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There was a mature collection of Ramones fans in Derry on Friday night to see the last surviving original member of the Fab Four (NYC) in the flesh. Tommy Ramone now plays mandolin as one half of , a bluegrass duo with Claudia Tienan. He also fields questions, signs autographs and poses for photographs with the patience of St Ramone of Forest Hills after a great set of bluegrass songs, mostly from his own pen. Also from his own pen was "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" from the first Ramones LP. It fitted perfectly with the rest of the set which reinforced his theory that bluegrass and punk weren't as far apart in terms of songs as you might think. Earlier I interviewed Tommy for a future After Midnight, mainly about the first three Ramones LPs - the ones he played drums on. His favourite is the band's third, "Rocket To Russia". He told me the Brothers had high hopes for its commercial success but in the autumn of 1977 America still wasn't ready to buy Ramones records in any great number. The non-appearance in the upper reaches of the Billboard charts greatly discouraged some members of the band, Johnny in particular. On the other hand Joey, the singer, operated on the principle that the next one will be the hit. That optimism, added to the thrill of meeting a genuine punk rock hero, still gives me a warm inner glow. Ìý