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View Winners → Arcadia Honors Musician & AHS Alum Joe Ramsey
Arcadia Weekly Feb 10, 2015
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The Arcadia community is coming together to honor well-known musician and beloved AHS alum Joe Ramsey, who died recently at the age of 58, following a years-long battle with health problems.
On Saturday, Feb. 21, from 7 pm to midnight, the Arcadia High School Alumni Association is presenting a benefit memorial concert at Santa Anita Park in Mr. Ramsey’s honor. Santa Anita is also dedicating the day’s last thoroughbred horse race in his memory, and the City of Arcadia has proclaimed Feb. 21 Joe Ramsey Day. Mayor Pro-Tem Gary Kovacic will present the proclamation in the Winner’s Circle immediately following The Joe Ramsey Memorial Race.
As a founding member of the rock groups The Prime Movers and Dread Zeppelin, both of which featured fellow Arcadia musicians, Mr. Ramsey rose to prominence as a bass player, guitarist and vocalist during the heyday of Southern California’s rock scene in the late 70s and 80s. His musical roots were firmly planted in Arcadia, forming bands while at Dana Jr. High with his young buddies and continuing through high school with local rock acts such as HiFi, Chance, Foul Play, The Item and The Cyclones. He was graduated from AHS in 1974 and attended Pasadena City College. In the late 70s, Mr. Ramsey partnered with several friends to open The Marquee West, a popular rock and roll club in Arcadia.
More recently, he was co-owner of Resistor Records store in Monrovia, where he lived with his wife Allison and daughters, ages 6 and 4.
Mr. Ramsey died Dec. 29 at Arcadia Methodist Hospital following a nearly decade-long struggle with cancer, heart problems and a recent stroke.
The Joe Ramsey Benefit Concert will feature a selection of friends, former band mates, local artists and loved ones taking the stage in his honor. Confirmed performers include Stan Ridgway and Pietra Wexstun; Keith Slettedahl and Adam Merrin from The 88; John Curry, Scott Lasken, Dennis Walsh and Nick Hanick from Four Eyed Four; The Third Man, featuring Gary Putman and Curt Lichter of The Prime Movers; and, special guest, Allison Ramsey.
Suggested donations are $30 or more, and will go to cover the cost of staging the event. Any proceeds will be donated to the AHS Alumni Association’s Joe Ramsey Memorial Scholarship and to the Ramsey family to help defray medical expenses and sudden loss of income.
Tickets are available at http://www.arcadiaapaches.com/aboutus/ahsreunions_info63.htm
Questions about the event can be directed to alumni@arcadiaapaches.net
