Danny Fields became the manager of the pioneering Punk band The Ramones within fifteen minutes of seeing them on stage at CBGB. “Arguably the most influential band of all time” according to NME, the Ramones inspired the punk movement in the US and the UK. A legendary manager, publicist, journalist and label exec Danny Fields managed the band from the ground up, accompanying them across Europe and America from their roots at CBGB to the now infamous new year’s eve show at the Rainbow in London.
MY RAMONES is Danny’s personal collection of over 250 photographs of the band on stage, with fans, partying, recovering and roaming the streets. Taken between 1975-1977 the images offer a rare insight into the lives of Joey, Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy as they embark on their first tour and record their seminal first album The Ramones.
Danny’s images are perfect snapshots of punk as it happened, capturing now-iconic figures such as Ramones’ art director Arturo Vega, photographer Lee Black Childers, Rock Scene editor Lisa Robinson, label boss Seymour Stein and wife Linda, who co-managed the band hanging out with up and comers Talking Heads, Blondie, The Clash, Sex Pistols and New York Dolls.
The man at the heart of every significant movement in rock music for two decades, Danny is credited with introducing punk to America. He helped launch the Doors, managed MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges, introducing Iggy Pop to David Bowie. He hung out with Warhol, Nico and Edie Sedgwick and punk bible Please Kill Me is dedicated to him. Danny’s place in the punk movement makes for the kind of photos only an insider could take. In the words of Iggy Pop “Danny’s a connector, he’s a fuel line, a place where things are liable to erupt.”
Published by Reel Art Press, MY RAMONES features Fields’ commentary throughout and includes recollections from David Johansen, Michael Stipe and Seymour Stein. It is an essential visual history of the band who would directly influence so many from Bruce Springsteen, who wrote “Thunder Road” for the Ramones, to Slash who learned to play guitar listening to Road To Ruin.
“A labor of love, with people I love, and featuring people whom I loved more than I can ever say. I hope it shows in the pictures.” Danny Fields
Ramones first video shoot at M.P.C.’s TV studio. The video contained eight songs in 17-and-a-half minutes and has never been officially released. Image courtesy of Danny Fields and Reel Art Press