End of the Century

I just got to see End of the Century, which is a biography of the Ramones history. It has interviews with ALL of the Ramones, along with video from CBGB's when they were first performing there. They made the point that the Ramones were much more popular in England and South America than they were here in the States, because DJ's were afraid to play them. I thought it was amusing that when they first performed in England, Johnny Rotten wanted to meet and talk with them, but did not because he was "afraid they might beat me up". The film has lots of funny quotes like that in it, and I highly recommend it.

I agree with Tim in that I also have an affinity for Joey, because after seeing the film, I understood that he was very shy, suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and always took the background behind Johnny, who comes across as a bit of a jerk. The worst thing was that when Joey had finally developed a romantic relationship with someone, Johnny took her away from him, and that was when Joey wrote "The KKK Took My Baby". Anyway, Joey comes across as somewhat alienated and painfully shy offstage, while onstage he becomes very aggressive. Quite interesting transformation really.I'd like to hear from others who have seen the film or have seen the Ramones, and their impressions of them.

-- Sarah