Danny Says Page #12

the songs start?

No bullshitting,

and same way they end.

No, it goes at full throttle

from beginning to end.

- It starts and ends,

- then the next one,

Starts and ends

and just goes sailing on.

- Man:

- That's such a great concept!

- Lou:
That's so intuitive.

- Man:
It's genius!

Lou:
No kidding.

- Now you hit the nail.

- On the head, they're crazy!

Without doubt,

- the most fantastic.

- Thing you've ever played,

Bar none.

- I mean it makes everybody else.

- Look so bullshit and wimpy,

Patti Smith and me included.

Wow!

- Danny:
Everyone else looks like.

- A sissy compared to them.

Lou:
Everybody else looks like

they're really old-fashioned.

That's rock 'n' roll.

They really hit where it hurts.

They are everything

everybody worried about.

Every parent in America would

freeze in their tracks

if they heard this stuff.

Everything, you know...

- They got them an amp,

- they got them a guitar.

Now look!

- (laughing)

- There they are!

Their worst dreams come true.

- It doesn't take any talent,

- all they're doing is banging it,

And look at this.

- That is the greatest thing.

- I've ever heard.

Danny, do something I feel like.

Danny:
My friend, Linda Stein,

- she said.

- Let's get Seymour to sign them.

So they played for Seymour,

who of course has wonderful

taste and heard the songs.

And Seymour was...

consistently...

irrevocably...

unstintingly supportive.

Mo Ostin, who was an accountant

for Frank Sinatra,

- before he became chairman.

- Of Warner Brothers,

Mo's a wonderful man

would say, "Seymour, this band

is not selling records,

- "Did you ever think.

- Of not renewing their options?"

And Seymour would say,

"Oh no, wherever I go,

this band goes."

Seymour Stein:
A lot of people

have great taste,

but are afraid to express it.

Not Danny.

Danny was quite explicit

about everything.

He really had so much taste,

so smart.

But some of

his outrageous behavior...

You know, I think...

turned a lot of people off.

Not me.

Never.

Danny:
I loved CBGB,

they were packing in crowds

that Hilly never imagined.

It made it all the more

- depressing,

- discouraging and frustrating.

That we couldn't get them

out of town.

- Tommy Ramone:
We did an audition.

- For Blue Sky Records.

That Steve Paul owned.

And our audition was opening

for Johnny Winter.

And it was our first time

out of the city,

in Waterbury, Connecticut.

And the curtain opens up,

and here are these guys...

playing music

from another dimension.

By the third or fourth song,

we take a break, all of sudden

out of the audience comes...

(growls)

We always played

some place where no band

had ever played before.

A basement,

a loft or a parking lot,

or someone found

an abandoned warehouse.

Danny:
Talking Heads auditioned

and Hilly thought they were

terrible enough to play there.

He asked me if they could

open for The Ramones.

Johnny was nearby,

he was very fussy about that.

And I said, "They want to open

for us, what do you think?"

He said, "They really are

lousy, yeah, sure."

That was his criteria,

are they terrible enough

not to steal any thunder?

Such a pro, so smart, Johnny.

Again,

the Ramones first appearance

in London, July 4th, 1976,

outside the Round House,

Paul Simonon introduced himself.

"I'm a big fan of yours, this

must be really exciting for you,

- you sold our the Round House,

- you've never been here before."

- And Johnny said,

- "What do you do?"

"We're called the Clash,

but we never played

'cause we're waiting

to get good enough."

Johnny said, "Wait till you see

us tonight, we stink!"

Just get out there and play.

Wait till you see us,

you're not gonna ever

worry about being good again."

And sure enough,

about two weeks later,

they started booking themselves,

The Clash, on tour.

You were not allowed to be

terrible and great

until these bands came along.

And that was

the meaning of that revolution.

By traditional standards of

how many notes

can you squeeze into a second

like that Van Halen guy,

as opposed to how much power can

you get out of a performance,

that was the watershed moment.

Everything interesting

since then

has derived from that.

- But they got that.

- From The Stooges as well,

Who were terrible.

Bands in my life...

- They were always.

- Kinda doing something like that.

And it was always

about the songs.

Every one of those bands

had great songs.

If they didn't have great songs,

they couldn't have been great.

(feedback screeches)

Danny:
There's no question that

the Ramones suffered greatly

because the Sex Pistols

were so famous

for vomiting and bleeding

and scratching and smelling and

tearing down and destroying,

you know, "no future".

So bleak!

- And when their records.

- Went around to radio stations...

Intuitive,

like what do I know about them?

They're trouble.

They throw up.

- If we play their record, we'll.

- Probably have to have them here,

- And then they'll throw up.

- On the console.

It's easier!

Don't play their record!

And this stigma falls on you.

They're a critics' band.

- Critics don't pay for records,

- they get them free.

And every once in a while

they annoy us

by rubbing it in that

they all like this band

that we're not able to sell.

The band voted to find

new management,

in the hopes of

getting these wonderful songs

on the radio.

And I could not f***ing

in any way blame them.

The Ramones were disaffected

teenagers for whom, in fact,

there was, when they were

in high school, no future.

But through their work,

they gave themselves

a very long future.

They left a legacy

of no future people.

Maybe we have a future.

We thought we had no future!

Look at them!

- They can't play!

- They're terrible!

But look! This is exciting!

They're big! They're famous!

They can get laid.

Let's start a band!

What more can you do?

Your pied pipers out there.

What? You can't pay

the rent with that.

A lot of these bands are going

to go on to be U2 and Pearl Jam,

and outsell you by the zillions.

It was the greatest years

of my life,

traveling, the adventure...

getting laid...

the audience reaction...

the encore...

fans...

getting laid...

- You know,

- I would have been a millionaire,

- f I'd just stayed with them,

- but then again,

I would've had to be

their manager for 20 years.

- Wow, I always liked to do.

- Something new.

That no one's ever done before.

("Danny Says"

(by The Ramones plays)

Oh yeah, stick with me,

and 40 years from now,

you'll be a star.

(laughs)

- You'll be in.

- The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

That's the worst case,

but you know,

life isn't long enough

to see everything that happens

that we saw beginning

or continuing or

we thought was ending.

- You know, it takes more time.

- Than that when it comes to...

Things that will endure.

I have been really lucky

to know or be around

so many smart people,

and then from that

to have so many smart people

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