thePULSE
“The songs are just too good not to play!”
By Suzy Geers
Marky Ramone is best known for the 15 years he spent drumming for the legendary Ramones. Marky appeared in the cult classic film Rock n Roll High School in 1979, performed over 1700 shows and recorded over 15 albums (studio and live) with the Ramones. In 2002, Marky and his band mates became the first punk rock ensemble to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I was able (aka lucky enough, ecstatic, over the moon) to chat with Marky regarding his upcoming shows in Massachusetts and New Hampshire with his new band, Marky Ramone’s BLITZKREIG.
Marky Ramone: Hi Suzy!
[Yup, that’s how he picked up the phone ~ and all my nerves instantly melted away!]
Pulse: Hi Marky! Obviously we have never talked before so I just want to say CONGRATS on your music and especially being inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!
Marky Ramone: I appreciate that, thank you! I am VERY grateful to have been inducted.
Pulse: Let’s talk about your new band, Marky Ramone’s BLITZKREIG! Did you hand select each musician?
MR: Yes, I did. I wanted a band that didn’t look like the Ramones. I wanted a band that was able to duplicate the Ramones ~ especially the lead guitar. The guitar player I have now, Alex Kane, is able to do that technically. The girl, Clare B, is from England.
Pulse: She is AMAZING!
MR: She IS amazing! She is a child prodigy of the violin, and all of the sudden she picked up the bass a couple of years ago AND she knows guitar and slide guitar. We also have Michale Graves who is the front man of the best years of the Misfits. We do 32 classic Ramones songs and that is exactly what the audience wants to hear.
Pulse: How long has Blitzkrieg been around?
MR: Only a year! We’ve done so much in one year for a band-we’ve played Australia, Spain, Japan, selected parts of the U.S.-. We also have a new song on iTunes, “When We Were Angels” and I think that’s enough for now. I don’t want to do a new album YET – we’ll do a song here and there and see how the public reacts to it.
Pulse: Is it weird looking up and seeing Alex, Michale, and Clare B instead of Joey, Dee Dee, and Johnny?
MR: I think at this point being 2010 and the energy that this group generates… and it’s good music. I think Johnny, Joey and Dee Dee ~ wherever they are ~ would be proud and they would agree with me that keeping the songs alive is a good thing. I just feel the songs that we recorded as the Ramones are just TOO GOOD NOT TO BE PLAYED! I feel basically, being the legacy of the band… [I’ll] continue this as long as the body is willing! ( laughs)
Pulse: Well, watching the footage from YouTube from your show in Japan the energy is just FIERCE… and that doesn’t even cover it!
MR: And that is what we’re bringing to these New England shows! 32 Ramones songs, backdrop, good equipment and vocal harmonies.
Pulse: So, on February 12th in Londonderry, NH at the Tupelo Music Hall, Blitzkrieg is doing a very intimate special show… with a meet and greet after???
MR: Yes! After the show I take about ten minutes to myself… change into a new set of clothes then I let friends come backstage with Ramones albums or anything I have done… I sign them… take pictures and that’s it! I wanna hear what they have to say. I want opinions ~ just as long as they’re constructive and they mean something. So, buy a ticket to the show (online or at the Tupelo) and have access to the meet and greet.
Pulse: Can I just say ~ and I mean this whole heartedly ~ that you are one in a million?! I mean, you have a new band, a pasta sauce, a new drumming instructional video, a radio show… when do you sleep?
MR: When do I sleep?! I guess when it’s all over! Regarding the Marky Ramone’s Brooklyn’s Own pasta sauce ~ my grandfather was a chef in the 21 Club and the Copacabana ~ and we would go to his house on holidays and weekends and I would watch him cook. So, it’s my ingredients along with Rao’s [a specialty food company that makes award winning sauces]. For the bottle ~ I got a really well known artist to paint a caricature of me ~ it’s a collector’s item. It’s priced mid level around $6.50 a bottle and can be found online and will also be in stores in two to three months. Now, the beginner’s instructional video is on punk rock drumming ~ the way I do it and the way I helped to invent punk rock. It’s an hour and twenty minutes long and will be in Guitar Center and music stores in a week!
Pulse: Of all the avenues you have gone down, was there ever a time in your career when you ever had to conform to anything??
MR: I have been given suggestions ~ NOT advice ~ but I always try to keep an open mind. On the Phil Spector album cover, I was outvoted along with Dee Dee to take our leather jackets off WHICH we never did for an album cover BUT we did on THAT one. Johnny and Joey wanted the coats off but we were outvoted because the manager wanted that, too. That was our biggest selling album, so what do I know?! But the thing is we never caved in to every musical whim that was out there.
Pulse: What was it like working with Phil Spector?
MR: Great friend. Great producer… me and Joey got along with him great ~ he liked us BUT he didn’t like Johnny and Dee Dee because of the way they worked. Phil was very slow in working, and Johnny and Dee Dee were VERY hyper. Joey and I understood the way Phil worked so we respected that because HE was the producer and I’m not going to argue with the producer. But there were arguments between Johnny, Dee Dee and Phil but Phil NEVER pulled a gun on us ~ NEVER! Never pointed a gun ~ there were guns in the studio but he never pointed them and he did have a license to carry.
Pulse… I’m in awe….
MR: He never threatened us in any way. He was a close friend until he went away.
This writer is still in awe.
02/11 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Casino – Wolf Den
02/12 Londonderry, NH Tupelo Music Hall
– Special Intimate Performance & Meet & Greet
02/13 Salisbury, MA Tupelo Music Hall
