SAY IT AIN’T SO: They must be...

SAY IT AIN’T SO: They must be wearing black spandex arm bands at CBGB’s--April was a cruel month for the punk legacy. New York Dolls guitar hero Johnny Thunders, long plagued by drug problems, died in New Orleans last week. And now the Ramones, long past their glory days as a ground-breaking punk band, have sold their gabba-gabba hey anthem, “Blitzkrieg Bop,” to Anheuser-Busch for a Bud Light TV commercial that just hit the airwaves. Apparently the beer firm’s ad agency just got hip to the Ramones (about a decade late). Asked why his agency chose the Ramones, DDB Needham exec Fred Smith lauded the band as “representative of today’s generation.” . . . Kudos to Spin magazine for refusing to bow ‘n’ scrape for a superstar interview. Under the headline “No Appetite for Criticism,” the irreverent rock mag’s new June issue blasts Guns N’ Roses for requiring journalists to sign contracts guaranteeing the band’s approval over every aspect of interviews done with the group. Better yet, the magazine reprints the entire contract, advising GNR fans to sign the contract and send it to the band’s management firm. . . . However, all is not well in the GNR camp. Geffen Records confirmed Wednesday that the band has left longtime manager Alan Niven. In fact, Niven and partner Doug Goldstein have split up, with Goldstein taking the band and Niven hanging onto hard rockers Great White. In a statement, the managers said: “All parties wish each other well in the future.”