BP Fallon | Joey Ramone's 50th Birthday Bash

NYC May 19 2001

"Life's a gas, Life's a gas, a gas, oh yea
Life's a gas, Life's a gas, a gas, oh yea,
So don't be sad cause I'll be there
Don't be sad at all."
(from the back of the Joey's Birthday Bash t-shirt)

Joey Ramone's 50th Birthday Party at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC... Life's A Gas (hello Marc, too) was the stated theme by Charlotte and Mickey (Joey's mum and bro') and Joey as well because he helped plan this party too, I mean literally he did 'cos Joey always threw great parties and he helped plan this party too, and it was beautifully put together and beautiful altogether and moving and more celebration than sadness (tho' of course it was sad) and Joey friends spoke and the wonderful Lenny Kaye read out a letter, a wonderfully upful and positive and loving letter about Joey from Phil Spector, and we got to hear Joey's funny little messages on the ansa machine and there were great vids (one in particular: Ramones doin' the Who's Substitute marvellously with Lemmy poppin' up in the visual mix to loud cheers ).

The Damned - now Dave V. and Captain plus 3, including Dave V's wife on Gothic bass - rocked l.a.m.f. with Captain also adding cosmic guitar and Vanian the superquiffed palefaced Alvin Stardust Of Stiff. New Rose and Neat Neat Neat And Smash It Up. Yes i, verily, the stage littered with bits of drum kit...

And Blondie... well, I miss seeing/hearing Nigel and Frankie. The 2 new guys they've got: no dis but it's Professional Rent-A-Lick whereas Nigel and Clem (fuck, Clem is a DRUMMER! What a GREAT drummer!) were magic together, pushin' forward but goin' sideways too, locked into each other but dancin' as well... and Frankie has danger and verve (ie guitar solo on Rapture)... ding dong... still Blondie who weren't transcendental (See 5 Nights At Hammersmith Odeon, 1979), they were still fucking cool, Debs out front abandoning her plan to wear her scruffy sneakers for the occasion (she tried 'em on in her dressing room and they sure looked happening ie Debs now a 15-year-old/young bopper) but was talked out of it)(not by me), Debbie Harry who has a brilliant Brill Building pop voice and great presence, pouting the lips that launched a thousand wet dreams and at one point pushing her hair up onto her head and fuck yeah it's Madonna, completely, utterly, but what came first ("The moon ain't yellow, it's chicken"), who came first? Very fucking fab moment. And then for their last song the Blondies... well, earlier in the Blondie (boys) dressing room, there's Debs kneeling on the floor singin' along to the strummed guitars, gettin' the feel right, putting that mouth around those words till they're ready to come out kinda like cunning lyrics... and now Blondie are on stage and Debs is out front singin' it, singin' it as Joey wrote it, singin' her voice all chalk and sex and innocence, singin' "I wanna be your boyfriend..." Oh Lord.

The curtain has come down now and for once there's no projected image on it. A voice says "We're going to play just the track" and they do, a tape of the Ramones backing track to I Wanna Be Sedated and voice by voice it builds up until everyone in the venue is singin' the song with gusto, ev'ryone united, ev'ryone havin' fun, ev'ryone elevated, ev'ryone lifted in this choir of celebration, four thousand voices going "Bah bah bahbah bebah bah bahbah, I wanna be sedated." Amazing. There is only one Bob Dylan but tonight ev'ryone can be a Ramone. And then at the end of the party they wheel on Joey's birthday cake and two pinheads jump out and before the audience - warm like a hippy vibe, actually, this lovely audience, body-surfin' but buddy surfin' too - before the audience launches into a jovial cake fight, everbody in the ballroom sings Happy Birthday to Joey. "Happy birthday, dear Joey, happy birthday to you..."

Happy birthday, Joey.

luv,
bp.