Mark Bell is better known as Marky Ramone, and he is best-known for his 15 years drumming for the formative punk band the Ramones. This Wednesday and Thursday, Marky Ramone and his band will be at the Leinie Lodge at the Minnesota State Fair for a show called Marky Ramone Plays the Ramones Classics.

Ahead of this week’s gigs, Marky Ramone connected with The Current’s Jill Riley to look back on his time in the Ramones and to talk about his 2016 memoir, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone. Importantly, Marky Ramone talks about what still inspires him being able to play all those classic Ramones songs today. Listen to the interview using the audio player above, and read a transcript below.

Jill Riley: You're listening to The Current. I'm Jill Riley and I have a special guest this morning on The Current's Morning Show, best known as the drummer for the Ramones and some other notable punk rock history: He was in Richard Hell in the Voidoids, I mean, Blank Generation, a New York punk rock staple. He played himself in the 1979 movie, Rock and Roll High School. This list is not going to be all inclusive. But you know what? If you want an all-inclusive list and you want to hear it from him, you can check out his memoir, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone. And the story does not end there, even though that memoir came out, I think close to 10 years ago, the story doesn't end, it continues. I've got Marky Ramone with me this morning on The Current. Hi! How are you? Great to meet you.

Marky Ramone: Hello. How you doing?

Jill Riley: I am doing well. We're looking forward to you coming to Minnesota, Minnesota State Fair, playing two nights at the Leinie Lodge, carrying on the legacy of the Ramones. So that's Wednesday and Thursday evening, Marky Ramone plays the Ramones classics. So we look forward to your visit to Minnesota, to the Twin Cities, playing for enthusiastic audiences of old and new fans. I have to imagine, Marky, that the legacy of the Ramones means just that constant introduction to new fans.

Marky Ramone: Yeah, it's probably the lyrical content, the energy levels that the band played, and that appeals to youth. And of course, the older generation keeps coming because they were there from the beginning, because if it wasn't for them, then we wouldn't have gotten to this point. And I'm just taking it from where we left off with my group, and we played all over the world already. So we're very tight. I love my guys, and we do around 36 or so Ramones songs.

Jill Riley: Who do you have on the road with you, who is helping you carry on this legacy?

Marky Ramone: Well, these are guys I met. It's funny, because they knew me, they knew where I hung out in New York City. So they all came there and said, "Look, this is who we are. This is how we play. This is what we can do." It's a singer, a bass player, a guitar player. I go, "OK, let's have an audition." And it worked. I had so many people involved, and these are the guys that I had for years already, and they do it perfectly because they were so influenced by the Ramones. They brought that to what I wanted, but they have their own take on it, too.

Jill Riley: I'm talking with Marky Ramone on The Current's Morning Show, talking about the band that Marky Ramone will be playing with as they play the Ramones classics. So I wonder if we could go back to when you joined the Ramones, when it was, you know, Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy had decided to step away to produce, and they were looking for a new drummer. I wonder if you could kind of talk about some of that history.

Marky Ramone: Well, we — Richard Hell and the Voidoids — we just came back from a tour with the Clash. So Tommy came up to me with Dee Dee at CBGBs, that's where we all hung out. You know, they asked me if I would join the band. I said yeah, because when the Voidoids came back, Richard didn't want to tour anymore. I said, "Well, I do. I love touring. I love traveling. I love just playing in front of people." So Tommy started producing. He gave me his white drum set. We did the album Road to Ruin at Media Sound Studios in New York City, and that was the result. And the first song that I recorded with them was "I Wanna Be Sedated."

Jill Riley: When you joined the band, you know, you were given your Ramones name. You had probably some catching up to do, although it's not like the music of the Ramones was foreign to you or anything, but when you started drumming for the group, how did you see yourself as a member, outside of being a drummer, like, what was the thing that you kind of wanted to bring to the group? Or, kind of like, establish yourself as one of the members?

