In a world where it feels like history is being erased before our very eyes, there are still those who believe in preserving legacies… like Marky Ramone. Marky, a fixture in the pioneering New York Punk Rock movement of the late ’70s into the ’80s, performed with Richard Hell and the Voidoids, among others, but perhaps his biggest impact was felt as a member of the Ramones. Joining the band for their 1978 Road to Ruin album, Marky’s tenure with the Ramones lasted fifteen years; as he laid down drums for some of their most beloved works.
Fast forward years later, Marky is still keeping the story of the Ramones going as he and his band (Marky Ramones’ Blitzkrieg) perform shows all over the globe. Playing all the classic tunes that time should never forget, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer recently sat down to chat about the last decade of his career, last year’s 45th anniversary of Road to Ruin, his 2024 touring schedule, plans for new music, and more.
Cryptic Rock – You have kept quite busy over the last decade with many different projects. Looking back, how would you describe the last decade?
Marky Ramone – It’s business as usual, I guess. It has been like being in the same stuff with the Ramones. I got to places where the Ramones never went to like China, Vietnam, Dubai, Indonesia, India, and, of course, Russia. We never dreamed in a million years that we would have gone there. The world is getting smaller and a lot of people are getting into Rock more. That was a change and something that was pretty cool for the last ten years.
My book Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone came out in 2016, and then I’ve just been playing a lot of shows; anywhere from outdoor festivals, to venues, to a lot of different capacity-sized places. I really appreciate that, because you learn from each experience playing in different size venues. Of course, the fans now are a lot younger, which is amazing. It’s a whole new generation. My fans are from eighteen to twenty-seven years old. Of course, you have the older fans that are devoted that have come for years already.
Cryptic Rock – Wow. It sounds like it has been a great past decade. And like you said, doing things that you never dreamed of doing before. Beyond the touring and the book, you also have your shows on XM that you do. How are those going?
Marky Ramone – One show’s been eighteen years already, and the other one was a spin-off from Faction of all the shows I did. Now it’s a 24/7 station on SiriusXM’s internet. Anytime anybody misses Punk Rock, they could just go on there and it’s on for 24 hours; which I never dreamt of either!
Cryptic Rock – That is great. You also are very big on giving back with charities, etc. You even had your own pasta sauce for a little bit. Any chance of doing that again?
Marky Ramone – No. I think it was a three, four-year run. After that, I really didn’t want to pursue it anymore because it just took up too much time. It was fun. (Laughs) After a while, it just got to be burdensome. I just continued to do what I do best, and that’s music.
Cryptic Rock – That is understandable. Well, it was cool while it lasted.
Marky Ramone – Yeah. It tastes good too!
Cryptic Rock – You now have some live shows coming up in February with your band along the west coast. For those who perhaps have not come out to see one of your shows, what can they expect?
Marky Ramone – They can expect thirty-eight songs live, obviously. Mainly doing the hits that I, Johnny, Joey, and Dee Dee did. The band is outrageous. Not sure if you have experienced it or not, but if you go on my social media to check it out, my band members were all big Ramones fans. However, they have their own style and their own slant on it, but it’s very true to the original. That’s what I wanted, to keep the songs alive. I feel that the songs are too good not to be played. That’s what it is.
Cryptic Rock – It should be a collection of great shows. Have you considered recording some new music in the future?
Marky Ramone – Yeah. I just did a four song EP. Do you remember the album Acid Eaters (1993)? That was a Ramones’ ’60s tribute album. I wanted to do my own tribute. What I did was, I did Tom Jones’ “It’s Not Unusual” Ramones style. I did “Keep on Dancing” by The Gentrys. I did “Octopus’s Garden,” in the speed of “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker,” and I did “New York, New York” by Frank Sinatra. It’s only on vinyl right now. Eventually I’ll put it on the music medias. It’s a start. I might want to eventually do a whole album of that, and then get down to doing some originals.
Cryptic Rock – That is great to hear. Those are some really good selections for covers. The Ramones always did great covers too.
Marky Ramone – Yeah. “Let’s Dance,” “California Sun,” “Needles and Pins,” “Surfin’ Bird.” You know we’re always into paying tribute to the bands or the one-hit wonders that we liked.
Cryptic Rock – Right. That is the classic era of Rock-n-Roll. That stuff never goes away; it still sounds great all these years later.
Marky Ramone – Oh, definitely. Yeah.
Cryptic Rock – As someone who has been involved in Rock-n-Roll as long as you have, obviously you have experienced the changes. It is hard to tell what is even considered Rock-n-Roll anymore. What are your thoughts on the current music scene?
Marky Ramone – I stick to Punk. I stick to the original Rock and Rollers like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis, Fats Domino, all those guys. Out of curiosity, I’ll try to look for something new. I’m still trying to get into something as impactful like the Ramones were, or the Grunge movement and all that other stuff. I’m still searching though. Eventually, I hope I find it; because that would be a good kick in the ass for this other music that’s out there that I really don’t appreciate.
