Ken The All Night Rocker
Born Kenneth Ramsey (1967-2006), was a paraplegic punk rocker who sang backup in many bands and fronted one of his own under the name Ken The All Night Rocker. Born with Arthrogyposis, Ken spent most of his life in a wheel chair but that didn't stop Ken's positive outlook on life or hinder the things he wanted. From early on Kenny was seeded deep into Long Beach's Punk Rock scene, being friends with those of: The Falling Idols, The Vandals, Secret Hate, Juice Bros., and Sublime. Although Kenny knew enough to be a Professor a Harvard, teaching Punk Rock 101, he was quoted as saying that Punk Rock was only one of his interests. Kenny was knowledgeable in many different fields, all which paid off in May of 1991 when Kenny became the first handicapped contestant to be featured on the game show 'Wheel of Fortune.' Aside from all those things Kenny was most remembered for his sense of humor, a sample of this was featured on his Myspace profile under the About Me section,
- I watch Davey And Goliath religiously. Hah! Religiously! Get It?!? No?!? How about if I stick this gun in your mouth? Get it now? Yeah...I thought so.
On the night of November 21st, 2001 Kenny had the honor of sharing the stage with The Falling Idols. A show that was in benefit for the victims of Sept. 11th put on by Long Beach Records. That night marked the final time Falling Idols would be on stage again as a band. That was true until 2006, when they reunited one last time to pay respects to their buddy, Ken who passed away January 12th of natural causes due to life-long lung cancer.
Kenny's words | found on the insert of the Long Beach Blvd comp. You can go on and on about London, New York and even Los Angeles and their contribution to the beast known as punk rock, but I can truthfully say that my musical education cam from the streets of the place that people call "Iowa By The Sea": Long Beach. It came from the earliest Masque-era rumblings of Lorelei and The Torpedoes and Rhino 39 right through the Eighties with The Stingers, The Crewd, and fabulous Falling Idols to modern day mayhem of The Humpers and All Day. It came from places like The Circle Ballroom, The Lion's Club and Fender's. It came from those who still have the stamina to crank out music today and the ones who didn't make it. I'm still getting my education today. I get it from bands like this. The size of this disc can in no way contain the excitement and history of the music within it. The history is still being written. You're holding it in your hands. Long Beach will always be known to the world as the city that gave us Sublime, but for few, its something a whole hell of a lot more. Long Beach will always be relevant. I consider myself the luckiest guy on earth to have been born here.
Hangin' on at the end of the century,
Ken all night rocket, 1999
