CJ Says: A Ramones Podcast

Hey kids!

The final transmission of the season is coming in hot, and we're heading back into the eye of the Ramones storm with the man who kept the whole circus rolling for nearly thirty years: Monte A. Melnick.

Although they’re well-known for their wicked sense of humour, life on the road with the Ramones was no joke. It was a travelling pressure cooker of personal demons and enough chaos to test the patience of a saint. And somewhere in the middle of it all was Monte, keeping the wheels turning while trying to manage the insane mix of personalities within the band.

In Part Two of this season closer, Monte opens up about his extraordinary bond with Joey Ramone—a friendship that went far beyond the call of duty. From making sure Joey had everything he needed to survive the punishing machinery of touring to becoming a trusted ally to someone whose struggles were often invisible to the outside world. It was a labour of love, a genuine friendship, and one of the unsung contributions that helped keep the Ramones on the road for thirty years.

Monte also revisits the darker realities of life within the band, including Dee Dee’s battles with drugs and Marky Ramone's struggles with alcohol addiction. It’s all here. Along the way, we hear also about CJ's arrival, the energy he brought to the group, and the complicated human relationships beneath the music.

So pull up a stool and join the ultimate road veteran for a conversation about loyalty, addiction, friendship, and the extraordinary effort it takes to keep a legend alive—because behind every great rock ’n’ roll band are the people who picked up the pieces when the lights went out.

Thank you for all your support over the last six months. We'll see you all in 2027 for Series Two.

Ramones Forever!!!
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Hey kids!

Welcome back for Side B of our Adios Amigos Deep Dive. If Side A was the beginning of the goodbye, this is where things get really personal.

We dig deep into the final stretch of the Ramones’ last studio album, where the deep cuts hit harder, the memories run deeper, and the farewells start revealing themselves for the first—and, indeed, last—time, from ‘Cretin Family’ to CJ’s own ‘Scattergun’ and ‘I Got a Lot to Say’.

Then come the heavy hitters: Joey’s hauntingly beautiful ‘She Talks to Rainbows’ and Dee Dee’s astonishing ‘Born to Die in Berlin’—a song that CJ considers one of the most poetic closing statements in rock ‘n’ roll history. Looking back on the Ramones’ journey, from ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ to ‘Born to Die in Berlin’, the connections start to feel almost too perfect to be a coincidence.

Our Series One Deep Dive journey ends here…

We’ll be taking a short break until the new year after next week's episode. But rest assured we’ll be back in 2027, bigger and better than ever. We’ll also continue to release weekly bonus episodes over on Patreon during our short little hiatus from the main show, so be sure to come over there and say hello if you’re in need of a CJ Says fix over the next couple of months.

www.patreon.com/cjsays

Thank you for coming on this amazing journey with us, and thanks to all the Ramones fans around the world for all your support. We truly appreciate it.

Ramones Forever!
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Hey kids!

Welcome to the season finale of CJ Says: A Ramones Podcast.

This episode comes to you in two parts and we're going straight to the source for our Series One closer…

Before the leather jackets, uniform haircuts and three-chord assault that rewired the nervous system, the Ramones were just a bunch of kids knocking about Queens, riding their bikes, and figuring out what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives.

Enter Monte A. Melnick: longtime Ramones tour manager, keeper of the keys, witness to the madness, and the man who was there before the legend had a pulse.

Monte takes us back to the very beginning over the course of this two-hour conversation, to his friendship with Tommy Ramone and the unlikely chain of events that helped turn a neighbourhood connection into one of the most influential bands on the planet.

Make no mistake, Tommy was the architect. He was, as Monte confirms, the brains behind the entire operation! And that's not all Monte confirms!

So, join us for one final trip down the rabbit hole with one of the Ramones’ inner circle...

This is Part One. Part Two will close the first season of CJ Says in two weeks time.
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Hey kids!

The end is nigh. The leather jackets are battered, the engines are running on fumes, and the greatest punk rock ‘n’ roll band on the planet is staring down the barrel of its final studio album.

But Adios Amigos isn't quite the predictable last blast you might expect. There's more going on here than meets the eye…

This week, we dive into Side A of the Ramones' final record, from Tom Waits' ‘I Don't Want to Grow Up’—the unlikely cover CJ championed—to Daniel Rey's invaluable contribution behind the boards, and how Dee Dee's solo songs found their way back into the band he left behind in 1989.

For CJ, Dee Dee was reaching new heights as a songwriter by this point, bringing a poetic, loose-limbed edge to the band's familiar three-chord assault.Then there's Joey Ramone’s ‘Life's a Gas,’ a playful, philosophical reflection on life's fleeting beauty, and CJ's own personal journey from the Marine Corps to the Ramones.

This is a story about chasing your dreams, following your instincts, and sometimes having to choose your own path to follow.

The final chapter? Maybe. But there's still plenty of life left in this machine.

We’ll see you in two weeks for the Side B Deep Dive, which we’re putting up on all the public platforms. Then we’ll be taking a short break until the new year.

But for now, drop the needle and come with us as we revisit the Ramones’ fourteenth and final studio album.

Gabba Gabba Hey!!!
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Hey kids! Welcome back…

Before she was dancing with zombies in The Return of the Living Dead, Linnea Quigley was a Midwestern kid who jumped ship for Los Angeles, found punk rock, picked up a guitar and started making some noise.

In this episode, Linnea takes us from the early LA punk scene and her adventures in music to cult horror movies, chainsaws, prosthetics and the wonderfully deranged world of The Return of the Living Dead.

And then there’s the Ramones…

Linnea takes us behind the scenes of the legendary ‘Substitute’ music video shoot, recalling late nights with the band and hanging out with Johnny and giving us a glimpse into that glorious moment when punk rock, horror movies and underground culture all collided.

Gabba Gabba Hey!
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