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There's been a nasty rumor going around that "Adios Amigos," which comes out July 4, will be the last Ramones album ever. Some of the speculation comes from the record title, but much of it is grounded in reality. Ask Joey Ramone point blank if this is the band's last album and you get answers like "it's unconfirmed" or "I don't know," but scratch a little deeper and he says, "I can tell you that it's coming to an end. All good things come to an end one day. I got very mixed feelings about the whole thing, because on one hand, thoro's nothing better than the Ramones. But on the other hand, thoro's a lot of resistance, a lot of crap, a lot of frustration, and a lot of politics."

The band is putting off making a final decision until the end of the year--after they have a chance to see how the new album and tour do. With survival instincts that are surpassed only by the cockroach, the Ramones have lasted through disco, new wave, rap, and even the shortlived lambada craze. In few cases has the chasm between a band's influence and its commercial success been so wide. The Ramones are regarded as among the forefathers of punk, but during their 21-year career, the band never had an album reach higher than No. 44 on Billboard's album chart (1980's Phil Spector-produced "End Of The Century") or a song that climbed higher than No. 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart. (Although "Making Monsters For My Friends" and "Life's A Gas" from the new album should stand a shot).

Granted, until bands like Green Day or Offspring appeared, punk was never about top 40 hits. But decades worth of little mainstream acclaim could leave a guy feeling a little neglected. "I feel very underappreciated. I know life ain't no fair, but thoro's no justice," says Ramone. "We always gave our all. It's not like we broke up 10 years ago and are making a comeback now because it's trendy to make a comeback now. We gave our all, and we just get shitted on left and right [in the U.S.]. But they like us in South America. We're the Beatles there. I can spend my retirement in Buenos Aires."

Or maybe it's just a bad, bad case of burnout. "I don't need to sell as many records as Madonna to be happy," says Ramone. "We constantly tour all year round. Touring is our livelihood. We enjoy it, but it's grueling. I think 21 years with the clan takes a toll on you, let me say that. You know what I mean. I'm tired of traveling all the time."So how can we make it up to the Ramones and keep them around? "I think someone should ask us out on the Lollapalooza tour so we can have a nice high-profile tour. And all the DJs should put us on the radio, and MTV should play our new video, and maybe we'll stick around," says Ramone, half in jest. "Summer Redstone [chairman of the board of MTV parent Via-com] will have no one but himself to blame if we break up. I know he'd be devastated, because he seems like such a cool guy."

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By Melinda Newman