I just finished a great read over the weekend called, “I Slept With Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir.” Anyone that is a fan of The Ramones knows that they have had many books published about them.  What’s different here is that Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Hyman) is examined by Mickey Leigh (Mitchel Hyman) his brother. The book starts out talking about their Queens, NY childhood and how the brothers started to play music. What makes this book interesting to me, is it also mentions a good friend of mine Ira Nagel. He grew up on the same block with them and was one of the original members of a band called Tiger 5 with Johnny and Tommy Ramone. I was able to catch up with Ira and ask him about those early days with The Ramones and why he left.

We grew up together, on the same block. My mother didn’t want me to continue with the band though - she wanted me to become a doctor or a lawyer. That never happened. I knew they were gonna make it from the beginning. Their sound was driving.

But this is not the reason why Nagel left before the Ramones emerged as a band; it was because of a disagreement he had with Johnny. For those who love The Ramones and would like a unique perspective into what got this legendary band started, I recommend this book which is now available.

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