I couldn't do rap. I was trying. I don't know how. I'm not good enough to know.

When I got into rap I didn't exactly win any popularity contests. I called myself Dee Dee King, after B.B. King, to the total dismay of my fellow Ramones.

It's very expensive to bring a band to New York.

I like California a lot more than New York these days.

I get really affected by songs as a music listener - they mean so much and they feel so significant.

I loved rap, especially in the early days. But I wasn't trying to shove it down anybody's throats.

Ricky Nelson... I couldn't believe it when he died. He was a great rock star.