Saturday, February 24, 2007

















Johnny Thunders: You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory [1978]
Ronnie Spector: You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory [1999]

Memory is Johnny Thunders'often-covered reworking of the New York Doll's Lonely Planet Boy.

I guess it's appropriate that his song about heroin addiction became the standard Johnny Thunders' tribute. I didn't know the circustances of his death until reading the wiki entry this morning. Pretty lame.

Ronnie Spector's fantastic version was produced by Joey Ramone (who also sings back-up vocals) for 1999's She Talks To Rainbows EP. In the liner notes she writes "Joey Ramone your unselfishness and friendship are 'cool'... It can all be said in about 1:55... Let it Rock".
Find more Ronnie Spector love in Emmett's post below.

And check out this killer video from Antenne 2's Les Enfant du Rock. I guess the bar was set pretty low for rock performances on French TV in the early 1980s.

Through the comments page I discovered that the always pertinent Richard Simon wrote a piece on Ronnie Spector's work with Joey Ramone and Keith Richards. Well worth the read! (Rockers Lining Up To Work With Ronnie Spector)

Buy So Alone here.
Buy She Talks To Rainbows here.

6 comments:

Richard B. Simon said...

http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1124868/20001020/story.jhtml

Mike said...

Nice Rich! I didn't know you wrote an article on her. Did you interview Ronnie Spector and Joey Ramone for the article?

Mr. Beer N. Hockey said...

I was lucky enough to see Thunders play two nights in a row in the early '80s. Those evenings and a similar pair hosted by Iggy Pop around about the same time changed my life. Luckily, I recovered. Those were the days my friend ...

Mike said...

Mr. Beer... Right on! No words will suffice to convey my envy.

lil m said...

yo rawkers... as long as plugs are in order i posted some rare Johnny / Wayne krmaer etc late last month...

http://lilmikesf.blogspot.com/2007/01/sad-vacation.html

and have some rare Ronnie comin' up...

keep on rawkin in da freak whirled...

Anonymous said...

I'd have to say Lonely Planet Boy is a reworking of You cant put your arms around a memory. Thunders wrote it as a teenager long before being in the Dolls...as for it being about heroine addiction, I doubt it. Seems more a case of life imitating art. -Joe