Leaving Nantucket island on a beautiful day, leaving the soft sound of whispering summer sand and the heavy thump of sacks of gold coins falling out of the back of Maserati SUV’s loosening the cobblestones and shaking the grey (gray) cedar tiles from the facades of multi-roomed mansions.

Twelve hours later arriving at the Port Authority in New York City near midnight, a dark throng of Taxi spruikers and cramped pavement (sidewalk) at 41st street and 8th Ave with the traffic going the wrong way (uptown) I wheel my luggage down 42nd street to catch a taxi going downtown on 9th Avenue. It’s hot, New York smells like dirt and people, a man comes towards me with dreadlocks that almost touch the ground and all around me every kind of person, every sex, every religion, every age group find reason to be here.

I took a Taxi downtown, when he dropped me off he drove away with the boot (trunk) open and standing there in that buzzing New York street, finally reaching my destination, I had an urge to listen to The Ramones.

Many years ago after playing at Tramps here in the city, I met Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Hyman), he was tall and quiet and apparently a music lover. In recent years playing with The Saints at the annual Joey Ramone’s birthday party at Irving Plaza, I exchanged nods with Marky Ramone (Marc Bell). When I look at the cover art for Sheena, I realize that all four members have since passed away. Joey in 2001, Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin) in 2002, Johnny (John Cummings) in 2004 and Tommy (Tamas Erdelyi) in 2014. The clip below is with Marky.

I’m back in this pulsating city and in the studio early tomorrow with Ed Rogers and Don Piper at Tony Shanahan’s studio (Patti Smith’s bassist) in New Jersey. So time to slip away with this lullaby of New York softly serenading me to sleep like the jangling, rich waves of the Nantucket shore line.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramones

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheena_Is_a_Punk_Rocker