Photo © February 1977 by Lloyd M. Williams
"CBGB's and The Ramones"
Interior. A nice apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. February 1977. Afternoon.
Adrian is hanging out with his friend David Ireland
better known as "Q".
Q is into a new thing called "Punk Rock".
ADRIAN
Q as in cue stick, like you use to shoot pool.
Q
It's just Q. (Pause) Adrian, I want you to go to this club
with me tonight and see this band.
ADRIAN
Why? What club? What band? What's a club?
Do you have a membership?
Q
Not that kind of club, silly. It's a place where they
sell beer and booze and they have a pool table and a jukebox.
ADRIAN
Oh, you mean a bar.
Q
Yeah, and they have live bands play there at night.
You're going to love this band. You look just like them.
They look just like you.
ADRIAN
What do you mean?
Q
They have long hair and leather jackets, just like you, Adrian.
First we're going over to Moreen's. You'll like her too.
She's the bartender!
ADRIAN
Moreen?
Q
She's cooking. So we can get something to eat,
and hear the band's new
album. It just came out and
she's got it already. We're going to the
release party
tonight at this bar.
ADRIAN
What's the name of this band?
And what bar are we going to?
Fade out.
END OF SCENE
"What Is Punk Rock?"
Interior. Danny and Adrian's loft on Chambers Street.
A beautiful spring afternoon. Bright sunshine illuminates the room.
Danny is being interviewed by a female reporter for Time Magazine. She is
writing an article on the new phenomenon "Punk Rock".
She is young, about 30, wearing a short red skirt, red shoes, and bright
red lipstick. Her hair and her makeup are perfect. She is one happening
New York babe and she knows it. She sits with her legs crossed and a
pen and note pad.
It is the Spring of 1977. Punk Rock Violence is the headlines in all the
newspapers and magazines.
The camera pans to show a newspaper with the headline reading:
PUNK ROCK BANNED IN U.K.!
REPORTER
Tell us about your job as Editor of Sixteen Magazine.
DANNY
Sixteen is a fan magazine. It can make a boy's career.
Sixteen Magazine makes boys famous.
REPORTER
So you help make boys famous. Tell us about the Ramones.
Why do you like them? Why did you decide to manage them?
DANNY
The Ramones are great. When I first saw them I knew I had
found my band. They have a special sound, and a very special
energy. They are adorable and the kids love them.
Adrian, in his leather jacket, enters quickly with a happy bounce in his
step and a big smile on his face. He is breathing hard because he has been
running. The reporter is busy writing.
ADRIAN
Hi!
DANNY
(to Adrian)
Hi, this is a reporter from Time Magazine.
Danny smiles at Adrian.
DANNY
(to Reporter)
This is Adrian.
ADRIAN
(to Reporter)
Hi!
The reporter really checks out Adrian with her eyes but does not say
anything. She doesn't speak to low-lifes.
DANNY
(to Adrian)
Are you having a good time in New York City?
ADRIAN
I'll say.
Adrian stands there panting, smiling. The reporter thinks to herself.
REPORTER
(To herself, Voice Over)
What a puppy.
REPORTER
(to Danny)
What about the Ramones tough image, their leather jackets?
DANNY
The Ramones just like leather jackets and ripped jeans,
it's their look.
REPORTER
Do the Ramones like to beat up people?
DANNY
(insulted)
No! That is ridiculous. If they liked to beat up people
they would have become cops, not Punk Rock Stars.
Cut to CU of Adrian.
This is the first time Adrian has ever heard anything negative about police from
anyone he has respected. Adrian shoots Danny a weird look.
Cut to CU of Reporter.
REPORTER
Well, Mr. Fields, what is Punk Rock?
DANNY
What is Punk Rock?...
Danny stops and stares at the reporter.
DANNY
That's the real reason you came here to see me today...
to ask me that... isn't it?
REPORTER
(without missing a beat)
Yes.
Danny stares off into space thinking and rubs his chin.
DANNY
Punk Rock is... Punk Rock is...
INSERT- DISSOLVE OVER
God, an old man with long white hair and a long white beard
sitting in clouds, waves his arm.
Danny is startled as the answer to how to handle this question
is suddenly revealed to him by God.
DANNY
Why don't you ask Adrian!? He's the Punk Rocker!
The reporter snarls at Adrian and does not say anything.
ADRIAN
Punk Rock is about freedom and non-conformity.
It is about having fun and being yourself.
She ignores him. She does not write anything down.
DANNY
It's about freedom and non-conformity, I guess.
It is definitely about fun.
She writes it down. Adrian turns and leaves without saying anything.
The scene ends as she asks Danny another question
in a condescending tone of voice.
REPORTER
What about the all the violence in Punk Rock?
DANNY
Well, when the Ramones went to Texas, we just couldn't believe it.
The kids were hitting each other and spitting on each other.
Our eyes were bugging out. That is just not the way the kids
behave in New York City...
Fade out.
END OF SCENE
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