Marky Ramone: Well, they were from Queens, I was from Brooklyn, but we all knew each other from, again, hanging out at CBGBs. We would play CBGBs when I was in Richard Hell, I would watch them with Tommy. So when I joined the band, I just was myself. Wasn't that difficult. And I adapted the style. We hung out more together, and we all we all liked the same jokes, we all liked the same music. We all liked the same movies. So it was pretty easy, because we were from a certain time where we grew up that we were introduced to all these common things, music, movies, etc. So it wasn't that hard to get get into that mode.

Jill Riley: Marky, you talked about you had come off the road with the Clash. I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the history that just — kind of had a light bulb go off in my head — of when it comes to punk rock music in the 1970s, there was, like, New York punk rock, there was English punk rock. And I wonder if you could kind of talk about how those two worlds existed and how they influenced each other.

Marky Ramone: Well, the New York punk scene was two years ahead of the English punk scene. It started in '74 in New York. In England, they were still into the glam thing and all that, they were coming right off of that. They were very influenced by the Ramones, the New York scene. And then when Ramones went there to play a venue called the Roundhouse, all the bands in London and England were in the audience. They were watching them, taking cues, checking out what they wore. So when you look at all these English fans, they all have the leather jackets, jeans, sneakers, and they have the pins and the buttons, and that was never happening in England. The difference between that is that they were more political than the punks in New York City, like, you know, Blondie, Patti Smith, Television, the Heartbreakers, New York Dolls. We were out to just have fun. And we, New York, was in a very bad state at that time. In '75, '74, there were strikes, especially garbage strikes, a lot of homeless here. And you know, we needed a place to go to to play our music. So Hilly Kristal said, "OK, you guys can come here and play," and that was it. And then from there, a lot of music publications that extended to England, people would order the music papers here, like we would from there. So they really picked up on it. Then we were very, very happy when we went to England and we saw a lot of the bands trying to imitate what we did, then we knew something was happening with the style of music that the band had, but still has, and there are still bands today that imitate or try to copy what we did, which is great.

Jill Riley: I'm talking with Marky Ramone on The Current, carrying on the legacy of the Ramones with two shows at the Minnesota State Fair at the Leinie Lodge, that's Wednesday and Thursday, Marky Ramone plays the Ramones classics. Talking about the difference between, at the beginning, English punk being very political, New York punk, it seems like the rebellion was kind of more about getting back to basics, whether it be musically or lyrically. I understand as I've learned more and read more, I mean, the Beatles had a pretty big impact on what punk bands were doing, of just getting kind of back down to the — I guess, I don't want to say “basic” — but a simpler way of playing and expressing the energy. 

Marky Ramone: That's what we did. We stripped it all down. I have nothing against people's musical preferences, but at that time, there were extended 10-minute guitar solos, 10-minute drum solos. You'd look at an album and it only had about six songs on it. So when the Ramones came out with their first album, they made sure they were two minutes long, or even under, like the beginning of rock, like Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, all these guys, you know? So that's what was missing: the short songs that made their point in that amount of time. So that's what punk was all about in New York and England, too. They got sick and tired of the same old rehash of guitar solos, and who's the fastest, who can play the longest guitar solo, who can play the longest drum solo. And again, people have their own tastes, so I'm not going to knock it, but that's what we were all about.

Jill Riley: Yeah, sure, you mentioned the year 1974 which, if I'm doing my DJ radio math correctly, I mean, that's 50 years. I mean, that's the 50th anniversary of the Ramones forming. You know, you came on at Road to Ruin, but when it comes to that legacy of, you know, Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy, you, what does it feel like to perform this music now? Does it feel really bittersweet at times?

Marky Ramone: It's just as vibrant as ever.

Jill Riley: Yeah. 

Marky Ramone: Every time I play these songs, I'm so happy to do them, because they still sound fresh. Especially with the speed that we play, and appealing to the youth, it's still the same. If it wasn't, I would move on to other things.

