I’m pretty lucky. In less than 2 weeks Marky Ramone, drummer for The Ramones (and Richard Hell & The Voidoids), will be the guest DJ at the night I host here in Denver, Lipgloss. I’m pretty amped about this because I’m a Ramones fan and have been for as long as I can remember.
Joiezabel and I have been talking a lot about interviews in the last couple of days and I was going to try to hit Marky up for one… and then I remembered, I’d already done one. Over 10 years ago. I originally wrote it for my “never seen the light of day” zine, Indie Anna. It then ended up on Fallout Magazine, one of the web’s first magazines. I ended up as the editor for that and merged it with Hybrid Magazine - so it may exist in the archives of that fine magazine these days. Or not - maybe this is its home for now.
Anyway, I remember at the end of the interview I told Marky I had to get my shit together and go to a job interview. He wished me luck on it. I don’t remember if I got the job or not. Here we are 10+ years later. Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee have all passed on, CBGB is closed and moving to Las Vegas (!?) and despite claiming to loathe dance music and disco 10 years ago, Marky is going to be the guest DJ at our night at a dance club…
GABBA GABBA… Goodbye.
An interview with Marky Ramone
by Tyler Jacobson, Sometime in 1995
Yes. It’s true. The Ramones have finally called it quits. Let me share with you my favorite Ramones memory: We were waiting for the band to take stage. My friend, Mike, grabbed me by the shoulder and asked “What the hell are two nine-year-old boys doing at a Ramones show?” I shrugged. It was a bit odd. The didn’t seem to really mind that they were surrounded by hundreds of geezers. I couldn’t help but eye them for more clues as to how they’d gotten there. One of the boys turned. He was wearing a shirt that said something like “Orgasmic Dildo Squad” with about 20 naked women on it. It was really weird now. Then, these two little “boys” started sticking their tongues in each others’ mouths and grabbing each others’ asses. Suddenly, it hit me. “Mike,” I said, “Those aren’t little boys…. They’re midget lesbians. How weird!” Now that the Ramones have broken up, I doubt I’ll ever run across those pint-sized lovers again.
In 1974 four guys from New York that wore ripped jeans and leather jackets started playing music that sounded like the Beach Boys on speed. They were loud, hyper and called themselves the Ramones. They all pretty much looked the same; black hair, blue jeans, black jackets. They all shared the same last name. There was Joey Ramone on vocals, Johnny Ramone on guitar, Dee Dee Ramone on Bass and Tommy Ramone on drums.The Ramones started a movement that was dubbed “punk” by the media. The punk audience formed quickly. They also wore black jeans, blue hair and…. Hell, who can afford a jacket when you’ve got drugs to buy? Suburban mothers were shocked. Religious figures cowered. Kids wanted mohawk haircuts.
The Ramones went through some personnel changes: Tommy left the band and was replaced by their new drummer, Marky. Dee Dee was replaced by their new bass player, C.J.. The sound didn’t change despite the changes. The Ramones were still doing what they’d always done: they played Punk Rock.
The Ramones were one of the hardest -working bands. They put out several albums, toured constantly and still found time to make a cameo appearance on “The Simpsons”. 21 years after the Ramones’ start this writer spoke with Marky Ramone on their last headlining US tour in support of their last studio album, appropriately titled “Adios Amigos.”
Over the last 21 years what’s changed?
Well, CJ joined the band and I, of course, joined in ‘78 and then I left in ‘83 and came back in ‘87. So, those are basically the main changes in the line up and we still get along the same way we always have. Y’know, Joey and John don’t really get along too well. I get along with both of them. I was close friends with Dee Dee. So, when he left the band around ‘89, I was in the middle of John and Joey and up until now I’d get along with both of them at a different level. But, in every band after 20 years there’s always something that rubs somebody else the wrong way. But, that’s what makes the Ramones play the way we do. So, I guess we just let it out on our music, our intensity when we play the shows.
Speaking of Dee Dee, how involved is he with the band?
Well, Dee Dee wrote I think six songs on the new album (Adios Amigos). We met him in Amsterdam about a month ago and he’s doin’ fine. He came to the show there we played and he’s not getting high or anything. He just wants to write. He doesn’t want to play live anymore because he doesn’t feel that his bands are up to par. But, I think he’s a great song writer and I wish him a lot of luck. I wish he’d move back to New York.
What’s the most bizarre thing ever to happen at a Ramones show that you’ve seen?
Well, bizarre? Let’s see. It’s always bizarre with the crazy audience running into each other. It’s like a contact sport You see it every night when you play. We did a show in South America for 40,000 people and they were all Ramones fans and most of them were doin’ that and that was pretty outrageous. It was at a point where it was probably dangerous. They’ve all been pretty wild give or take 2 percent of them. Incidents that have happened? We have pretty good security up there. Nothing really that crazy. “The Simpsons” was pretty weird. “The Simpsons” just came by and told us to say a few words and then we saw ourselves on the “Simpsons” as cartoon characters. That was weird because of the way they transform you from a human to a cartoon.
Was that made up on the spot or did the have everything prepared for you guys?
Well, the guy’s (”Simpsons” creator Matt Groening,) a fan so he came down and he said I just want a photo, a current photo of the band and he just said “say these lines.” So, we said our lines and the next thing we knew we saw it on TV. That was pretty weird. We had the governor of Nevada declare Ramones Day in Las Vegas. We’re gonna have a star next to the Hard Rock there. We have some stuff in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. I have some of my sneakers there and I signed some drum heads and ripped jeans. Joey has his leather jacket there. So, a lot of different things.
Who would you have liked to have worked with that you never have?
