Here Today, Gone Tomorrow.

Shamefully, I nearly missed the fact in the midst of the assorted crap that constitutes ‘life’, but today marks ten years since Joey Ramone passed away.

Ten years! Ten years since I spent a week stomping round a midlands university campus, wearing black jeans black shoes and my black Ramones t-shirt. I’ve still got it; I was planning on wearing it tomorrow, oddly enough.

To mark the occasion, here are five brilliant Joey-penned songs that often get overlooked.

1. I Remember You



I’ve been kinda obsessing over this song recently – it’s never quite hit me in the past for whatever reason, but I think it’s one of the absolute highlights of ‘..Leave Home’. It’s got that kind of beautiful, doomed midtempo feeling, like you hear in the tougher live versions of ‘Here Tomorrow, Gone Tomorrow’ from this period, or of course on ‘I Just Wanna Have Something To Do’ a few years later – moments when Joey’s heartbreak and Johnny’s metallic riffage seem to be working in complete unison to take pop to sad, dark places. Joey’s vocal delivery on this track is absolutely stunning.

2. Babysitter



Another recent obsession. WHAT A SONG! I want to start a band that just plays this one song, over and over again until they’re forced to leave the stage. It’s perfect. Imagine a band so good that they deem this an outtake. Live versions are even better, but I can’t find any on youtube.

3. 7/11



I was gonna say ‘everybody knows I love this song’, but obviously they don’t – I’m talking to fucking strangers on the internet, why would they? I’ve played this my myself on the guiter for years and have tried to record it two or three times but never quite done one I’m happy with. A bit of an overcooked example of a crushing teenage heartbreak song some might say, but it makes me cry frequently enough.

4. She Talks To Rainbows



It has long been my belief that if you compiled all of the sporadic really good tracks The Ramones recorded in their lacklustre post-‘Too Tough To Die’ years, you’d have one of the best rock n’ roll records of all time. This would be on it, of course. Written by Joey for Ronnie Spector, I believe.

5. I Want You Around



What can I possibly say that this clip doesn’t?

When we listen to the Ramones, we are all Riff Randell.

Let's raise a glass tonight to the coolest guy who ever lived.

Labels: anniversaries, deathblog, The Ramones