Ramones books / Guns N'Roses members

[Jari-Pekka Laitio-Ramone]

Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone book has story what kind of a Ramones themed birthday party keyboardist Dizzy Reed and his wife Lisa organized for their daughter etc. etc. They also sent photos to the book:

http://kauhajokinyt.fi/~jplaitio/deejoeybook.html

Also Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone features many interviews with Ramones members etc. and also find interviews with people like Jerry Only of The Misfits, Andy McCoy of Hanoi Rocks, Nick Royale of Hellacopters, Dregen of Backyard Babies, Howlin' Pelle of Hives, members from bands like The Dictators, Die Toten Hosen, Teenage Head, Sonic Youth, artists Henry Rollins, Jayne County, Merle Allin, Danko Jones, Rodney Bingenheimer, Chris Goss and Mike Vallely. etc.

Boo

Ramones: Soundtrack Of Our Lives has text written by Bumblefoot:

http://kauhajokinyt.fi/~jplaitio/kolmoskirja.html

Book has close to 100 artists and people whom interviews or texts are in this book, Ramones: Soundtrack Of Our Lives. They include all surviving Ramones members, Walter Lure (Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers, Waldos), Andy Shernoff (The Dictators), Wayne Kramer (MC5/DKT), Richie Stotts (The Plasmatics, King Flux), Jesse Malin (solo artist, D-Generation), Dez Cadena (Misfits, Black Flag, DC3), Henry Rollins (Black Flag, Rollins Band). Charlie Harper (UK Subs), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Philistines), Vinny Stigma, and Roger Miret (Agnostic Front), Kenny Håkansson, Nick Royale, and Robban Eriksson (The Hellacopters), Rob Wright (NoMeansNo and The Hanson Brothers), Andy Cairns (Therapy?), Happy-Tom and Euroboy (Turbonegro), Frank Watkins (Obituary and Gorgoroth), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth, Bloodbath), Phil Campbell (Motörhead), Jon Larsen (Volbeat)....

If interested, here is the page where you can make an order:

http://kauhajokinyt.fi/~jplaitio/orderpage.html

You can make an order via CCNow, or pay to Paypal etc. or from Interpunk.com

http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=35086

http://www.interpunk.com/item.cfm?Item=60203&

[Jari-Pekka Laitio-Ramone]

Here is an review (Maximum Rocknroll) of the Ramones: Soundtrack Of Our Lives (the one where is Bumblefoot):

"This is a book about the Ramones. It is also about people and music and communication and friendship and inspiration, but in the end nothing inside here means anything without its connection to the Ramones. Jari-Pekka (and his fourteen year-old website, listed above) is the be-all end-all aggregate for all things Ramones, collecting information and interviews and photos with anything even remotely related to the band.

A self-described "worldwide collection of rare photos and loving tributes to our rebel angels," this Jari's third book on the subject, is mostly populated with interviews. Tommy, Marky, Richie, and CJ (the surviving Ramones) are obviously included, but they just scratch the surface. We also get interviews and written accolades from the Sex Pistols, NOMEANSNO, Agnostic Front, Arturo Vega (artist for the Ramones, Misfits, etc.), high school friends, studio engineers, the famous Backstage Masseuse Dr. Dot, Ramones' graffiti artists, tribute bands, and on and on.

Jari keeps a fair and neutral perspective that is difficult when exploring a band with such a noteworthy in-house rivalry. In fact, Jari does an almost perfect job of keeping the tone of the book (and to a larger extent, his website) completely neutral and respectful. It is likely this effort that has awarded him some of his most exclusive insights, like Dee Dee Ramone giving Jari his personal diary just before he passed away, or an interview with Linda Cummings, the woman at the center of the Joey/Johnny love triangle (included only in this book). You can tell right away that Jari lives and breathes The Ramones that in turn helps him serve as the definitive liaison to their legacy. The fair-weather Ramones fan or even casual rock-biography-reader can enjoy and appreciate Soundtrack... for its detail and depth, but diehards are definitely the true beneficiaries of this book. However much you know about the band (and their story is not a secret one, mind you), this guy and his resources can surely overwhelm you - my favorite aspect being the inadvertent that occur during his research. For instance, did you know that CJ Ramone's most recent CD purchase was Jack Johnson? And who can'cupcake their eyes at the Ramones publicity shot featuring (short-term stand-in drummer for Blondie) Clem Burke wearing a Chanel #5 t-shirt under his leather jacket without a trace of irony? This book is full of these unveilings.

I don't at all mean for this to sound like a bad thing but this book never ends. It has interview after interview after interview after interview. From page 150 through page 170, for example, you get extensive discussions (not just sound bytes) with Joey's girlfriend in Connecticut in the 80's, followed by Dez Cadena, followed by the drummer of Dee Dee's solo project, followed by various members of MOTORHEAD, the Misfits, Guns N'Roses, the Hellacopters, and Turbonegro. The facts and stories, like the Ramones. legacy itself, keep going and going and going...

-Craigums