Drummer of the Ramones

Background:

Tommy Ramone, also known as Thomas Erdelyi, is a Hungarian American musician and record producer. He is perhaps best recalled as the drummer of the influential punk rock band The Ramones from 1974 to 1978. He also produced the first three albums: “Ramones” (1976), “Leave Home” (1977) and “Rocket to Russia” (1977), and the live album “It's Live” (1979). After leaving the drummer post, Tommy worked behind the scenes with the group by handling band management and co-production for the forth album “Road to Ruin” (1978). He also produced the band's eighth album “Too Tough to Die.” On March 18, 2002, the Ramones, including the three founders and drummers Marky and Tommy Ramone, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2011, the group was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Currently, Tommy performed in a bluegrass duo, Uncle Monk, together with Claudia Tienan.

Tamás Erdélyi

Childhood and Family:

Tommy Ramone was born Tamás Erdélyi on January 29, 1952, in Budapest, Hungary, to a Jewish family. He was raised in Forest Hills, a neighborhood of New York City's Queens borough. While in high school, he and guitarist John Cummings (later known as Johnny Ramone) performed together in a four piece garage band called the Tangerine Puppets.

Uncle Monk

Career:

When he was 18 years old, Tommy Ramone served as assistant engineer in the production of the Jimi Hendrix album “Band of Gypsys” (1970). Four years later, when the Ramones formed in 1974, he became the band's manager, with Joey Ramone (born Jeffrey Hyman, May 19, 1951), Johnny Ramone (born John Cummings, Oct. 8, 1951), and Dee Dee Ramone (born Douglas Colvin, Sept. 18, 1952) serving as drummer, guitarist and bassist, respectively. Two months after the group's first show at New York's Performance Studio, Joey became the band's new lead singer and left the position of drummer. It was not long before Tommy joined the group as its drummer.

On April 23, 1976, Ramones released a self titled debut album on Sire Records. The album, on which Tommy also served as an associate producer, peaked at No. 111 on the Billboard 200 and made the Top 50 on the Swedish Music Charts. It was later ranked No. 33 on Rolling Stone's “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” The lead single “Blitzkrieg Bop,” which was written by Tommy and Dee Dee Ramone, failed to enter the Billboard charts, and so did the follow up “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” which was also written by Tommy. The band did a number of concerts to support the album between 1976 and 1977.

The second studio album “Leave Home” followed on January 10, 1977. Produced by Tommy and Tony Bongiovi, the album reached No. 148 on the Billboard 200 and No. 45 on the UK Albums Chart. It produced the Top 40 UK hit single with “Swallow My Pride” (#36). The third studio album “Rocket to Russia” was released later that same year on November 4, 1977, with Tommy and Bongiovi as producers. It peaked at No. 49 on the Billboard 200, making it one of the band's most popular releases. The album also charted at No. 31 in Sweden and No. 60 in the UK. “Rocket to Russia” yielded three hit singles on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” (#81), “Rockaway Beach” (#66), and a cover of Bobby Freeman's song, “Do You Wanna Dance?” (#86), with the first single also charting at No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart. “Rocket to Russia” marked the last studio album with Tommy as drummer before he left the position and was replaced by Marky Ramone in 1978. Tommy also played the drums and produced the live album “It's Live,” which was recorded at the Rainbow Theatre, London, on December 31, 1977, and released in April 1979, and provided drums on another live album, “NYC 1978,” which was recorded at the Palladium in New York City on January 7, 1978, for use on the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio program and was released by King Biscuit on August 19, 2003 as part of the King Biscuit Flower Hour Archive Series.

After quitting as drummer, Tommy handled the management of the Ramones and co-produced (with Ed Stasium) the band's fourth studio album, “Road to Ruin.” Released on September 22, 1978, the album reached No. 103 on the Billboard 200 and No. 32 on the UK Albums Chart. He later returned as producer for the eighth album “Too Tough to Die” (1984).

Outside of the Ramones, Tommy produced the critically acclaimed album “Tim” (1985) by the alternative rock band Replacements. He also produced the Redd Kross fourth album “Neurotica” (1987). Meanwhile, Tommy had his first taste of acting as foreman in the horror/thriller movie “Deadly Intruder” (1985), which was directed by John McCauley and starring Chris Holder, Molly Cheek and Tony Crupi.

In 2004, Tommy played as a Ramone once again when he joined C.J. Ramone, Daniel Rey, and Clem Burke (also known as Elvis Ramone) in the “Ramones Beat Down On Cancer” concert. At the time, all the band's three founding members, Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone had died.

Presently, Tommy performs with Claudia Tienan in a bluegrass based folk duo called Uncle Monk. The duo has released one album, also named “Uncle Monk” (2006). They have toured small local venues in New York and New Heaven, Connecticut.

Awards:
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