[This piece was posted, in a slightly different form, to alt.music.ramones on April 16, 2001]

I first heard the Ramones during the glorious London summer of '77 — a cut from "Leave Home" (which remained, forever, my favorite album). It's hard, now, to describe how strange, new, and exciting that music seemed . . . as if it had arrived suddenly and inexplicably from another world, where sound waves were somehow different. This new kind of sound was utterly unlike anything I'd ever heard: shimmering and fast, compressed, raw, sweet and supercharged . . . all at the same time — like high pressure musical steam pouring out of a stereo valve.

When I first saw the band live — in October of 1978 at the Hammersmith Odeon during the "Rocket to Russia" tour — "Little Tommy" was still the drummer, but he didn't seem small sitting behind that sparkling drum kit, playing his hi-hat faster than anyone else in the world.

In the many years that followed, I saw them whenever I could. I bought every record . . . even the compilations, (remember the "All The Stuff and More" series?) even all those live albums with almost identical set lists.

Favorite songs:

Danny Says
Rock 'n' Roll Radio
Glad To See You Go
I Just Want To Have Something To Do
Life's A Gas

Favorite memories (some dates are approximate)

England January 16, 1980: Driving all the way down to Brighton through a rain storm, ignoring my terrible cold and cough, to see the opening night of the "End of the Century" tour. I stood in the front row of the balcony for the whole show, with Martin and Al (from my own band, The Marines). "Havana Affair," and "Rock 'n' Roll Radio" were my favorite songs that night.

December 31, 1988: New Year's Eve with the Ramones at Irving Plaza — the last show before the club closed down (it subsequently reopened). How could you have a better New Year's party than that? The Ramones were in top form (and I was as high as a kite), with "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg," and "Somebody Put Something in My Drink," standing out in my memory.

January 13, 1989: Joey's "Friday the Thirteenth" party at the Ritz in NYC. Holly & the Italians played, and the Dictators, and Cheetah Chrome from the Dead Boys, and then Joey came on stage with Marky and a couple of other musicians, and played "Danny Says." It was one of only two times I saw that song live, and it was always my favorite.

1989?: The Ramones at the old Ritz in NYC, when Ritchie was the drummer. Joey doing that crazy shrieking, howling thing in the middle of "Surfin' Bird," with a bright white spotlight on him, and everything else totally dark.

1991: Sitting on a stoop with Joey on 14th Street on a sunny spring evening, talking about the punk days in London. I felt silly telling Joey that sweet and melodic "Danny Says" had always been my favorite, and how great it was to see him sing it live at the 1989 party. He told me it was one of his favorites too.

1994 (?): Chatting with Joey at Continental. He complimented me on the U.S. Air Force officer's cap badge (i.e. the Ramones symbol, but without the bat) which had been affixed to my motorcycle jacket since 1979.

1995: Driving down to the Jersey Shore with my friends Jackie and Anne to see The Ramones at the Stone Pony. We listened to "Adios Amigos" all the way down, laughing uproariously and joyously at "Life's a Gas." I said, "Only Joey Ramone could write a song with two lines of lyrics, and make it so GOOD!" There were technical difficulties and audience trouble that night, and at one point the four band members just got up and walked off the stage together, in perfect unison. Whatever personal differences they may have had, they seemed to share one mind on stage. It was one of the most perfect professional moments I've ever witnessed in rock 'n' roll.

1995: My article "Uncle Joey's Band," about The Ramones and the Grateful Dead, is published in "Musicmakers Online."

1996 (?): George Tabb's brilliant cover story for "NY Press," entitled "Ramone for a Day." I cut it out and saved it.

1996, Feb. 29: The last show of the last tour, at the Academy, NYC. "Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World," and "Something to Do" stealing the show for me.

1997: Joey, Dee Dee, Daniel Rey and others perform at Coney Island High in NYC. Handsome Dick Manitoba of the Dictators gets up to sing "California Sun" with them. A small intimate venue, and we were right up at the front, hanging off a pipe from the ceiling while they blasted through a ton of other classics from the first two records. Joey and Dee Dee together again.

Feb. 1999: Playing "Rock 'n' Roll Radio" on stage with my own band, at my birthday party at Continental.

1999: Really the last time. Watching Anne (of the Ronnie Spector Band) play "Danny Says," on stage with Joey, and Daniel Rey, during Ronnie's Christmas show.

There were lots of other things too. All those shows . . . how excited the audience would get when the lights went down, the stage filled with smoke, and "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly" theme started; getting a signed copy of "Adios Amigos" from my friend Chris at Relativity; getting dressed up in my vintage leather jacket and Dr. Martin's for another show at the Academy; C.J.'s first appearance with the band, and how enthusiastic he was -- jumping around, and counting down the songs like Dee Dee used to.

The Ramones have been the biggest, best, most consistent, most meaningful musical influence on me, and they've been a solid part of my life for the past 24 years. And Joey was was not only my favorite Ramone, but my favorite person in all of music (along with Joe Strummer). I didn't know him real well, but when we spoke, he was always a gentle and kind person who wrote (and co-wrote) some of the weirdest most brilliant songs that have ever existed. He came to downtown NYC clubs to hang out, to see and support other bands — always genuine and sincere with the fans. In interviews he was passionate and articulate, and thoughtful enough to point out that his views were his own, and didn't necessarily reflect the views of the whole band.

I look forward greatly to the forthcoming solo album that Joey had been working on with Daniel Rey and Andy Shernoff, but I wanted there always to be new Joey songs.

Joey joins a growing list of other much-missed punk rockers: Malcolm Owen, Stiv Bators, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan, Ian Dury, and Sid Vicious . . . but for me he'll always be the one of the best and brightest stars in the soundtrack of my life.

With great sadness, and condolences to Joey's family, his fellow Ramones, and his many friends,

Geoff Notkin