Gabba Gabba......whoa.....

The Ramones were one of the greatest and most influential bands in music history. Period. Sure, the Beatles, Stones, Who, Led Zep and others were also monumental, if it wasn't for the Ramones, it can be argued that most of what is called punk wouldn't have turned out like it did and there wouldn't have been a speed-metal with acts like Metallica (pre-Black Album, that is).

Johnny Ramone passed away recently, joining Dee Dee and Joey in Rock & Roll Heaven....or would that be Hell? After reading The Ramones : Johnny's Last Stand at RollingStone.com, it was surprising and kinda sad to learn that the band pretty much HATED each other for most of their career. I'd seen them 4 or 5 times over the years, including their "Adios Amigos" farewell tour - all C.J.-era tours, post-Dee Dee - and while I always felt they were possibly phoning it in a bit, they never sandbagged a gig and you'd never know that they disliked each other so much they wouldn't bother wasting the energy necessary to brawl over their differences.

Very sad stuff.