Cryptic Rock – Right. It is extremely difficult to find something new to get into. It is nice to know that others feel this way too.
Marky Ramone – You are not alone. Everyone I know basically says the same thing – I’m sick and tired of turning on a radio station and everything is the same. It’s like the song “Rock on the Radio,” there’s a line in it that goes – “Lately, it all sounds the same to me.” And it’s true.
Every girl singer sounds alike and every Rap band sounds alike. I have nothing against that music. Everyone has their own taste. I just happen to like other forms of music, but to each their own.
Cryptic Rock – Absolutely. These are all very valid points you raise. Much of what is put out in the mainstream now does sound very generic.
Marky Ramone – It is a formula.
Cryptic Rock – Right. It’s become very sterilized. Punk Rock means something different to everyone. There were various forms of Punk; some more political than others. However, what we are seeing today kind of goes against what Punk Rock was originally supposed to be, right? The whole essence of Punk Rock was breaking free from the formula. Many wish it would come back.
Marky Ramone – We always stuck to our guns. A lot of Punk bands ended up doing disco music. I’m not going to name where they are, but I guess the record company pushed them to do it so they get a few hits. The Ramones always stuck to our guns though.
Cryptic Rock – That is very inspiring to hear. Last year was actually the 45th anniversary of Road to Ruin, one of The Ramones best. Looking back on that record, what do you think were some of the key contributing factors that made that record so special?
Marky Ramone – Well, the first three albums are basically three chords, the downstroke sixteenth note playing, and eighth note playing. We all got together after Tommy left and we said, “Look, we got to change a little bit, but not to stray too far away from what we were or are.” We added some different sounding guitars here and there. We also made the drums sound bigger and harder. I’m a harder player than Tommy was, so there was nothing I could do about that, but that’s the way it came out.
The songs and the lyrical content were a lot different too. We had “Don’t Come Close,” which really had, in my opinion, a kind of a Country Rock feel, sort of questioningly. Of course, the heavy songs are on there too. The pronounced lead guitars were really up front; which is what I really liked. After three albums with just chords, after a while, you have to change a little bit.
Cryptic Rock – Right, and that record was a pinnacle point in the Ramones history.
Marky Ramone – It was, yeah. “I Wanna Be Sedated” was on that. That became an underground hit. Now it’s becoming double platinum. I’m amazed because that’s the second song that I recorded with them.
Cryptic Rock – Very interesting. It was definitely an important time for the band. Your tenure with the band was fifteen years, and that is a very long time.
Marky Ramone – Yeah. Fifteen years of craziness!
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) There surely were many good memories that came along with that as well.
Marky Ramone – Oh, yeah. Of course; I meant that to be good. (Laughs) I had my problems, and then I cleared them up. I was asked to join the band again. I stayed to the end, that was to 1996; that’s when we retired.
Cryptic Rock – And you rejoined right before 1989’s Brain Drain; another great album.
Marky Ramone – Thank you. You had the “Pet Sematary” on there and “I Believe in Miracles.” Stephen King wanted us to do the song, so we did the song. Dee Dee read the book, he wrote the lyrics, and that was the result.
Cryptic Rock – The rest is history, right? Reflecting back, “Pet Sematary” was written relatively quickly, correct?
Marky Ramone – Very quickly… in under a half hour. That was Dee Dee with the help of Daniel Rey; who produced some of our albums. Dee Dee and Daniel Rey worked very well together. The outcome was really good.
Cryptic Rock – Most certainly memorable. Brain Drain also had the cover of “Palisades Park.”
Marky Ramone – Yeah. In my opinion, I liked Freddy Cannon’s version better, but I’m glad that we did it. I just felt that the tempo was a little too fast for that. The tempo was discussed and my vote was to keep it a little faster than the original… but it came out way, way faster. (Laughs)
Cryptic Rock – That is interesting. You mentioned how you have a lot of younger fans coming out to the show. That is really great to see that the younger generations are picking up on Punk Rock.
Marky Ramone – Yeah. You go on YouTube and you see all these young kids playing Ramones songs; twelve years old doing “Rockaway Beach.” A bunch of these kids doing “I Wanna Be Sedated.” What can I say? I’m very grateful.
Cryptic Rock – It is amazing. Going back to new music for a moment. Many will say young people do not know good music; however, you cannot really blame them for what they are given. Obviously. if they are presented with something else, like The Ramones, they dig it.
Marky Ramone – Exactly. That’s been like that all the time; even in the ’70s and the ’80s. A song becomes a hit and then everybody else follows the formula, hoping that will continue that kind of style. The band came out in ’76 with their first album, but they have been together since ’74. What were they up against? Disco. They were up against Prog Rock. They were up against Stadium Rock. There was a lot of negativity against us too; because of the way the band looked and the lyrical content.
A lot of DJs were afraid to play it, but the ones that did play it understood it. We were happy that we were able to be played by the DJs who had the balls to play it.
