Attitude Adjustment

One of the original members of the Ramones, bass player Dee Dee Ramone, will bring some classic rock plus a reserve of 35 Ramones’ songs (but three fewer Ramones) when he plays Nicholby’s in Ventura tonight.

Credited--or blamed--as the inspiration for punk rock, the Ramones burst onto the scene from Forest Hills, N.Y., in the summer of 1974 and recorded their first album two years later. They weren’t related, but they all changed their last name to Ramone for simplicity’s sake. The quartet wore black leather jackets, torn white T-shirts, long hair and bad attitudes--the embodiment of youthful rebellion.

Although they were like many other garage bands, at least in early years, the Ramones demonstrated surprising longevity, not to mention energy and really fast songs while recording a zillion albums. Their irreverent wit was evident on such tunes as those enduring teen anthems “Rock ‘N’ Roll High School,” “I Wanna Be Sedated,” and that hymn to child psychology, “Beat On the Brat.” They also speeded up lots of cover songs by bands such as the Doors, the Seeds, the Amboy Dukes, Jan & Dean and even Bob Himself.

One thing about Ramones songs--if you don’t like one, just wait, since most are less than three minutes long. Some claim that the Ramones have been making the same album for all these years with just different titles; others, including one national magazine, named them one of the seven most important bands of all time.

Right in the middle of all this was founding member Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Colvin in Fort Lee, Va., in 1952. Not only did he write a number of the band’s hits, he survived their tortuous touring schedule, although he eventually fell prey to the pernicious and deadly “creative differences.” After leaving the Ramones not on the best of terms a decade ago, he wrote a tell-all book titled “Poison Heart: Surviving the Ramones.”

Since his days in the Ramones, Dee Dee has been a rapper under the name Dee Dee King--plus he has released a number of solo albums, mostly on obscure European labels. He played in a band called the Remains (with another Ramones alumnus) for a time, but these days he’s living in the Valley with his New York accent none the worse for wear. Ramone answered some questions during an abbreviated grilling.

What’s the name of your current band?

I guess I’m going to call it the Dee Dee Ramone Group until I can think of a better name. For a while, I was playing with Marky Ramone in the Remains. It’s getting pretty confusing--now my wife is in the band, Barbara Ramone.

How many Ramones songs do you play?

I know a lot of Ramones songs, at least 20 of them. I also want to keep learning oldies like “Shakin’ All Over,” “Born Under A Bad Sign” and “Cathy’s Clown.” I just love music. I just want to keep learning oldies and more Ramones songs.

So you’ve been out of the band since ‘89?

Well, what I wanted to do was write them an album. The ideal situation for me would to not be in the band but still write the songs. I like being famous and I miss all the excitement, but I’m wary of all the other stuff. I hate what you have to sacrifice to just go play--like no home life.

So the road wasn’t your favorite place?

Well, I don’t recommend it whether you party or not. It takes a lot out of you. The food situation is bad--everything is artificial, like airplane food. You end up with a bunch of freaks in your hotel room who all want to party until 5 a.m., even if you want to just get some sleep. That’s how it goes. You just end up making a fool of yourself--I know, I’ve done it. It’s a totally dysfunctional atmosphere [with] a magnified potential to screw up. It’s more worthwhile to stay alive.

What was the most misunderstood thing about the Ramones?

I think there’s some truth to everything people say about the band. One thing, though--the band wasn’t lazy. We never had it easy. We were always willing to work hard. I had to ditch a lot of my friends who wouldn’t change when I joined the band. I still wish I could play with [the Ramones] one more time, but that’s not going to happen. It’s their fault--not my fault.

Why did you become a bass player?

I like the bass a lot. I like guitars too, but I just like the way the bass looks, and I guess I just have an affinity for it.

OK, Dee Dee, the first US Festival--a hundred bands, a thousand degrees and a million people. The Ramones still came out wearing black leather. So why didn’t you guys die from the heat?

I think that was the biggest crowd we ever played for, but mostly I remember the dust. The last Woodstock concert sure sounded like hell. The people that promoted that thing had no experience. Charging four bucks for a bottle of water--what a gyp. Hey, I gotta go, man.

DETAILS

Dee Dee Ramone Group and SexyXhrist at Nicholby’s, 404 E. Main St., Ventura, tonight, 9:30 p.m.; $6; 653-2320.

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Mike Ness, the well-known front man for Social Distortion, will be doing his thing with a new band tonight at the Ventura Theatre, hoping to sell a few copies of his second solo album, “Under the Influences.” Every little skinhead, skatehead and finhead in the area--the majority of whom will have fewer tattoos than Ness--should be inside sweating to the oldies in the mosh pit.

Despite the title, the aforementioned album has nothing to do with any activity that would interest the cops outside the venue, but rather alludes to Ness’ musical influences. Not so in-your-face as the music of Social-D, Ness will play vintage country and rockabilly music, turning back the clock to a point before many of his fans were even born.

“If you don’t have roots you don’t have [anything],” he said recently. “My roots are early blues and country and the fusion of the two, which [produced] rockabilly. There is a great wealth of great music that came out of that time. So much of the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s is virtually undiscovered or was just overlooked by Top 40 in its day.”

To that end, expect newly energized versions of Bobby Fuller’s “I Fought the Law” and Carl Perkins’ “Let the Jukebox Keep On Playing,” plus music by country greats such as George Jones, Wanda Jackson, Hank Williams Sr. and more.

DETAILS

Mike Ness and the Road Kings at the Ventura Theatre, 26 Chestnut St., 7 tonight; $17.50; 653-0721.

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Small Potatoes would perhaps garner small notice in Idaho, but these musical specimens should bring some much-needed excitement to the Ojai Valley Woman’s Club on Tuesday night. Expect every potato joke in the world, plus a vast repertoire of music from Celtic to Cowboy, according to the potato heads themselves.

Small Potatoes is made up of mandolin and guitar player Rich Prezioso and multi-instrumentalist Jacquie Manning. These self-described “electro-maniacs” play everything from old Irish ballads to blues, country and swing. There’s even a very real possibility of hearing the dreaded yodeling, but yodeling in harmony. The group has been spreading its spud-inspired gospel for six years now, long enough to release a pair of albums, “Raw” and “Time Flies.”

Manning began performing in 1976 as part of the Chicago folk scene and became proficient at playing rock, country and Celtic music. Prezioso, out of New Jersey, studied classical guitar and composition and later was a jingle writer, penning music for that most popular of naval officers, Captain Crunch himself.

DETAILS

Small Potatoes at the Ojai Valley Woman’s Club, 441 E. Ojai Ave., Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.; $12; 646-5163.