I was watching both 'Music & Lyrics' and ' End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones' in quick succession recently. In the former, the female pop superstar Cora is seen during one scene wearing a figure hugging, grey Ramones t-shirt and in the latter Richie Ramone is heard complaining that he never got a cut of 'the t-shirt' money during his time on the band. It got me thinking that perhaps the lasting legacy of The Ramones might just be a sartorial look which can be yours for just €24.99 in all good record stores. Along with the "CBGBs" t-shirt that I have seen many an aging Irish music industry guest judge on "You're A Star' wearing around Dublin it seems to be the most popular mass produced garment at present for those who want to be seen expressing their individuality and their belief in a personal freedom. The Ramones were famous for having a 'uniform' that remained as rigid and unchanging as their music and one which Dee Dee railed against but I do wonder from time to time if their onstage look and the logo which is the motif of the t-shirt was the pinnacle of their creativity, whether their lasting influence is not on music but on casual fashion and brand awareness. Hey, I love "Cretin Hop" but maybe it was Gap and not Green Day that learned the most from them. After all, there's no stoppin' the cretins from shoppin'.
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1999 - 'The eMusic Market', written by Gordon McConnell it focuses on how the internet could change the music industry. Boy was he on the money, years before any of us had heard of an iPod or of Napster.