthday party is at Irving Plaza in May (tix on sale)"

tonight in NYC
* Josh Ritter & Dawes @ Town Hall
* Diana Ross @ Radio City Music Hall
* Suzanne Vega & Lloyd Cole @ City Winery
* The Black Keys @ Housing Works Bookstore
* Eluvium, Julianna Barwick @ (le) Poisson Rouge
* MURS, Sick Jacken, Nocando @ Highline Ballroom
* Public Image Limited @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
* Hot Hot Heat, The Willowz, Monogold @ Public Assembly
* The Middle East, Mountain Man (early) @ Mercury Lounge
* Apollo Sunshine, Blood Feathers (late) @ Mercury Lounge
* Phantogram, Light Pollution, Railbird @ Bowery Ballroom
* Spectrum, Cheval Sombre, The Vacant Lots @ Knitting Factory
* Nick Hallett - Sexual Energies School: Frankfurt @ The Stone
* We Are All Romans, Lame Drivers, Translations, Dog Days @ Cake Shop
* Woom, Shooting Spires, AcHT(eN), Family Trees @ Death By Audio
* The Living Kills, Snow Country, The Better Letters, The Binary Marketing Show @ Don Pedro
* Joey Ramone's Birthday Party w/ Hank III, Ronnie Spector, Batusis, Sic F*ucks, Heap & more @ Irving Plaza
* Anthology Film Archives Benefit w/ Technicolor Skull, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth, Moby, The Virgins @ Hiro Ballroom
* Small Mountain Path, Schocolautte, The Art of Shooting, Spanish Prisoners, Pretty Good Dance Moves @ Glasslands

The private party tonight at Brooklyn Bowl:

Cherry Lane Music Publishing, the top indie music publisher in the US, celebrates its 50th anniversary with a party, May 19, at trend-setting Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The event will include performances by many of the company's current roster, which include, John Legend, Delta Spirit, Madi, Antigone Rising, Dilana, Moe as well as the first-signed writer to Cherry Lane, folk legend Tom Paxton. Special celebrity guests will appear for stop and repeat. Six Points Craft Ales will be providing the beer for the evening. [All About Jazz]

The Black Keys play Housing Works tonight. Check out their new video for "Tighten Up" is below.

dj Ravves and others can be found at Monster Island tonight. Flyer below....

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

Joey Ramone's annual birthday party is happening at Irving Plaza on Wednesday, May 19th. The lineup has been announced and acts in attendance include Hank III, Ronnie Spector,Batusis (NY Dolls' Sylvain Sylvain and Cheetah Chrome of Rocket From the Tombs/Dead Boys), Sic F*ucks, ex-Voidoid Ivan Julian and The Independents, Heap. Tickets are on sale (the show is a benefit for lymphoma research).

Sylvain Sylvain also has a show coming up with the Dolls in Brooklyn in May. David Johansen plays a solo one in June.

Videos of those acts, the Ramones and Adam West's original Batusi are below...

Continue reading "Joey Ramone's 2010 birthday show lineup announced"

The annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash at Irving Plaza is happening on May 19th. So far no artists have been announced for the festivities, but tickets are on sale. In related news, Joey Ramone could be heard rolling in his grave last night as Axl Rose performed a late night set in the former home of CBGB. Video of the Ramones playing there 33 years ago, below...

Continue reading "Joey Ramone Birthday Party returns to Irving Plaza in May"

The Mountain Goats @ Webster Hall in November 2008 (more by Faith-Ann Young)

tonight in NYC
* The Loom, Kath Bloom @ Bruar Falls
* McCoy Tyner Trio w/ Gary Bartz @ Blue Note
* Mickey Leigh & Legs McNeil @ Barnes & Noble
* The Mountain Goats, Final Fantasy @ Webster Hall
* Kurt Vile, Small Black, DJ Rezound @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Over the Rhine, Lucy Wainwright Roche @ Highline Ballroom
* Dynasties, Darlings, Video Daughters, Equestrian @ Glasslands
* Russian Circles, Young Widows, The Phantom Family Halo @ Bowery Ballroom

I'm making an effort to post "What's Going "On" first thing each day. As it scrolls down the page, you can always find it by clicking the "What's Going on Today?" button in the homepage sidebar. If things come up throughout the day, they'll be added to the post or the comments (which of course everyone is always encouraged to do as well).

