When is this going to end?

It's now past 1AM and I'm watching End Of The Century - The Story Of The Ramones...I wish it would end. Soon. Alas, arguing over music is a miserable exercise in futility at this point, but I'm convinced now the Ramones' are given way too much credit and their influence exaggerated. "The Ramones saved rock music" someone quipped. Sure. The most intriguing part of their careers was when Johnny stole Joey's girlfriend. And Joey never got over it. In the words of the lamentable Ms. Malkin, boo-frickin' hoo.

I wouldn't deny that a case can be made that they they were influential..but that they supposedly influenced everyone under the sun [in the past 30 years] is stretching it a bit. One could make a similar case for the Stooges or Kraftwerk for that matter--and when the hell will they be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Rock centric bastards! And we really don't know/prove that without the Ramones, their wouldn't have been the Sex Pistols/Stranglers/Damned/Clash, etc. Don't get me wrong, it sucks that they were never commercially successful while recording the great tunes. Just an odd group of guys--don't know how many groupies flocked to Joey's dressing room after a gig. Then we have Johnny Ramone--lifelong Republican; "God bless George Bush & God Bless America" he proclaims at the Rock 'n Roll hall of fame induction ceremony. Hell, that's all he said! By all accounts he was a control freak a-hole. Onto my favorite Ramone--Dee Dee, who overdosed on heroin in Los Angeles two months after their induction. He even recorded a rap/hip-hop record after leaving the group. I totally have to find it. Now he was completely nuts--I love that guy.

I saw The Filth And The Fury, a Sex Pistols doc a couple months back...the difference between the two docs is that their seemed to be a lot less contextualizing in the Ramones doc as it focused more on the various members' personalities/stories which were pretty uninteresting, less on the music or the zeitgeist in the which their music grew out of. The Filth And The Fury is just a much better film. And I don't even care much for the Pistols, but their story was really fascinating. It was the Pistols who created (although one could argue the nihilistic punk image/ethic. Not the Ramones. The Ramones just played hard/fast with simplistic tunes/songs. I guess like all art/music scenes, being "first" is all that matters.

Let me recap for you...the story of the Ramones: Group of musically inept outcasts/misfits/freaks join together and play wretched little club in nyc...they play hard/fast and sing simple pop tunes...supposedly influence some kids across the pond in Britian (which was not so great in the early/mid-70's)...they (naturally) have some internal differences...argue...some members leave/forced out and are replaced...they contine making music and tour. The 80's are a blur. The 90's are a blur...record "last" record called Adios Amigos...get some airplay between Sponge and the Screeming Trees...Joey Ramone dies...few months later they are inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001...Dee Dee and Johnny also die. The End.

That pretty much sums up the Ramones' career. Oh, and Phil Spector really was/is nuts.

Joe Stummer of the Clash is interviewed in the film, and is incredibly cordial while praising the Ramones for teaching him about playing fast/hard! 1-2-3-4! Let's face it, the Clash's Career Opportunities (1977) is better than anything the Ramones ever produced. By 1982 The Clash were selling out stadiums all over the world, while the Ramones were still playing to 34 people in New Jersey.