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twin58
You could have knocked me over with a feather when I read that in the Washington Post obit this a.m.

I've seen the Ramones, and they certainly didn't strike me as appealing to the NRA set. I saw them once in Baltimore, at the long-gone Hammerjack's. I believe it was torn down to make room for a stadium of some sort. Something to do with birds....

There were several articles about the Ramones in this morning's paper. Most were movie reviews, and the other was an obit.

The Ramones' Hey (Ho!) Day

'End of the Century': Let's Go!

Apparently, depending on which edition of the paper you get, you saw one or the other obit.

Johnny Ramone, Rock-and-Roll Innovator, Dies

QUOTE
By Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, September 17, 2004; Page B06

....
For all his posing as an aging teenager rebel, Johnny Ramone was a lifelong Republican who belonged to the National Rifle Association. When the Ramones were named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he said, \"God bless President Bush, and God bless America.\"

He called Ronald Reagan \"the greatest president of my lifetime,\" but in a classic exercise of democracy, he was outvoted by other members of the band when they recorded \"Bonzo Goes to Bitburg,\" a satirical slam at Reagan's visit to a German cemetery in which Nazi troops were buried.

Mr. Ramone had battled prostate cancer for five years. Unlike the lyrics of one of the band's most famous songs, \"I Wanna Be Sedated,\" he faced his ordeal without painkillers. He refused a morphine drip because, C.J. Ramone said, \"he didn't want to lose control of his mind.\"
Johnny Ramone, Member of Punk Legends 'The Ramones,' Dies at 55

QUOTE
Chris T. Nguyen
The Associated Press
Friday, September 17, 2004; Page B06

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Ramone, guitarist and co-founder of the seminal punk band \"The Ramones\" that influenced a generation of rockers, has died. He was 55.

Ramone, who had been fighting a five-year battle with prostate cancer, died in his sleep Wednesday afternoon at his Los Angeles home surrounded by friends and family, said the band's longtime artistic director Arturo Vega.
....

In addition to his financial conservatism, the guitarist was politically conservative - the late Ronald Reagan was Ramone's favorite president, Vega said.
....
DallasUNC
Twenty twenty twenty four hours to goooooo. I wanna be sedated.

Sounds just like the GOP smile.gif
twin58
Did you ever see the Ramones? I can guarantee that you would not have thought, "hmm, I guess Johnny will be voting Republican."

[ September 20, 2004, 06:27 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]
smalltownboy
A classic example of why we should never judge a book by its cover. wink

NJ
fantomas
Another out-there type who's a diehard right-wing Republican is actor/musician/auteur Vincent Gallo, whose new film "The Brown Bunny" has been called one of the worst ever. It includes a graphic sex scene in which actress Chloe Sevigny *isn't* acting, but performing the actual sex act!

Republican Family Values!
Munson Man
Johnny Ramone was always outspoken about his Republican beliefs, so that's no surprise. What did surprise and disappoint me was finding out what a bitter, mean-spirited person he was. The documentary "End of the Century," currently in release here in NYC examined the relationship between Johnny and Joey Ramone (who died in 2001), and Johnny was certainly diminished in my eyes. Johnny was cheap, bossy, a taskmaster, and generally not a nice person. He and Joey actually did not even speak for the last ten or so years of the bands' existence, and Johnny was completely unapologetic about the fact that he refused to reach out to Joey even when his former bandmate was on his deathbed. The final insult was when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame less than a year after Joey's death and Johnny, in his remarks, didn't even acknowledge the contributions of Joey, who was the lead singer and wrote a greater share of the band's songs. All in all, it was a very unflattering portrait.

[ September 18, 2004, 06:22 PM: Message edited by: Munson Man ]
RazorbackTX
I guess he wont be voting, did he live in a swing state?
twin58
From one article:

QUOTE
Ramone, who had been fighting a five-year battle with prostate cancer, died in his sleep Wednesday afternoon at his Los Angeles home....
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