Kurt Vile plays a free set at tonight's Fader Bowl at Brooklyn Bowl, along with Small Black and DJ Rezound. Vile will be back in February as part of his tour with Fucked Up.

The Mountain Goats and Final Fantasy play Webster Hall tonight. Tomorrow it's the Bell House. Both are sold out. Tickets are still available for the Webster Hall show.

Final Fantasy also appears on Dinner With The Band tonight. Video of a new song played on the episode, below...

I Slept With Joey Ramone is a new book by Joey Ramone's brother Mickey Leigh and Legs McNeil who are both appearing at Barnes & Noble Tribeca (97 Warren St.) at 7pm today ("The evening will feature a Q&A, book signing and an intimate discussion with the authors. Plus: Witness a candid one-on-one interview between authors Mickey Leigh and Legs McNeil.").

The Loom appear at Bruar Falls tonight. If you miss them, you can also try and see them when they open the late Rural Alberta Advantage show at Mercury Lounge on January 9th.

Legendary pianist McCoy Tyner, who got his start in John Coltrane's band, bring his trio for three nights at Blue Note with alto saxist Gary Bartz.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Tuesday?"

DOWNLOAD: Death - Politicians In My Eyes (MP3)

Death of Detroit

Forgotten except by the most fervent punk rock record collectors... Death would likely have remained lost in obscurity if not for the discovery last year of a 1974 demo tape in [bassist] Bobby [Hackney]'s attic. Released [in February] by Drag City Records as "... For the Whole World to See," Death's newly unearthed recordings reveal a remarkable missing link between the high-energy hard rock of Detroit bands like the Stooges and MC5 from the late 1960s and early '70s and the high-velocity assault of punk from its breakthrough years of 1976 and '77. Death's songs "Politicians in My Eyes," "Keep On Knocking" and "Freakin Out" are scorching blasts of feral ur-punk, making the brothers unwitting artistic kin to their punk-pioneer contemporaries the Ramones, in New York; Rocket From the Tombs, in Cleveland; and the Saints, in Brisbane, Australia. They also preceded Bad Brains, the most celebrated African-American punk band, by almost five years. [NYTimes]

Just a few months after Drag City breathed life into ...For The Whole World To See, Death (not to be confused with the legendary Floridian death metal band featuring the late Chuck Schuldiner) was resurrected. The Brothers Hackney have scheduled three US shows over the last weekend in September in their former hometown of Detroit (they reside in Bulington, VT), Chicago, and Cleveland. They're also now confirmed to play Austin's Fun Fun Fun Fest in November.

No word on who will fill the shoes of guitarist David Hackney (he passed from lung cancer in 2000), though odds are one of the Hackney's sons in Rough Francis will probably be elected. Rough Francis, who routinely cover material by Death, will provide support on all dates (minus Fun Fun Fun). Earlier this year they appeared with members of Death at Joey Ramone's 58th birthday show on May 19th at Irving Plaza. Videos of their performance are posted below.

Death's back story is an interesting one:

In 1975 at Detroit's United Sound Studios with engineer Jim Vitti, they recorded seven songs written by David and Bobby. According to the Hackney family, Columbia Records president Clive Davis funded the recording sessions, but asked the band to change its name to something more commercially palatable than Death. When the Hackneys refused, Davis ceased his support. The following year they self-released 500 copies from the session on the 7" single "Politicians in My Eyes" b/w "Keep on Knocking," on their Tryangle label, which eventually became a collectors' item.

"Politicians In My Eyes", a song that Jack White of The White Stripes/Dead Weather/The Raconteurs described as "ahead of punk, and ahead of their time," is available for download above (and in one of the videos below). The videos and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Death played Ramones gig, playing FFFFest & other shows"

"Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 - April 15, 2001), born as Jeffrey Ross Hyman, was a vocalist and songwriter best known for his work in the punk rock group the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon." [Wikipedia]

Joey Ramone's 58th-birthday bash is tonight (May 19th) at Irving Plaza. Acts on the bill for that include Fishbone, Supersuckers, Death, Uncle Monk (with Tommy Ramone) the Friends Of Joey and more. Included among the Friends Of Joey will be Richie Ramone, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jean Beauvoir and others. Tickets are still on sale.

The event will also be the unveiling of new tracks from the forthcoming posthumous Joey Ramone solo record. In other Joey Ramone news, the singer's induction award to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was re-presented to his estate at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in NYC, and accepted by Mickey Leigh and Tommy Ramone, on Thursday, May 14th, after mistakenly being left off the program in the original 2002 ceremony.

