by Blake Otey

Tamas Erdelyi, better known as “Tommy Ramone”, 57, is a Hungarian-American record producer and musician. He is most famous for being the drummer for the American Punk Rock band the “Ramones”. He is also the group’s last surviving original member.

His distinctive, stripped-down drumming style was very influential for many Punk bands, along with many Rock bands. Erdelyi left the Ramones in 1978, to continue working in the studio producing records.

“In the studio I was in control. While I was on the road I was not treated very nicely by the other members of the band, and I basically felt like I was an extra. I had two choices: stay on the road and become a vegetable, or work in the studio where I could be productive,” said Erdelyi in the documentary “End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones.”

Although Erdelyi has continued working as a record producer, he did reunite with the surviving Ramones members in 2004 to perform for the “Ramones beat down on Cancer” Fundraiser/Charity event.

Recently, Erdelyi started a new band called Uncle Monk. The band’s musical style is drastically different from the sonic Punk Rock assault of the Ramones. The group has two members. Erdelyi is the lead singer and plays the mandolin. Band mate Claudia Tienan plays the acoustic guitar.

“The Ramones and I were always into old-time music. Dee Dee always liked what we now call Americana, and Joey, too, to a lesser degree. And Johnny was a huge fan of the early, more folk-oriented Bob Dylan. We had many different influences in our music,” said Erdelyi in an interview with The Boston Phoenix.

Erdelyi stated that there are similarities between Punk and Bluegrass music. “Both Punk and Americana are stripped down to the bare essentials, instrumentally-wise and music-wise. Both genres avoid guitar solos and blue notes,” declared Erdelyi.

Despite his Punk Rock background, Erdelyi seems to be quite happy producing records and performing what he calls “Americana” music.