Jimi Hendrix. He’s dead, though. I would have liked to have worked with…. ah, that’s a really great question. John Lennon would have been great, but, when the Beatles came out I was eight. So, it was later on that I appreciated them more than when I was in my teens.
I just finished producing my own album. Now, that you brought that up I always wanted to do that. My own album I did with my guy who writes with me, Skinny Bones, on some of the Ramones songs that I wrote for the last two albums. So, I got the opportunity to do that and I wrote all of the songs on the album.
Do you think the politics of what was happening in around ‘77 into the early ’80s- do you think those politics still apply to the punk movement today?
Yeah. Nothing changes. The same people still run the world. The same people give the orders. It’s always a two-party system. There’s nothing that’s really changed. I think people have it better today than they did 20 years ago. If they want to believe it or not, there are more places to play now. They have visuals like MTV. They have access to a lot of different studios, y’know, life in general, getting jobs and stuff. People in society, the way politics are always the same with republicans and democrats. So, whatever effect that has today, y’know, you have more information today. More access through computers.
The punk movement’s great. I really think that the kids in the punk movement today are looking back at the old punk movement that started it all like the Ramones, the Clash, the Pistols, Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders, all these guys. I like Rancid. I did a song with Rancid. In fact, an old Ramones song that’s gonna be on a punk compilation in October. But, do I like them compared to the old punk stuff? I think they used the stuff that was out then and used it as a blueprint. I’d rather listen to any new punk rather than any shitty heavy metal band. I hate disco. I hate rap. I can’t stand dance music. So, it’s great to see the new legions of the punk movement. I really think it’s healthy.
Do you guys still feel connected with it?
The Ramones? Well, we’ve never felt disconnected because we’ve always been there, whether it’s been accepted or not on a total grand scale. When we came out we got neglected by the radio and reviewers and promoters and people didn’t want to play us. We were up against Fleetwood Mac and Journey and Foreigner. All of these established bands, y’know. We had no places to play, so, we had a following. So, I think we’re just as important today because (Adios Amigos) really addresses a lot of things and it’s still humorous and I still think it’s totally Ramones.
Has the band had to ever stop and re-evaluate itself to stay in the stream of what you’ve been doing?
We never wanted to change because when I was around 15, I went to see a lot of bands and I hated it when they changed. A lot of bands have to change because their record companies tell ‘em they have to in order to go along with the trends and the times so they can hopefully get a hit record. We’re not a one-hit-wonder band. We’ve managed to just wear what we wore when we got out of high school. I came from Brooklyn, New York. I wore dungarees and leather jackets. I wasn’t choreographed. I wasn’t told what to wear. So, we all basically felt the same thing. I would hate to see the Ramones change because then I wouldn’t like them anymore. We do have a unique sound. All these bands, I guess history’s proven, have tried to copy us. A lot of heavy metal bands in the eighties started wearing leather jackets and ripped jeans and then you have the punk movement now and a lot of ‘em like playin’ fast. The way we do. So, if we did think of changing, which we never did, it would be a deterrent. It wouldn’t be the right thing to do. There’s a term that we say: Let’s Ramones it up or Let’s Ramones it. If we do a song that’s what we mean. We did “Acid Eaters”. It was just a psychedelic compilation of songs we liked from the ’60s. So, we Ramones-ed those songs up.
Do you think punk’s gonna be over and done with when this new trend ends?
When Kurt Cobain died, for me that was the end of grunge. I don’t care what anyone said, or says. It’s funny ‘cos David Grohl, the drummer, put out an album called “Foo Fighters” and it sounds just like Nirvana and he’s living in his past glory, which I can understand. But, he’s trying to sound like Kurt Cobain and any of those songs could’ve been on a Nirvana album. But, the thing is, is that they were the best at what they did. I think the anger was in him and he was also a Ramones fan and that’s why I liked him, too. Y’know, Pearl Jam is good, too.
I think when the Ramones end I think the official reality of it all will end with it. Of course you’re gonna have the imitators and the new bands that imitate punk rock but, I think that’ll put the nail in the coffin. Everything else will just be imitation. I hate to say that but, that’s what I feel. I hope the kids will seriously consider these new punk bands like anybody would the Ramones, The Clash or the Pistols. Hopefully, the torch will be carried by these other bands and be taken seriously. Not just for sales but for the content and the value to the music of the world.
8 Comments »
dude, tyler, when you see him in 2 weeks, you should totally point him to this interview as a “remember when” kind of thing. it would give me good butterflies in my stomach to think that marky ramone had looked at superstarcastic.
i miss lipgloss. 
I\’m interested too. 
He has a regular gig on one of the satellite radio stations and I don\’t imagine he\’s a dance music DJ - but you can probably dance to what he plays. I\’ll see if I can\’t remember to write down his list and I\’ll post it on superstarcastic
I will… I’ll send it his way.
Lipgloss misses you back. You can always come visit.
Is that interview for real? Or is it a joke?
Delia in Dalls–hi, welcome! And yes–all registered users have free reign as far as commenting is concerned.
Tyler, that’s cool. Have fun at the DJ night.
Elisa - Unless their publicist was pulling one over on me 11 years ago, it’s a real interview.
yeah, elisa, the whole thing is a joke. marky ramone doesn’t even exist except in tyler’s head.
don’t tell marky that though - it really pisses him off.
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Comment by desertsmissrain — November 28, 2006 @ 2:12 pm
Hi, I’m Delia in Dallas. I’m new to this site. It’s pretty cool.
Very interesting interview but I have a quick question for you - Is Marky Ramone a DJ now or what? I would love to know his setlist when he plays at your club.
Hope it’s ok for me to just comment like this. I am not sure of the protocol around here.