Pitchfork

1-2-3-4! Richard Reinhardt-- better known as Richie Ramone, stickman for the iconic punkers from 1983-1987-- has, according to Billboard.com, sued Wal-Mart, Apple, RealNetworks, the long-retired band's management, and the estate of Johnny Ramone, claiming he's owed royalties to the tune of $900,000 on half a dozen songs he wrote for the group during his brief tenure as a Ramone.

Those tunes-- "Smash You", "Somebody Put Something in My Drink", "Human Kind", "I'm Not Jesus", "I Know Better Now" and "(You) Can't Say Something Nice"-- ain't exactly Ramones classics, but that's not really the point. Reinhardt claims that the band, their subsidiaries, and these digital music providers have been getting rich off his fertile dome, as there were no stipulations pertaining to digital sales of the tunes in writing. Yeah, dude, 20 years ago the idea of buying a song online was roughly as crazy a notion as the lady who danced with the cat in that video going on to co-host the most popular television program ever. My, this post-modernism is something, innit?

However this plays out, we'll keep an eye on it and let you know if it gets interesting. You, meanwhile, should keep an eye out for It's Alive 1974-1996, the forthcoming Ramones live DVD anthology.