Joey Ramone - Vocals, Sniper, Ramones
Excerpt from:
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
by Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain [p. 178-79]
I'd just sit with Dee Dee [Ramone] on the corner off of Queens Boulevard and drink and insult people and stuff. That's when I got kicked out of the house. My mother told me it was for my own good. So I moved into my mom's art gallery. I had to barricade myself in real fast so the cops wouldn't catch me. The cops would come by, I'd see a flashlight and hear a police radio going, and they'd be banging on the door like they thought I was a burglar. It was a kind of a tense situation. I was always worried they'd get me. So I'd barricade myself in real fast with the paintings and sleep on the floor. I had a sleeping bag, a pillow, and a blanket and then I'd work there during the day. At night, I used to hang out at the Coventry, the big rock and roll club in Queens. One night I met Dee Dee there and brought him back to the art gallery to sleep on the floor.
Mickey Leigh - Brother of Joey Ramone
Excerpts from:
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
by Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain [p. 180-181]It was about that time that Joey started getting into glitter and joined his first band. Joey joined the band Sniper and started hitching rides down Queens Boulevard to hang out at this club called the Coventry. I think Joey became the lead singer of Sniper by answering an ad in the Village Voice: "Let's dress up and be stars tomorrow."
I thought it was great that Joey was in a band, but it was really dangerous to hitchhike down Queens Boulevard looking the way Joey did. Joey's so unusual to begin with, so tall - he's about six six naturally, but in platform shoes he stood over seven feet tall. And he wore a jumpsuit. At that time, you really couldn't be doing that safely. You were taking a chance hitchhiking down Queens Boulevard like that.
He eventually got beat up. His got his nose bashed in. We had to go pick him up and bring him to Elmhurst hospital. I felt bad. Then Sniper became regulars at Coventry - playing a couple of times a month - so I wanted to go check them out, see what was going on. When I got there it was a real glitter crowd - everyone was into that band the Harlots of 42nd Street. So I thought it was going to be lame. I was shocked when the band came out. Joey was the lead singer and I couldn't believe how good he was. Because he'd been sitting in my house with my accoustic guitar writing these songs like "I Don't Care," fucking up my guitar, and suddenly he's this guy on stage who you can't tkae your eyes off of. I was blown away. I was shocked. I didn't think the band Sniper was too good, but I was real impressed with my brother. He moved like he would in the early Ramones days. I told him, "I can't believe it. I can't believe how you're coming off, how you're performing.
Joey Ramone - Vocals, Sniper, Ramones
Excerpt from:
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
by Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain [p. 181]
It was the glitter days and the New York Dolls and Kiss would come play at the Coventry, all those bands would come in from Manhattan.
"Handsome" Dick Manitoba - Vocals, Dictators
Excerpt from:
"What's Cookin'?"
Dictators.com
Back in 1974, the Dictators were playing regularly at a joint on Queens Blvd. called the Coventry. We saw Kiss play there and we opened for bands like the NY Dolls & the Harlots of 42nd St. I always noticed this guy at the bar at the Coventry. He was ALWAYS hanging out. You couldn't help but notice him. He was very tall, very skinny, & very unique looking. "Who is that guy?" I wanted to know. "That guy?--that's Jeff Starship--he's got a band called Sniper!" Well, Jeff soon became Joey [Ramone].