Jill Riley: We talked a little bit about ""I Wanna Be Sedated," the first song that, when you joined the band, you recorded with the band. What is your absolute favorite Ramones song? And is it even possible to choose one? 

Marky Ramone: Well, it is impossible, but I could choose three that I played on.

Jill Riley: OK.

Marky Ramone: “[I Wanna Be] Sedated,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” and “The KKK Took My Baby Away.”

Jill Riley: Sure. Now, in your memoir, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone, I mean, you share just a ton of stories, and really telling your story, and I kept reading the phrase, "set the record straight." For anyone who hasn't picked up your book, what was really your inspiration for wanting to tell that story at that time?

Marky Ramone: Well, a lot of people would come up to me and they go, "What's it like being a Ramone?" "What was it like being back then and living in New York?" You know, all this stuff. And I read a lot of bios, and there wasn't that much in them, but I had so much to tell being in all these bands in the punk scene in New York, that I felt, "OK, let me write a book." But you know one thing, before my father passed away, he told me, "Make sure you tell the truth on everything, but you have to live with it." So I understood that. So everything in that book is for real, and it took quite a few years to finish, given the fact there was so much information in it that it could teach a lot of younger aspiring punk rock bands to read it and continue doing what they do in punk rock music, you know?

Jill Riley: I'm talking with Marky Ramone, talking about the music of the Ramones. If you live anywhere near the Minnesota State Fair, yep, don't let your ears trick you: That will certainly be happening Wednesday and Thursday night. So go on over there, because it's at the Leinie Lodge stage, and that's one of the stages that you can just walk right up to because it's part of your admission ticket. I'm so pleased that you're going to be part of that and have a place to celebrate the music in Minnesota. You know, I do want to make sure that I'm kind of tipping my hat to you and giving you props. You've been very candid about, and you've written very honestly about, you know, how you've been doing with, you know, your life and your sobriety. I wonder, could you if you could talk about that just a little bit.

Marky Ramone: Good! I don't care — I mean, I do care to a point — but people are going to do what they're going to do: if you're going to drink, fine; if you're going to do this, fine; you know, smoke, fine. That's your business. Me, I stopped in '83 ,you know. I think '83 or '84. I realized what's more important: drinking to a point where, you know, people start telling you what you did the night before and you don't remember, or continuing playing the drums, and that's your life? Because I'm not going to have a life just drinking, you know? So I stopped because I wanted to. And after a while, it got boring for me, you know, because I did everything you can imagine with my friends, you know, while drinking with Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan and all these guys, pop luminaries in New York City, drinking with the Clash. So after a while, it was enough, and I moved on. But I wish everybody you know who is sober or plans to get sober, good luck and keep at it.

Jill Riley: Thank you for saying that. I mean, sometimes it just takes one person hearing it, who might be a little curious about making a change. And also to be able to have the stamina to play the music of the Ramones, like you gotta be in good physical and, quite frankly, mental and physical shape to do such a thing!

Marky Ramone: I work out. I work out.

Jill Riley: Yeah, Marky Ramone on The Current's Morning Show, again, best known as the drummer for the Ramones, just a big part of punk rock history, especially that New York punk rock history and music scene. And if you haven't checked out that memoir, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone, it was, it's a really enjoyable read because I appreciate reading memoirs that are really conversational; you can tell that it's written in somebody's voice. And so for me as the reader, that makes it easier for me to follow, so I would recommend checking that one out. Again, Wednesday and Thursday, Marky Ramone plays the Ramones classics at the Minnesota State Fair. Hey, I appreciate you checking in with us, and just appreciate the opportunity to get to meet you. 

Marky Ramone: Thank you. I will see you there.

Credits

Guest – Marky Ramone
Host – Jill Riley
Producers – Nilufer Arsala, Derrick Stevens
Technical Director – Evan Clark
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Links

Marky Ramone – official site

Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone – Simon & Schuster site