Tommy Ramone

Drummer Tommy Ramone (born Thomas Erdelyi January 29, 1952 in Budapest, Hungary) grew up in Queens, one of the boroughs of New York City. He is the last surviving founding member of the punk rock band The Ramones. Tommy was the original drummer and additionally managed the band.

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Like his friend Johnny, he was a student at Forest Hills High. Together they played in a band called The Tangerine Puppets; Tommy played lead guitar. It was not too much later that the enterprising youngster entered the music business, working at the Dick Charles recording studio, a place that gave birth to most of the staff for the original and prestigious Record Plant. He was an assistant engineer on the Jimi Hendrix staff; this was the days of The Band of Gypsies.

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By the time The Ramones started practicing, Tommy and a partner (Monte Melnick) had opened a studio called Performance Studios where he allowed the young Ramones to come and rehearse. In those days, Joey played the drums and Dee Dee sang lead but as Tommy's involvement with the band increased he soon realized Joey's potential as a front man, and when they could not find anybody to replace Joey on the drums Tommy became the Ramones drummer.

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"Before that I'd never been behind a drum set in my life," said Tommy, who now was managing the band and was also a member.

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Tommy also started to produce their recordings. He was the associate producer for their first album Ramones, and shared the producer's title with Tony Bongiovi on the follow-ups Leave Home and Rocket to Russia.

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During his tenure with the Ramones, Tommy was a force both as manager and as a creative contributor. He played on the band's first three albums, which contained some of their best-loved and most frequently performed songs.

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When Tommy decided to return to "civilian life" his choice of course was music production. The artists he has worked with include The Replacements, Redd Kross, The Rattlers and Talking Heads. In 1984, he produced one more album for the Ramones, Too Tough To Die - a fitting title to a reunion of old friends.

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He is credited by some for the band's success: it was his suggestion to make Joey the lead singer, rather than Dee Dee. Although he didn't stay with the band for long, many argue that he wasn't given enough credit for his work and his new drum style.

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Tommy is known as a fan of bluegrass music. He is currently working on a solo album.

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January 29: January 29 is the 29th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 336 days remaining, (337 in leap years)....

1952: 1952 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar)....

Budapest: : See Budapest (band) for the British musical group...

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