Just got back from seeing the Ramones documentary "End of the Century", and DAMN that was a good film. Possibly the best rock documentary I've ever seen. The Ramones have been put into context for me now, from their beginnings when they pretty much defined punk music, to the bands that they influenced- from the Sex Pistols to Rancid. All it took to see how much the Ramones were needed was one advertisement of 70s hit bands compilation- the Chi-lights, The Captain and Tennile, Donny and Marie...without the Ramones, we'd probably all be listening to the latest Marie Osmond album, or a two hour guitar solo by Emerson Lake and Palmer... and wondering why we want to kill ourselves.
The film got a lot of the humor of the punk scene, and the really nasty dysfunctional relationships that formed the core of the dysfunctional family that was the Ramones. There was a disquieting feeling of watching history which is more painful to see with a punk band than any other type of music. The Ramones in a sense shouldn't be thought of as a band that's part of rock history, but really as a bunch of whacked out working class guys from Forest Hills who couldn't get laid without becoming a band.
So I'm still pretty wiggy from watching this film- this is about as coherent as I can manage. Sorry my review isn't more informative, but there's just too many impressions still buzzing around for me to relate properly. Maybe I can make sense of it later. Now its for tea and calm.
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