Stephen King

[Richard W]

Was rereading King's book Danse Macabre from 1981, and in it he quotes Ronstadt re The Ramones: "That music's so tight it's hemorrhoidal."

Now, I've heard her statement misquoted or taken out of context as a denigration of The Ramones, when, in fact, it is actually complementary, as King recognizes, furthering her quote by talking about a tightly written character in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

The songs of The Ramones are tight and fast and clock in on average at 2:30 minutes.

When her quote was referenced (wish I could remember where), it made it sound as if she didn't like the music, as in "Ronstadt called The Ramones 'hemorrhoidal," when the exact opposite is true. I do recall being surprised by the misquote because I thought The Ramones were her inspiration for the musical direction of Mad Love.

King also references Linda in his novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. As the decades pass, the prisoners use various posters of women to disguise the tunnel they are painstakingly digging. At one point a Linda Ronstadt poster covers their handiwork.

King must have some appreciation of her, seems to me.

[the Scribe]

What exactly was the true quote and where was it from?

[erik]

I think it was something she said in Rolling Stone in 1977, probably less about the Ramones as a band themselves, than about punk rock music. I believe she said "Punk music is so constipated, it's hemrrhoidal." She reportedly went to one of the Ramones' concerts in L.A.--and almost got her hearing destroyed.

[jeffmeister]

I'm sure it'd be no great surprise as to what his friend Dave Marsh thinks about his fondness of Linda.

[erik]

I don't think it's that much of an issue between them (much like Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda didn't discuss politics between one another). And anyway, I'm past the point of what Mr. Springsteen Enabler thinks.

[Richard W]

Aug 30, 2012 19:29:07 GMT -5 erik said:

I think it was something she said in Rolling Stone in 1977, probably less about the Ramones as a band themselves, than about punk rock music. I believe she said "Punk music is so constipated, it's hemrrhoidal." She reportedly went to one of the Ramones' concerts in L.A.--and almost got her hearing destroyed.

That's the way I've always heard it, Erik.

But when I ran across the quote in King's book -- and it was in direct quotes -- it had a completely different, in fact completely opposite, meaning.

Editing out the adjective "tight" from the quote, especially as musicians use the word, and leaving in only "hemorrhoidal," changes the meaning 180 degrees.

She's not describing punk and/or The Ramones' music as simply "hemorrhoidal" -- a dismissive insult, but, rather, so "tight," in the musician's complementary usage, that it's "hemorrhoidal," which is high praise, especially if you are familiar with The Ramones' music.

Ronstadt described the music of The Ramones as "hemorrhoidal."
Ronstadt described the music of The Ramones as "so tight it's hemorrhoidal"

Two completely different meanings, and King assumes the quote as complement.

[erik]

S.K. could very well be right...in a strangely perverse way (IMHO).

In any case, the only "preparation" for something as hemorrhoidal as punk music is Preparation H (LOL).

[MokyWI]

richwar are you talking about Fox News?

[Richard W]

Aug 30, 2012 19:29:07 GMT -5 erik said:

I think it was something she said in Rolling Stone in 1977, probably less about the Ramones as a band themselves, than about punk rock music. I believe she said "Punk music is so constipated, it's hemrrhoidal." She reportedly went to one of the Ramones' concerts in L.A.--and almost got her hearing destroyed.

There's a world of difference between "constipated" and "tight"!

You gotta wonder who got the quote right, King or Stone

No, Mike, not Fox News. The quote has been around for awhile, I just don't know what the original quote was (see above).

[Tracy]

goldminemag.com

I couldn’t understand the words. I like power but it has to have some intelligence. This was so constricted I would call it hemorrhoid music.“

[eddiejinnj]

I guess when a statement has the word "hemorrhoidal" in it, the surrounding words/statements would probably be helpful context-wise. :-) eddiejinnj