PICK OF THE MONTH

JOEY RAMONE >> DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME. SANCTUARY RECORDS 2002
If the music industry could be likened to a used car lot full of junkers, obsolete items that used to be exciting, and outright appalling wrecks, then Joey Ramone was without a doubt the hood ornament of a Rolls Royce. No one else shared the same gangly physical shape, nor did they represent such an ageless and unchanging style.Even through a losing battle with lymphatic cancer, Joey remained himself all the way to the very last track on his very last album. And as far as last albums go, Don’t Worry About Me is damn well enviable.A nasty breakup or a lost loved one is enough to send a better-than-average musician groping for the acoustic guitar like Daryl Strawberry searching for a crackpipe. Not Joey. He stared death right in the face and opted to write a lovestruck tribute to Fox News’ Wall Street hottie Maria Bartiramo instead. Talk about not breaking character. Even more remarkable is that all 13 tracks are almost completely lacking in any sort of self-pity. The few songs that actually do address his grim situation—no matter how indirectly—do so in the most positive manner possible. “I Got Knocked Down (But I’ll Get Back Up)” is a title that’s self-explanatory enough, though the opening track is probably the most off-putting. Joey’s distinct vocals deliver Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” in a way that is probably one of the most startling you’ll ever hear. Granted, the song comes preloaded with a megaton of emotion, but the melody itself and JR’s sincerity finds a comfortable place inside that same old rift Joey Ramone had been giving us for 25 years.
 
He was an unflinching classic to his very end.

-By Eric Seeger