Producer won't release Ramones tapes

NEW YORK, July 14 (UPI) -- The family of the late Joey Ramone, frontman for the Ramones, has accused a U.S. record producer of holding hostage tapes made by the late singer.

Daniel Rey allegedly is holding on to tapes recorded by Ramone before he died three years ago because he wants some type of settlement, Ramone's brother, Mickey Leigh, said, NME.com reported Wednesday.

"We've been trying to get Daniel to hand them back since Joey died. They don't belong to him," Leigh said.

Rey, who played all the instruments and did all the recording on the tapes, reportedly is only looking out for Ramone.

"It has nothing to do with money. I'm just concerned with protecting Joey's musical legacy," Rey said.

The demos allegedly include "Party Line," a song intended to be a duet with Debbie Harry and produced by Phil Spector.

"Don't Worry About Me," by the Ramones, was released in 2002, a year after Ramone died of lymphatic cancer at age 49.