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JOEY RAMONE mentions AXL ROSE live in NYC 1989. Then goes and plays "MAMA'S BOY"


ludurigan

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tumblr_o43ukfxxRq1qgghfeo1_1280.jpg  JOEY RAMONE, APRIL 1989

 

(i am not sure i was able to listen, understand and "transcribe" Joey Ramone's exact words. Any help from native speakers to confirm or to correct the "transcription" is much appreciated. If there is any mistake on it please let me know and I will correct it)

===

December 16, 1989

Ramones is playing live at the Ritz, in New York City

After the 18th song of the set, "She's the One", Joey Ramone takes the microphone and speaks to the crowd

Anyone that has been to a Ramones show or is familiar with Ramones live recordings knows that Joey rarely does that

And when he does he usually says the exact same words before the exact same songs

Like, for example, his classic intro to "I Wanna Live" where he says "We believe in Human Rights. We Believe in Freedom. I Wanna Live" etc

This time is different

Joey goes "off script"

And he says, quote:

 

YOU KNOW, AXL ROSE MADE THE SETLIST FOR ME TONIGHT...

AND HE DIDN'T DO A BAD JOB AT THAT...

MA-MA-MA-MA-MA-MA-MA-MA-MAMA'S BOY...

YEAH!

 

Ramones goes on and perform their song "MAMA'S BOY"

Which has verses like...

"You couldn't shut up / You're an imbecile, You're an ugly dog / There's nothing to gain"

 

The Ritz 1989 video with the Axl Rose mention before Mama's Boy and the complete lyrics to the song are below

 

 

MAMA'S BOY

Couldn't keep a secret / Got a concrete skull
You couldn't shut up / You're an imbecile
You're an ugly dog / There's nothing to gain
You couldn't shut up / You had a bad, bad brain
 
Couldn't hold your tongue / You were just too young
Like a two-year-old / You told, you told
You are all the same / jelly-Bean brain
Every one's a secret nerd / Every one's closet lame
 
Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-mama's boy
 
I don't want to work in a hot dog stand
Be a busboy messenger or a doorman
It's an abstract world, You're an abstract man
Abstract city don't give a damn
 

 

===

so...

was that a dig at Axl?

or was it the other way around... like, let's say, maybe Axl actually talked to Joey on that night, maybe he was backstage at the show, and told Joey that "Mama's Boy" was his favourite Ramones track and, yeah, maybe the Ramones played it "for him"?

 

a9fbcfee114b466e067730bc9a1a16d0--guns-aAXL-ROSE-RAMONES.jpg?resize=715,977

 

reason i am curious is that, if my memory serves me right, right around that time (1989), in a video interview that i just can't find right now, Joey mentioned the possibility of doing a duet with Axl. If i am not mistaken Joey mentions on said interview that it was actually Axl's idea to do a duet with him (joey) and that he (Axl) jokingly mentioned to Joey that they could play with their distinctive high/low voices on this possible duet.

Since Axl likely was (is?) a Ramones fan and since such duet never materialized...

...when i listened to Joey saying that -- which sounds to me like he is calling Axl a "Mama's Boy" -- it ocurred to me that some shit may have happened between Joey and Axl that prevented this duet from happening?

I believe some of you know that Joey said good words about Guns n' Roses right around that time, stating that they were an "authentic" band. Also the Ramones name-checks "Guns & Roses" on the promo video for "I Believe in Miracles" (also released right around that time circa 1989) which seems like they saying "We like GNR"

 

 

so, basically what i am asking is...

...has Axl fucked up the what could have been a duet for the ages by being a "Mamma's Boy"?

 

c1ae631566c7abe63491efbd838475be--joey-r JOEY RAMONE AND HIS MOTHER

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There's some thick bastards about these days :lol: And what the hell do you mean Joey rarely grabbed the mic and said shit to the audience, he did it all the fuckin' time.  They weren't long rock star rants, it was quick, a couple of sentences but he did it almost every gig.  How do you make the connection between Axl writing the setlist for Joey and the set being consequently some kind of an Axl diss? :lol: 

Edited by Len Cnut
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1 hour ago, Len Cnut said:

There's some thick bastards about these days :lol: And what the hell do you mean Joey rarely grabbed the mic and said shit to the audience, he did it all the fuckin' time.  They weren't long rock star rants, it was quick, a couple of sentences but he did it almost every gig.  How do you make the connection between Axl writing the setlist for Joey and the set being consequently some kind of an Axl diss? :lol: 

I think this is a language issue and not a comprehension issue. 

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2 minutes ago, cooker said:

I think this is a language issue and not a comprehension issue. 

If its the fact that he sang Mamas Boy right after mentioning Axl its a good thing he didn't sing Today Your Love, Tommorow the World, its got some pretty choice lyrics :lol: 

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1 hour ago, Len Cnut said:

There's some thick bastards about these days :lol: And what the hell do you mean Joey rarely grabbed the mic and said shit to the audience, he did it all the fuckin' time.  They weren't long rock star rants, it was quick, a couple of sentences but he did it almost every gig.  How do you make the connection between Axl writing the setlist for Joey and the set being consequently some kind of an Axl diss? :lol: 

i have listened to a load of ramones boots and joey never says shit

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51 minutes ago, ludurigan said:

i have listened to a load of ramones boots and joey never says shit

I must be fuckin' hallucinating 'its so great to be here in Hamburg Germany, playin' for all you wild people out there, this ones called 'xxxx', take it Dee Dee!', was this all some sort of wet dream of mine? :lol: 

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2 hours ago, Len Cnut said:

I must be fuckin' hallucinating 'its so great to be here in Hamburg Germany, playin' for all you wild people out there, this ones called 'xxxx', take it Dee Dee!', was this all some sort of wet dream of mine? :lol: 

no you are correct, that much he says

stuff like "Yeah, we are the Ramones, and you heard it first, this is called XXXX"

"This is for the lonely hearts out there its called needles and pins" etc

it doesnt go past that, infinite variations of that same thing

he doesnt do "on the fly" talk as far as i can say

which seems to be the case with the axl mention

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58 minutes ago, ludurigan said:

no you are correct, that much he says

stuff like "Yeah, we are the Ramones, and you heard it first, this is called XXXX"

"This is for the lonely hearts out there its called needles and pins" etc

it doesnt go past that, infinite variations of that same thing

he doesnt do "on the fly" talk as far as i can say

which seems to be the case with the axl mention

As I said, just a quick couple of sentences. Johnny were gonna fuckin’ have no more than that, not unless you wanted a slap :lol:

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Not much related to the topic (not much to say about it anyway), but it's funny:

As he finishes breakfast at a Bob Evans restaurant in Lafayette, Indiana, C.J. realizes this is the hometown of another early Ramones fan by the name of Axl Rose. Which figures – with his torsoful of tattoos, C.J. is the only Ramone who’d look right in Guns n’ Roses. Later that day, in Cincinnati, Robin Frantz, the seven-year-old son of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Tom Tom Club and Talking Heads, is running around wearing a Guns n’ Roses T-shirt. Robin says he likes G n’ R “the same” as Tom Tom Club; says most heavy metal is just good for pumping your fist but “Welcome to the Jungle” is good for dancing; says Donatello is his favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ” ’cause he can hit things from far away,”; says he doesn’t have a favorite Tom Tom or T-Heads song, but his favorite G n’ R tune is “Sweet Child o’ Mine”; and says his mom doesn’t like G n’ R, because “Axl’s voice goes too high.” Tina Weymouth says she thinks Axl is cute and tells me she’s “sick of boring pseudo-intellectuals like David Byrne.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-ramones-grow-old-together-230108/

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