Ramones drummer Richie Ramone brings Hot as Hell Tour to Stage West in Scranton on Sept. 3
From a press release:
It was announced today that Richie Ramone, one of the last living members of the legendary punk band the Ramones, will return to Scranton for a show at Stage West on Tuesday, Sept. 3, playing Ramones hits as well as his solo material.
New York City’s Tender Beats will open the 21+ show with three local bands – Charles Manson Dance Academy, Starving Hysterical Naked, and a Minor Glitch.
After playing at the Irish Wolf Pub in downtown Scranton last year, Richie Ramone was scheduled to perform at Stage West back in May, but he was forced to cancel after undergoing an operation close to his heart. He seems to be in much better health now as he plots an East Coast leg of his Hot as Hell World Tour through September.
Doors at Stage West (301 N. Main Ave., Scranton) open at 6:30 p.m., and the concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $13 in advance, are on sale now and can be purchased via Prekindle.
Richard Reinhardt, a.k.a Richie Ramone, joined the Ramones in 1983 and first appeared on their Subterranean Jungle Tour, serving as their drummer and backing vocalist until 1987.
Richie performed in over 500 shows around the world with the Ramones and wrote several critically acclaimed and fan favorite songs for the albums “Animal Boy,” “Too Tough to Die,” and “Halfway to Sanity.” Ramones frontman and punk rock icon Joey Ramone remarked that, “[Richie] saved the band as far as I’m concerned. He’s the greatest thing to happen to the Ramones. He put the spirit back in the band.”
Richie is notable as the only Ramones drummer to sing lead vocals on Ramones songs “(You) Can’t Say Anything Nice” and the unreleased “Elevator Operator.” He was also the only drummer to be the sole composer of Ramones songs, including their hit “Somebody Put Something in My Drink” which remained a staple in the Ramones setlist until their last show in 1996 and continues to be covered by new generations of bands worldwide. “Somebody Put Something in My Drink” was included on “Ramones Mania,” the first Ramones album to go gold, as well as “Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits,” an album comprised of songs handpicked by Johnny Ramone as the Ramones’ best works.
Richie also wrote “I’m Not Jesus,” “Can’t Say Anything Nice,” “I Know Better Now,” “Humankind,” and “Smash You,” which became the title track for one of the Ramones’ most successful re-releases, “Smash You: Live ’85.” Richie’s “I’m Not Jesus” took the Ramones in a heavier direction and has become a frequent cover tune for innumerable heavy metal bands. Richie’s songwriting contributions were supported by Joey Ramone: “I encouraged Richie to write songs. … We never let anybody else write our songs.”
In 2007, Richie Ramone introduced his virtuosic drumming to the symphonic world with his “Suite for Drums and Orchestra” based on Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story.” He debuted his arrangement with the Pasadena Pops Orchestra as the featured drum soloist and was an immediate hit with critics and patrons there and in other cities. He is currently working on another innovative “Suite for Drums and Orchestra” comprised of classic James Bond movie songs.
In 2011, the Recording Academy gave the Ramones a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in Los Angeles, where all three of the band’s drummers (Tommy, Marky, and Richie Ramone) stood beneath the same roof for the first time ever. In 2012, Richie was the only surviving Ramone featured on Joey Ramone’s second solo album, “…Ya Know?”
On Oct. 8, 2013, Richie released his first solo album, “Entitled,” which features new songs written by Richie as well as new recordings of songs he wrote for the Ramones. Billboard said, “Richie’s 12 freshest cuts aim to please fans of both rock and metal with its blend of power chord-chugging simplicity and guitar hero virtuosity.”
He released his second CD, “Cellophane,” on Aug. 5, 2016, followed by a collectible, clear vinyl LP version and a 7-inch single for the track “I Fix This” in 2017. In 2018, he was featured on Aaron Stingray and the Brooklyn Apostles EP “Songs in the Key of Joey.”
Most recently, Backbeat Books published his autobiography with Peter Aaron, “I Know Better Now: My Life Before, During, and After the Ramones,” on Nov. 1, 2018. The description reads:
It’s 1982 and the Ramones are in a gutter-bound spiral. Following a run of inconsistent albums and deep in the throes of internal tensions, the legendary quartet is about to crash and burn. Enter Richie Ramone.
Then a 26-year-old from New Jersey named Richard Reinhardt, he’s snapped up by the group to be their new drummer and instantly goes from the obscurity of the underground club scene to membership in the most famous punk rock band of all time, revitalizing the pioneering outfit with his powerful, precise, and blindingly fast beats – composing classic cuts like the menacing anthem “Somebody Put Something in My Drink” and becoming the only Ramones percussionist to sing lead vocals for the group. With the Ramones, he performs over five hundred shows at venues all around the world and records three storming studio albums – before abruptly quitting the band and going deep underground. To most fans, this crucial figure in the band’s history has remained a mystery, his tale untold. Until now.
“I Know Better Now: My Life Before, During, and After the Ramones” is the firsthand, four-on-the-floor account of a life in rock ‘n’ roll and in one of its most influential acts – straight from the sticks of the man who kept the beat.
