Film Notes: End Of The Century

Sunday night I saw End Of The Century, a documentary about the seminal and pioneering punk band The Ramones. It was a remarkable film for several reasons. First of all, if you are an obsessive punk/pop music fanatic like myself (I’ve read a 400 page pseudo-intellectual book on the birth of punk in England), you will appreciate the insights into the epoch making music of true rock pioneers. I was fascinated by the band’s origins and the details behind the recording of the albums. The fact that they came out with 2 and 3 chord, two minute long songs in an era where solos and instrument virtuousity ruled the airwaves with bands like Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Pink Floyd, etc...it was revolutionary. But, I think this film could appeal to anyone just because of the personalities of the band members, four people who couldn’t be more different: Joey, the reclusive, obsessive compulsive, Jewish-liberal, freaky-looking giant; Johnny, the iron-fisted leader who was a right wing punk rocker; Dee Dee, the drug addled, misguided lost soul; Tommy, the intellectual soft-spoken, but passive drummer-who eventually couldn’t put up with the others during all the touring. Of course, there were several other band members, and people associated with the band that feature in the film that add to it as well. Tommy's replacement, Marky had to be let go at one time becasue of a drining problem, the album they made with the crazy, gun toting Phil Spector made great copy, not to mention the fact that Dee Dee quit to make a rap album!? of all things. The story is amazing, and the fact that they stayed together so long is startling-especially given that at some point Johnny stole Joey’s girlfriend (who he eventually married) and they basically stopped talking for more than a decade. Their influence on modern rock is undeniable. It’s sad that they never really got their due, they were just like the other great influential and underappreciated giants of the 70s who never got their commercial due: The Velvet Underground, Iggy and The Stooges, The New York Dolls, and Big Star.

Comments

[Ozzy Osmond]

What's the pseudo-intellectual book on English punk you read? The best book on punk I've read is Please Kill Me, which is an impressive summation of interviews of the primary players in the NY & Clevland 70's scene, including, of course, the Ramones. Esp. Dee Dee.

Any hope I held that Johnny isn't really that bad of a guy died when the movie showed him praise president bush during his induction into the r&r hall of fame. That and shamelessly stealing Joey's girl, of course.

[MC]

I think I was more disturbed by Dee Dee-what a freak.

Anyway, that book I read was called England Is Dreaming by Jon Savage. Actually, quite interesting and informative, being a punk rock historian-I think you'd enjoy it, since it's mostly about the English scene(so you'd get the other side). But there's a lot about the New York Dolls/Heartbreakers since Malcolm McLaren co-opted their style of dress and music-as well as bringing them over to London on several occasions. Sometime recently I got a Best of Johnny Thunders CD and there's a song called "London Boys"-which seems directed at Johnny Rotten and Sid-it's edfinately not a hommage.