Richie Ramone
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Richard Reinhardt (a.k.a Richie Beau, Richie Ramone) (born August 11, 1957) is an American drummer best known for his work with the punk rock group the Ramones.
Before working with the Ramones he drummed with Velveteen, and is also reported to have drummed with Annie Golden's band The Shirts. He joined the Ramones on February 13, 1983, at a show at Utica, New York, after second drummer Marky Ramone was fired. He took part in the Subterranean Jungle tour of 1983, where he signed autographs as "Richie Beau", which was the name he went under whilst drumming with Velveteen.
Richie plays drums on the albums Too Tough to Die, Animal Boy, and Halfway to Sanity. He wrote six songs with the band - "Humankind", which appears on Too Tough to Die; "Smash You", which appears on the b-side of the "Howling at the Moon (Sha-La-La)" single; "Somebody Put Something in My Drink", which appears on Animal Boy; "(You) Can't Say Anything Nice", which appears on the b-side of the "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" single; and "I'm Not Jesus" and "I Know Better Now", which appear on Halfway to Sanity. He sang lead vocals on "(You) Can't Say Anything Nice."
The most elusive of all the Ramones, and also their fastest-playing drummer, Richie refused to get involved in the public bickering that shadowed some of the other members in later years. He turned up recently in the documentary End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones, saying that he had not been considered a full band member and did not receive money from merchandise sales.
There were also artistic differences with Johnny Ramone that escalated while Richie and Joey Ramone were remixing Halfway to Sanity. Richie played his last show on August 12, 1987, in East Hampton, New York, after four-and-a-half years and 500 shows as a Ramone.
When he quit, the band looked for other drummers. Clem Burke (aka Elvis Ramone) filled in for two gigs. Contrary to some reports, Marky Ramone was not merely on hiatus, and had Richie not quit, he would have been there till the last show. However, when he left, the band asked Marky to return (which he did).
In spite of his bitter split with the Ramones, he evidently remained on relatively good terms with Dee Dee Ramone; good enough, at least, to work on Dee Dee's poorly received hip hop recordings.
Richie was invited to attend former bandmate Joey Ramone's funeral when he died on April 15, 2001 from cancer. He was reunited with Joey's brother Mickey Leigh of The Rattlers, a band he greatly admired. He is also featured in the Ramones documentary End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones wearing a tie and collared shirt, reflecting that he has probably left the Ramones behind.
On May 19, 2006, Richie appeared at the 6th Annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash where he played drums on "Wart Hog", "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" and other classic Ramones songs.
[edit] Albums with the Ramones
- Too Tough to Die (1984)
- Animal Boy (1986)
- Halfway to Sanity (1987)
- Smash You: Live '85 (2002)
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