Det er ikke første gang, jeg
ser fotoet herover af Robin Zander og Joey Ramone. Jeg har dog aldrig fået en forklaring på,
hvorfor de er foreviget sammen. Indtil forleden, hvor nedenstående
dukkede op på siden ´Cheap Talk with Trick Chat´ på Facebook.
”Robin Zander & Joey Ramone, Chicago, 1977.
The Cheap Trick singer/guitar player and Joey
at the Stardust Lounge in Rockford, June 30, 1977.
According to Zander, he was one of seven people
in the audience.
Cheap Trick had just released their self titled
debut album, while the Ramones were already touring on their second album,
„Leave Home“.
In the following years, the paths of the
Ramones and Cheap Trick would cross several times. In 1978, „Rock’n’Roll
Highschool“ producer Roger Corman considered Cheap Trick a potential candidate
for his movie, but was turned down due to the band‘s touring schedule. Thanks
to actor Paul Bartel, the Ramones got to the job.
Around the same time, Johnny Ramone claimed
that he got his maple glo 450 Rickenbacker stolen at some show, and accused
Zander and/or his crew to be the ones who nicked it. Why? Because Zander soon
after appeared on stage with a Rickenbacker VERY similar to Johnny’s, which
Zander claimed to have purchased at a pawn shop in Tulsa, Oklahoma - for 300
bucks.
In 1982, Ramones fan Stephen King booked the
band for a show in his hometown Bangor, Maine. Also on the bill: Cheap Trick.
King later stated he left after the Ramones had
finished their set, much to the dismay of Cheap Trick. According to King they
were „pissed“.
Maybe even more so when King asked the Ramones
to write the title track for the movie „Pet Sematary“ in 1988, based on his
novel.
Through all this, Joey maintained a loyal Cheap
Trick fan. In 1996, je joined them on stage to sing „Surrender“, and recorded a
version of „I‘ll Be With You Tonight“ for a tribute album (which was never
released), backed by the band 22 Jacks and produced by Ed Stasium.
When asked by MTV what makes him want to cover
the song, Joey stated: „Usually when you're asked to contribute to these
tribute albums you don't care that much, but this was different. Some of my
fondest memories are of listening to their first four albums. I've been a big
fan. They kind of infected me”