Peter Aaron - I Know Better Now: My Life Before, During and After the Ramones

1. Cover
2. Half Title
3. Title
4. Copyright
5. Dedication
6. Contents
7. Foreword
8. Acknowledgments
9. Introduction
10. 1 CLEAN WHITE SHIRTS AND BOW TIES
11. 2 OH MAN, THE RATS
12. 3 TONS AND TONS OF WHIPPED CREAM
13. 4 STICK CONTROL AND SYNCOPATION
14. 5 BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE
15. 6 HOLIDAY INNS
16. 7 TRY TO LOOK INNOCENT
17. 8 YOU SMOKE POT, TOO?
18. 9 I THINK SHE PLAYED GLOCKENSPIEL
19. 10 BLACK TURTLENECKS
20. 11 TRIPLE NIPPLE
21. 12 NEWFOUNDLAND STEAK
22. 13 A DOG NAMED TOOEY
23. 14 CAR CRASH
24. 15 FRANCINE
25. 16 ENTER THE DRAGON
26. 17 BACK TO SQUARE TWO
27. 18 YOU READY?
28. 19 SWEATY PALMS
29. 20 LOOKING LIKE A GANG
30. 21 THESE DIRTY KIDS
31. 22 MILK AND COOKIES
32. 23 DRIVE THE NIGHT AWAY
33. 24 THE PRIMER
34. 25 ADD IT TO THE LIST
35. 26 KEEP DOIN WHAT YOURE DOIN
36. 27 CLAP TEST
37. 28 SOMEBODY PUT SOMETHING
38. 29 JOEY JOHNNY DEE DEE RICHIE
39. 30 WHADDYA MEAN, SKIP THAT PART?!!
40. 31 TROUBLE BUBBLING
41. 32 TIME HAS COME TODAY
42. 33 AFTERMATH
43. 34 WE NEVER SPOKE AGAIN
44. Epilogue
45. Appendix 1: Ramones Performances with Richie Ramone
46. Appendix 2: Lyrics
47. Appendix 3: Selected Discography

1. I
2. II
3. III
4. IV
5. V
6. VI
7. VII
8. VIII
9. IX
10. X
11. XI
12. XII
13. XIII
14. XIV
15. XV
16. XVI
17. XVII
18. XVIII
19. XIX
20. XX
21. A-1
22. A-2
23. A-3
24. A-4
25. A-5
26. A-6
27. A-7
28. A-8

1. Cover
2. Half Title
3. Title
4. Copyright
5. Dedication
6. Contents
7. Foreword
8. Acknowledgments
9. Introduction
10. Start of Content
11. Epilogue
12. Appendix 1: Ramones Performances with Richie Ramone
13. Appendix 2: Lyrics
14. Appendix 3: Selected Discography

Whaddya mean, Skip that part?! I yelled, standing straight up off my stool. Thats the way the song is written, John! Thats how the fuckin song goes. The intro is the coolest part. Thats what makes it different, yknow? Cmon, man. What the fuck? Jesus fuckin Christ, man.

Like Ramones songs always are, I Know Better Now is a pretty simple song. Most people would probably think recording it would have been totally easy. Just bang it out and move on, like I said. But when I was teaching that song to the band in rehearsal, that wasnt how things went. It actually turned into a pretty major, fucked-up thing between John and me.

I was never around for any of the overdubs, but I think Daniel went in and replayed some of Johns parts on that song, which he did on a lot of the other songs. John never had a problem with that, though, because even though he didnt want to spend the time doing them himself, he still wanted everything to be precise. If something he played was a little off, it was usually quickerand cheaperfor one of the studio guys to just punch in and do it. It was the same with Dee Dees parts. Dee Dee was a live guy, not a technical guy, and he played sloppy sometimes. Live, that doesnt matter. But in the studio, when youre recording, it needs to be tight. So Im sure Daniel redid a lot of Dee Dees stuff. For the basic tracks, thoughthe foundation of everythingit was always me, John, and Dee Dee in the room, playing together. Always. And I never went back in and redid anything I played. Never, ever. With the drum parts, what you hear on all the records Im on is exactly what I played. And, 99 percent of the time, its the first take.

What was also fun on the first tour was headlining at the Hollywood Palladium, with the Dickies opening, one night, and the next day playing this huge show with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Stray Cats, and Bow Wow Wow at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. What wasnt fun, though, was waking up after San Diego to find out all our equipment and other stuff had been stolen. Right out of the parking lot of the Holiday Inn that used to be where the Hollywood and Highland Center is today. They drove off with the whole truck! Luckily, Matt had taken Johns guitar into his room that night, to restring it, but all the amps and everything elseincluding the beautiful 1964 oyster-black pearl Ludwig kit Id had since I was a kidwere gone. Even our leather jacketsthe ones we wore onstage were missing. And, of course, we were playing that night, and it was a week before we had a day offwhich was a driving day anyway. So we spent all afternoon running all over L.A. to different Guitar Center stores, looking for replacement gear, plus we had to find new jackets.

Another thing I noticed immediately was the amount of T-shirts and other merchandise the band sold on tour. Thered be long lines at the merch table every night, and it seemed like almost every kid who came to the show walked out of there with at least one T-shirt. Id never been in band that sold merch before, so that got my attention.

The year I went from Windfall to Madison, 1976, was the same year punk rock was blowing up in New York and London. I guess I could say here how, when that was happening, I immediately ditched the funk and disco and started following that whole scene, hanging out with Blondie and Johnny Thunders at Maxs Kansas City and CBGBs and all that. But Id be bullshitting you if I did. I was a few years younger than most of the people in those bands, plus I was still focused on being a working musician, trying to make a living playing covers in hotels and bars. And, mostly, the places I was playing were nowhere close to where all the early punk stuff was going on.