The Next Big Thing

News just in from Mr Percival, always the first on the block...

RHINO GETS WEIRD WITH THE RAMONES

Comic Book-Styled Ramones Boxed Set Arrives August 16

LOS ANGELES--Hey kids! Tired of that bully kicking sand in your face?
Quit being a 98-lb. weakling! The Ramones will show you how! Now one of the hardest working bands ever gets a boxed set befitting its legendary status as Rhino releases WEIRD TALES OF THE RAMONES, a three-CD/one-DVD package featuring an amazing comic book, on August 16. Created at Johnny Ramone's request, the box is available at regular physical and digital retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested list price of $64.98.

Drawn from 16 action-packed albums, the 85 tracks on WEIRD TALES OF THE RAMONES' three CDs tell the whole musical story--from 1976's "Blitzkrieg Bop" to 1996's "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." The DVD gives fans the complete Ramones music video collection--Lifestyles Of The Ramones, making its digital debut, consists of all of the Ramones Sire Records videos laced together with interview footage and other interstitial material. Also included on the DVD are all six of the videos the band made while on the Radioactive record label.

How much would you pay now? But wait! There's more! While all of those Ramones songs and videos should be enough to make anybody happy, the super cool thing about WEIRD TALES OF THE RAMONES is the book that comes in the box. A groundbreaking band deserves something special, and this book is unlike any ever created for a music box set.

Rather than beat on a dead brat with some stuffy liner notes recounting the band's history and importance, Rhino has commissioned 25 top graphic novel/comic artists (who also happened to be Ramones fans) to create new works for the book, including Rick Altergott (Doofus), Sergio Aragones (Mad Magazine), Mary Fleener, Bill Griffiths (Zippy The Pinhead), Xaime Hernandez (Love And Rockets), John Holmstrom (Punk magazine, Ramones album covers), Carol Lay (WayLay, Story Minute), John Pound (Garbage Pail Kids, Wacky Packages, Mad Magazine), Scott Shaw, William Stout, and Jim Woodring.

Included are comic book style ads for Ramones wigs, Ramones rubber masks, and "Sea Markys," as well as a 3-D comic complete with the necessary glasses. Words really can't do this book justice--one look and you'll want to be sedated.

Establishing themselves from the get-go with an unmistakable sound and a look that became iconic, the Ramones proved they had strength to endure. There are only a few groups who can truly claim to have changed the course of music history, and the Ramones are one of them. With WEIRD TALES OF THE RAMONES the original punks are immortalized in a manner befitting juvenile delinquents turned rock royalty.