The “Celebrating 50 Years of Joey Ramone” Art Exhibit at Metropolis is Re-Opening!

New Cartoon Jam this Thursday, May 30! Open to the public… So come to the party!

“The Ramones descending a Staircase to the Basement” by Cliff Mott and Jon Zeh

I would like to thank everyone who attended the events over the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash weekend. The JRBB was a great show this year: The Cynz and Steve Conte played the Bash for the first time and went over great. Of course old friends The Hyperdolls, Jiro, Gobshites and the Sic F*cks (who headlined this year and have appeared more often than any other band) were “fantastic!” (as Joey used to say). Mickey Leigh, who always puts together a great lineup and Joey Ramone tribute, was in top form. Even Jersey Calling, who won the contest for a new, unsigned band, were top notch. Sadly, Richie Ramone had a medical emergency and couldn’t perform—don’t worry, he’s OK now. Richie always adds a lot of fun the show, hopefully he returns next year for the highly-anticipated 25th Annual JRBB!

One of the images on the “Wall of Weirdness”: Richie Ramone in action!

Back to the Metropolis event, a few hundred people visited over the JRBB weekend: Friday night we held a Cartoon Jam Session/party, Saturday night Monte A. Melnick (forever the one and only Ramones’ tour manager) hosted a screening of Rock ’N’ Roll High School. On Sunday a special never-before-seen video of Joey Ramone’s work with Blackfire (a Native American punk rock band) was screened by pioneering video artist Aysha Quinn. Blackfire was the last band Joey recorded music with, and they were one of the bands Joey promoted and supported (along with The Independents, D-Generation, Charm School and The Kowalskis). Both Monte and Aysha answered a slew of questions for the fans who attended.

The Navajo Nations’s punk band (left to right): Jeneda (bass, vocals), Klee (vocals, guitar), and Clayson (drums, vocals). The band are siblings and managed by their mother, Berta Benally.

We raised a few hundred dollars for the Lymphoma Foundation, but we don’t want to stop yet.

So like they say on The Price Is Right: “Come on down!” We will be hosting a Cartoon Jam Session every Thursday from 5:00 to 8:00 in The Dungeon, so bring a Sharpie pen (or whatever you draw with) and party with a bunch of crazy, weirdo cartoonists. (Because of my contributions to R. Crumb’s Weirdo magazine in the 1980s I am included in Jon B. Cooke’s Book of Weirdo, being an official Weirdo is one of my proudest achievements!). The “artwork” will be auctioned off to the highest bidders, and 100% of the proceeds will go to the Lymphoma Foundation.

We’re also planning some other events featuring Debra T. (who was in rare form as Debra “Raffle” during the JRBB), whose backstage photos at previous JRBB events were a huge hit and definite crowd pleaser. (She’s also the model for the new Metropolis t-shirt that I illustrated).

The latest Metropolis t-shirt, on sale at the store.

And of course, we’re planning to screen more films (we will definitely screen Aysha Quinn’s Blackfire video again). Who knows what we might come up with? Well, since End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones co-director Michael Gramaglia attended the exhibit with Danny Fields, Aysha Quinn and a fan (below), maybe he has something we can show. Maybe people will film the Cartoon Jam Sessions? .

Left to right: Danny, Aysha, a Ramones fan and Michael.

The biggest room of the show (nicknamed “The Dungeon,” because it resembles a medieval torture chamber) will stay open until the sidewalk above it is replaced. The space is so unusual some people were more impressed with the decrepit, cracked and shattered wall space (which is next to the subway trains) than the cartoons, photos and images of tattoos.

Rufus Dayglo, who contributed (a lot) to PUNK #22 (The Iggy issue), and created the 2018 Joey Ramone Birthday Bash with me, contributed a special illustration for the Wall of Weirdness. Too bad he lives in France (so he can’t attend the Jam Session in person) He would love it!

We’re adding new content to the “Wall of Weirdness,” which sports all kinds of comic strips and illustrations of Joey (and the other guys in the band). A much smaller wall hosted the Cartoon Jam Session, which featured a dozen cartoonists scribbling weirdness on giant pieces of paper. The biggest surprise of the show was this amazing drawing: “The Ramones Descending a Staircase to the Basement” (inspired by the Ramones song and the Marcel Duchamp dada painting), PUNK Magazine illustrator Cliff Mott and his co-conspirator Jon Zeh worked on it all night: It’s a classic! Stay tuned for an announcement about the Cartoon Jam Auction, where you will be able to make a bid to purchase the cartoons. All proceeds will got to the Joey Ramone Lymphoma Research Foundation. And join us… if you dare to enter The Dungeon!

The legendary Cliff Mott drawing the Ramones.

I’ll have more details on which hours the exhibit will be open and when special events are happening over the next several weeks, so stay tuned for more details. And for anyone who wants the rest of the story about D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage? Don’t worry, I’ll be back at it soon enough.

I’d like to give special thanks to Richard Colligan, the owner of Metropolis (the largest vintage clothing store in New York City), and the coolest retail crew you will ever find, for all of their help and support. And don’t forget to visit the “John Holmstrom Dressing Room” at the back of the first floor! It’s like the “Weirdness Room!”

I’m proud to say that Metropolis is my second home nowadays. Whenever you visit New York, you gotta check it out!