While scrambling to cover the health summit accord lat Wednesday, I ran into this sad piece of news: Johnny Ramone dies of prostate cancer at age 55.

And his end comes just days after a 30th anniversary celebration of the band's founding.

As wallpaper, I've used the cover art for the Ramone's Rocket to Russia album for several months. It was the first Ramones album I ever owned.

Within seconds of the needle touching the vinyl, Cretin Hop exploded in my head like a bomb. Follow that with other great tracks like Rockaway Beach, Sheena Is a Punk Rocker, We're a Happy Family, Teenage Lobotomy, Ramona, Surfin' Bird, and well, an addict is formed.

Attempts to proselytize in forestry school went nowhere. I was up against the Eagles, Lynda Ronstadt and Jackson Browne.

While I drifted away from the Ramones in the early 80s (my tastes moved more towards hardcore bands like Black Flag and the emerging British postpunk scene of Joy Division and its successor New Order), I still like breaking out the older Ramones stuff.

And I'll be forever grateful to the Ramones and other such bands of that period for creating an exciting alternative to that boring, listless, nauseating "mellow" shit that passed for music in the 1970s.

RIP, Johnny.

And if I may paraphrase Dean Wormer from Animal House fame: "Fast, loud and stupid is a pretty good way to go through life, son." :)