There's been a bit of a kerfuffle recently – at least in rock geek circles – about Linda Cummings, the widow of Johnny Ramone, publicly endorsing the McCain/Palin ticket as "Linda Ramone." Mickey Leigh, the brother of the late Joey Ramone, released a statement on Friday denouncing Cummings for using the name and asserting that she "does not represent the political views of the Ramones."
While I'm philosophically aligned with Mickey, I can't help thinking that he's mistaken. For a start, The Ramones were inarguably more Johnny's band than Joey's, and Johnny Ramone was very decidedly unrelenting in his espousal of the right wing, Republican viewpoint (despite also being a rampant fanboy of Charles Manson). The U.S. pins Johnny sported on his leather lapels were very decidedly not ironic, nor was the band's cartoonish xenophobia a joke. At the end of the day, Johnny Ramone was just to the right of Ted Nugent, and I'm not surprised that his wife shares that political persuasion. I'm not sure if Dee Dee Ramone maintained a political perspective one way or another (although I would doubt it). Joey was a true leftie, but it was still Johnny who called all the shots in and for the band. Where's Tommy – the last surviving member of the original band (with apologies to Marky, C.J., Richie & Elvis) to throw in his two cents?
Also, I certainly hadn't heard that Linda was endorsing McCain/Palin until Mickey Leigh pointed it out, unwittingly giving her/them free publicity. And, really, how much star power does "Linda Ramone" really provide anyway? The Ramones were, are and will probably always remain one of my very favorite bands (I plan on being buried with a copy of It's Alive), but I honestly couldn't give less of a damn about the political views of crazy Johnny's grieving spouse.
Recent Comments