Cryptic Rock – And that is a good thing. We do not even have radio anymore in a classic sense; but we still have SiriusXM. You mentioned how you wanted to potentially get back into the studio and do some originals as well. Do you have any ideas lying dormant or rolling around in your head that you would like to put to tape?
Marky Ramone – I did two albums with a band that I had called The Intruders. The subject matter in those albums were pretty good. It might be a continuation, but now twenty years later, maybe about what’s going on in the world and the social situations. Now we’re at war again. Just things that irk me that I thought would never happen again, but still do. Even in the political arena; it’s disgusting the way things are going on with that.
Cryptic Rock – That is definitely an understatement to put it kindly. There is a lot of craziness going on. We have to be hopeful, but where is the light at the end of this tunnel?
Marky Ramone – A lot of bands don’t even talk about it or sing about it. I don’t know why. For instance, when I was a kid growing up, you had all these songs that questioned what was going on in the world, or what country you live in, etc. Now, you hardly hear about it. I wish more bands wouldn’t be afraid to do that.
Cryptic Rock – Agreed! It is kind of scary when you think about it. Not with just music, but people in general just do not seem to be conscious of what is going on with. There is a sort of apathy amongst many people.
Marky Ramone – Yeah. The thing is that there’s a lot of distractions. With a lot of the youth, they’re on their phones way too much. That’s their thing, they want to do it, but maybe that’s what’s distracting them from really feeling about what’s going on around them in the world; and what the consequences will be if they don’t start taking more action.
I know there’s a lot of youth that are into the environment and stuff like that, which is great; like Greenpeace, etc. However, they just need to question other things besides that. I feel there might be something building… but I hope it’s before the next election.
Cryptic Rock – That all starts with music in many ways. If people find music that moves them, it becomes an inspiration and hopefully they will start to think more.
Marky Ramone – For sure. That’s the whole idea of music. It’s just to get a point across and say what you feel and never mind the consequences.
Cryptic Rock – Very true. As far as the Ramones go, the music was never necessarily heavily political. That is not to say there were songs that learned that way; for example, “I’m Against It.”
Marky Ramone – Yep. We tried to just be a fun band that had a lot of energy, volume, and power. At one point, they recorded a song called “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”; which was about Reagan. To me, it was a time capsule of that era. That’s why I really don’t play it; because it’s about that time in politics. A lot of kids, they weren’t around. It’s a good song, but it doesn’t really translate into what’s going on today.
Cryptic Rock – That is a good point. Well, hopefully we will see some changes moving forward. Here is a big question, do you feel like maybe art is dying in general? It seems like it has suffocated.
Marky Ramone – Well, it’s the same thing in the film industry. It’s always the same plot. You look at all the stations… and it’s always somebody with a gun. It’s always somebody with a vendetta. It’s always somebody who’s getting divorced. It’s always the argument between the wife and the husband. It’s like, give me a break after a while.
I think that in society, and in schools, a lot of the musical programs were taken away for other things. That is a big problem too… because it stifles kids’ creativity. That’s one thing that isn’t a good thing; because it makes them better students if they can learn an instrument. That was a lot more predominant years ago where it was accessible.
Cryptic Rock – Very true. These are all things that roll into one another, don’t they?
Marky Ramone – Yep. I think now they’re banning books. Not everywhere, but just in certain places in the country. You can’t ban books! It shows our history as a country and what we can learn from the things that we did. If you can’t read about it… how are you going to progress as a human race?
Cryptic Rock – You are speaking the truth. Sadly, many people have forgotten that. It is ironic in a way, everything we are discussing. It is as if we are going in the complete opposite direction of what the Punk Rock essence was. Would you agree?
Marky Ramone – Yeah. You know what is it? When FM came out, it was great. You had AM, and the only thing they played was the hits, which was good too. With FM there was more accessibility to what the artist was doing, besides that one hit. Now, FM has become AM.
Cryptic Rock – That is a good analogy. Again, let us hope that we could have some positive changes if people wake up. Beyond the west coast shows, will there be any other touring in 2024?
Marky Ramone – Yeah. I wanted to play the Midwest; I haven’t been there in a while. I will go to Spain for twenty shows then. After that, I’ll probably go to South America, come back, and maybe do some more recordings again.
Cryptic Rock – It seems like you are keeping very busy. Someone who has traveled the world over at this point, what would you say are some of the most important things you have learned about people? What do you think similarities are between all of us?
Marky Ramone – Well, people are basically the same. They just want to be entertained and they have fun. They want to see a band they like. With the politics, you could keep it off their minds for at least an hour and twenty minutes when you’re playing. To me, basically, people are good. It’s just the things around them that make them a little hard and very aggressive.
Politicians can be very influential. They could pick on one thing, and that thing could be something that they would promote as hate. That’s bad. Overall, people are good, and they just have to realize that we only live on this planet one time around. The good that you give, you get back.
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