TWO TWO pays tribute to the incomparable Joey Ramone by releasing an NFT in collaboration with artist Lynwood to celebrate his 70th birthday. The piece will be a limited edition set of only seven prints dropping in line with his birthday on May 19th.
The original godfathers of the American Punk Rock movement of the late 70s, Joey along with fellow bandmates Dee Dee, Johnny, Tommy, and Douglas, founded the Ramones in 1974, and the band went on to become the most definitive and iconic punk band of all time, representing an entirely then underground and disenfranchised generation of angst-ridden kids fed up with the status quo both social and political that ignored and ostracized their dangerously defiant and rebellious spirits.
The Ramones exploded onto the still pubescent punk scene of the 70s and rapidly became the driving force behind the entire musical revolution that followed. Spitting straight in the face of the corporate commercialization of their contemporaries, and demolishing the long-held tenants of what “acceptable” music was supposed to me, The Ramones came on strong, loud, and fast, proudly waving their middle finger to a society that refused to recognize the angry and alienated youth that started to proliferate all across the dirty streets of a rapidly changing America, and Joey was the quintessential voice behind it all.
Originally starting as their drummer before they recruited Tommy, Joey soon switched to vocals and set the standard for all punk singers that followed. With his signature snarls, yells, hiccups, and cracked crooning, Joey created an entirely new vocal idiom that forever changed the course of music history for all time. Additionally, his reckless fashion style of the trademark rose-colored glasses, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, and dirty ripped denim jeans forever defined what the punk look came to be. Also, the prominent songwriter of the group, Joey along with his bandmates influenced an entire era of punk rockers, from The Sex Pistols to Black Flag, to the Talking Heads, to modern bands like Green Day and Bad Religion. Without Joey, the original New York City punk, punk rock would never have borne into existence, and the world would be worse off because of it.
TWO TWO Co-founder Avron Goss remembers, “Even as a youth growing up in South Africa, I was aware of the angry, defiant band in America that was disrupting the sedate, synthesized pop sounds with high driven RockʼnʼRoll. It was fantastic!”
Keeping in line with the spirit of Extreme Art, TWO TWO and Lynwood celebrate Joeyʼs life and music with limited edition art as dangerous as the man himself.
Happy birthday Joey!
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