The title, I Slept with Joey Ramone, is class and on first hearing it I thought it would be a witty kiss and tell story by a former Joey Ramone love interest. However, it’s only when you get to the second line, A Punk Rock Family Memoir, that you realise that it could be a whole lot more than that.
Written by Mickey Leigh, Joey’s brother, the biography traces the punk rock rise of the co-founder of the Ramones, dating back to his troubled childhood in Queens, and spanning through his entire time with the band and their influence on punk rock worldwide.
Stories of low self esteem and an obsessive compulsive disorder mix with the musical routes of the family that brought us Joey Ramone. Divorced parents, the accidental death of his stepfather, financial troubles and neighbourhood bullies all bring us closer than ever to the life of the man that we look up to.
I Slept with the Joey Ramone: A Punk Rock Family Memoir goes beyond Joey’s childhood and into his love of rock, drucks and the best leather jackets ever made (apart from mine). The Ramones’ first gigs and recording sessions are laid out before the sibling rivalry, feuds and gun related incidents with Phil Spector steal the story away from a band that was a part of the founding punk scene.
I Slept with Joey Ramone is released on paperback in the UK on the 15th December 2010, so I reckon it’s beginning to look a lot like punk christmas.