Coming up, Tommy Ramone and Handsome Dick Manitoba, who will be at the birthday bash, are speaking with Lenny Kaye (of the Patti Smith Group and more) and Chris Stein (of Blondie) at "LOUD FAST JEWS! A Summit with Four Jewish Fathers of Punk" on Thursday, June 11th at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (15 West 16th St). Tickets to that event are on sale. More info below.

Catch Chris Stein this summer with Blondie, as the band tours alone and with Pat Benatar and The Donnas. All three will play the tour's NYC stop, a free show on August 13th at Coney Island's Asher Levy Park.

Also coming to NYC is Gods and Monsters' 20th anniversary show, scheduled for NYC's Gramercy Theatre on June 11th. The band, helmed by guitarist Gary Lucas, will be joined by guests that include Lenny Kaye. Tickets are still on sale.

Uncle Monk, Tommy Ramone's indie-bluegrass band, has scattered shows in NYC and elsewhere coming up. The band plays June 10th at Banjo Jim's and June 21st at Local 269. More dates below.

Joey Ramone's B-Day bash poster, Loud Fast Jew info, and a video of the Ramones' initial induction ceremony, also below...

Continue reading "Joey Ramone would be 58 today, party in NYC tonight ++ other Ramones / Blondie / Manitoba / Kaye appearances "

Celebrating what would have been the 58th birthday of punk icon Joey Ramone, the annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash will take place Tuesday, May 19th at The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza. Mickey Leigh, event organizer and brother of Joey Ramone, has announced that, as part of the 9th annual Bash, fans will be treated to a special advance sneak peek listen to rough mixes of never-before-heard Joey Ramone solo recordings. Various producers, including long-time Ramones producer Ed Stasium, are currently preparing tracks for a full album worth of material, slated for posthumous release at the end of the year.

This year's headliners are Fishbone and Supersuckers. The spectacular party will conclude with The Friends Of Joey featuring Richie Ramone, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jean Beauvoir, Ivan Julian, George Tabb, Al Maddy and Mickey Leigh. Also appearing are Death and Rough Francis (both bands were the subject of a feature story in the New York Times on March 12), Uncle Monk (featuring Tommy Ramone), Bebe Buell, and Tom Clark & The High Action Boys. As the audience enters the venue they will once again be greeted by musician Tracy Thornton, playing Ramones songs on the steel drum. And, in what has become a Birthday Bash tradition, Sean O'Sullivan's Punk Pipers will round out the night on the bagpipes. The fete will be emceed by Matt Pinfield and Peter Aschner. Additional surprises are expected at the evening's events...Net proceeds from the Bash go to support the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

Tickets are on sale now. The annual event, organized by Joey's mom and brother, has been happening since 2001.

Videos from the 2008 party, below...

Continue reading "2009 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash lineup & new album info "

Richard Reinhardt (a.k.a Richie Beau, Richie Ramone) (born August 11, 1957) is an American drummer best known for his work with the punk rock group the Ramones.

Before working with the Ramones he drummed with Velveteen, and is also reported to have drummed with Annie Golden's band The Shirts. He joined the Ramones on February 13, 1983, at a show at Utica, New York, after second drummer Marky Ramone was fired. He took part in the Subterranean Jungle tour of 1983, where he signed autographs as "Richie Beau", which was the name he went under whilst drumming with Velveteen. [Wikipedia]

Richie recently lost a copyright infringement lawsuit against Wal-Mart, Apple, and Real Networks. Richie will NOT be appearing at the upcoming Joey Ramone birthday bash. Those who will are listed below....

Continue reading "Joey Ramone's 2008 birthday lineup, Richie Ramone's lawsuit "

"As you might know, we never post the line-up until it is set in stone, but here a few hints at some of the acts who will be performing this year:

A very charming band from NJ; a group from the Independent party; a re-united band from the LES who really know how to thread a needle; a formerly degenerate singer; a guitarist/singer who who co-created TV; and the lead singer (from one of Joey's all-time favorite girl groups) who was definitely the leader of her pack- you may also have seen her walking in the sand.
much more to come." [somewhere on JoeyRamone.com]

The annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash happens at Irving Plaza in NYC on May 19th. Tickets are still available. (thx J)