There's A Lot Of Livin' On That Record

When an artist dies everyone suddenly pulls their head out of the sand and takes notice. Fan items are suddenly being pushed hard on eBay. Television coverage goes through the roof. The Ramones never really got that or their due respect and it shows in the documentary I just recently rented, End of the Century.

The anecdotes about the band and the gigs and growing up in Queens all made me feel at home. I remember trekking out to Long Island to see them play at this barn that had sawdust on the floor. My friend Fritty Mac got kicked in the head so hard he passed out and I didn't even know it. That remand a metaphor for the Ramones for me. Get kicked in the head and get right back up. Maybe it was blind ambition on their part, maybe a result of being raised in Queens and that's just the way you did it. If you are a Ramones fan this is a must see but there is so much more here that it almost seems like a cautionary tale. Like, "stick by your guns and this is what you get...nuthin' ". They were purist to the end. They wore a uniform and launched a movement they weren't even aware of. Everything that we know about aggressive rock music that eventually became punk and everything after that we owe to this band. The Clash, The Pistols, everything and yet, nuthin'. This documentary shows a band in constant turmoil.

Go out and rent it if you haven't already.