From Jeffrey To Joey

I Slept With Joey Ramone is a catchy title, but it's misleading.  It's by Mickey Leigh (with help from Legs McNeil), Joey's kid brother.  And it's a fascinating look at one of punk's greatest icons, as well as his brother.

They were two Jewish boys--Jeffrey and Mitch Hyman--who grew up together in Queens in the 50s and 60s.  They were part of a broken family, and had some tough times, but seemed to have fun.  The book spends about 100 pages on the early years, before the Ramones formed, so we get to know young Joey well.

He was tall and skinny, and suffered from low self-esteem.  He also had physical and mental problems.  He had a bad case of OCD (though they didn't call it that then) and it could take him hours just to get ready to go out.

But he and his brother loved rock and roll.  In fact, Mickey was probably more into music than Joey, forming a band first and playing with Johnny Ramone (John Cummings) years before the Ramones started.

But once the band got going, they took off.  For punks, anyway.  Joey, who'd been into glitter, and Johnny, along with Dee Dee and Tommy, came up with a natural, raw style and simple lyrics about everyday (weird) things, stumbling into a sound that defined punk.  As such, they were simply trying to recapture the excitement of early rock and roll, and that they did. Kid brother Mickey was a low-paid roadie at first, and also performed, uncredited, on some of their albums.

The band was never huge, though.  They were successful, but not rich, and their albums didn't sell in the millions (as their fellow punks sometimes did, such as Blondie and Talking Heads).  The Ramones are now widely recognized as a classic band, but they had to work hard to earn a decent living.

There was also tremendous tension within the band.  Joey becoming a star didn't make him any less crazy.  Probably made him more so.  And then there was the drinking and the drugs.  On top of that, Joey and Johnny didn't get along. (Johnny stole his girl, but Johnny was a hard case anyway.) Meanwhile, Dee Dee was also nuts and Tommy left to be replaced by other drummers over the years.

A lot of the book also deals with Mickey's musical career, which looked like it might take off at certain points but never did.  Worse, after Joey became a star, Mickey felt his older brother was imperious, demanding attention and subservience.  Maybe he's right (or maybe it's sour grapes).

Anyway, the Ramones are no longer around, but I'm glad this book is here to remind us of the era.