happy new year

Recorded at Joey Ramone's Birthday Party at NYC's Coney Island High in May,1998.

A rare live performance of Roadrunner by Jonathan Richman and original Modern Lovers bassist, Ernie Brooks.

Ian kindly shared his memories of Joey's birthday party in the comments:

"Oh my god, thank you for posting this.

Um . . . it's kinda embarrassing, but that's me screaming "YES!" during the countoff. I didn't think I'd ever get to see this performance again (and, at the time, until this happened, I was sure I'd never hear JoJo do this song live).

He had started the set with two songs from the then-upcoming "There's Something About Mary," then brought out Ernie and said that he was going to do some old songs because Joey had requested it, and it was his birthday - so he did "Girlfriend," and then this. During this, I looked back at the sound board where Joey Ramone was perched, and I swear to god he was crying in joy. I don't think he had expected this either.

Later that night, Ronnie Spector did "Be My Baby," and as I'd heard my two favorite songs done by the original artists, I left, because it couldn't get more perfect."