At the invitation of my friend Linda Ramone, I was honored to design the flyer for and DJ at the most recent Johnny Ramone tribute, which also screened the movie Pulp Fiction, one of my favorites. Linda liked the flyer design a lot and suggested I make a new illustration of Johnny Ramone based on the image, which incorporated smoke coming off of Johnny's strings as a nod to his shredding playing and the smoke from Uma Thurman's cigarette in the Pulp Fiction poster. I'm very happy with how the art poster turned out. I first got into the Ramones in 1984, and they quickly became one of my favorite groups of all time. I saw them live in 1988 and 1989, and the shows featured non-stop blistering action.
The Ramones show I saw in the fall of 1988 at the Living Room in Providence R.I. was one of the most intense I've ever seen. The Living Room should have held 500, but in Providence, clubs paid off the cops, and there were probably 1,000 people in the venue. Jane's Addiction opened up and raised the energy level. When the Ramones came on, the crowd was ready to go nuts. I was near the stage, and the crowd surged forward, compressing everyone so tightly that I thought my ribs would be crushed. I could pick my feet off the ground simultaneously without using my hands. The Ramones played non-stop, with no breaks between songs for about two hours. The band was super tight. Johnny leaned into the crowd and didn't even take his leather jacket off for an hour, even though it was sweaty as hell in there. Joey's hair was in his eyes, but he stayed planted in front of the mic and sounded great. At certain points, I felt like I was going to suffocate or be crushed, but I refused to give up my spot right at the front. It may seem weird to say you are having the time of your life fighting for your life, but that's the only way I can describe that show.
-Shepard
Johnny Ramone Smokin' Strings. 18 x 24 inches. Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper. Signed by Shepard Fairey. Numbered edition of 600. Comes with a Digital Certificate of Authenticity provided by Verisart. $70.
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