On May 1, 1999, I had the opportunity to interview Marky Ramone before his spoken word show at Fredonia College in upstate New York. Here is a photo of me (Dave) with Marky following the interview:
And now, the interview...
Me: How did you get the idea to do the spoken word shows?
Marky: The guy who handles Henry Rollins, Ice-T, Jimmy Carter, and the asshole Newt Gingrich called me up and said "do you wanna do this?", because he heard me on the Howard Stern show talk. Sometimes we went on the show or I'd call in and he liked the way I sounded. So I guess he saw something there through his professionalism, and he asked me to do it. He asked if I could throw anything together and I go "yeah,of course". So I play about 120 shows a year with my band the Intruders, and the Ramainz, so I'll do about 50 of these a year throughout the colleges in the United States. Now the Hard Rock might want to do them, and places in Europe and South America, so it's a balancing act. You gotta do both but, ya know, find the time to do them. I mean, I'm only one person.
Me: It's nice to be in demand, though, right?
Marky: Yeah, I mean...that's your life. So...it's a joy. It's different. I like a challenge. Joining the Ramones was a challenge. Doing this is a challenge. Forming my own band was a challenge. Writing songs is a challenge...tying your shoelaces is a challenge, ya know? So, it's interesting.
Me: 1999 looks to be something of an exciting year for Ramones (and related) releases. The Intruders have another album coming out...
Marky: Yeah, my 2nd album is coming out July 20th, produced by Lars Fredrickson from Rancid. Joan Jett came down and made an appearance on the only song that I produced on the album. 14 songs, I wrote most of them. It's on Zoe/Universal. A live Ramainz album is coming out, with me and Dee Dee, from New York City, on June 20th. With Ramones songs and some new stuff. Just a fun night at a club that we like called The Continental.
Me: Are the Ramainz going to be touring at all?
Marky: We just played the El Mocombo in Canada...that was a lot of fun. The Vapids were there. Tricky Woo was there. The Toilet Boys were fun. And um...Dee Dee is my closest friend in the Ramones. Of a Ramones member. So it's fun playing with him. You never know what's gonna happen.
Me: There's going to be a Ramones Anthology from Rhino Records...
Marky: 58-59 song anthology, released July 20th, the same day as my album. It's all good Ramones songs...I guess you could call it "Ramones Mania Part 2", but twice as much.
Me: Are you having much input into it, as far as track listing, etc?
Marky: Yeah, we all decided. We had a democratic, 4-way say. Johnny Ramone was the leader of the band. And when it came down to a vote, we all voted.
Me: Are there going to be any b-sides or unreleased material on it?
Marky: No. Just the usual. The regular stuff, mastered properly and a little better.
Me: Do you keep in touch with Richard Hell these days?
Marky: Richard Hell does poems...he not really into performing music. He's just into, ya know, writing...writing book and stuff. But I always admired his songwriting...he was really good. He was one of the creators of punk rock.
Me: Ever since the Ramones broke up, there have been billions of rumors about a reunion. Do you think it will ever happen?
Marky: Well, the Ramones were offered to do another movie. The script is written, but we have to make sure that everyone is able to do it. Johnny will do it. Joey has Leukemia...he's going through chemo therapy. So we're all hoping that he's able to beat it.
Me: Is this something that you want me to include in the interview on the page? (NOTE: the reason I asked this is because, while I did know that Joey was ill, I had never seen any reports anywhere that actually named the illness...judging from Marky's response, I probably missed this being posted or whatever somewhere along the line. Marky also mentioned Joey's Leukemia in the spoken word show itself, too)
Marky: Everybody knows...obviously everybody knows. But I'm saying a good thing...everybody knows about it...it's no secret. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it is. We hope that he gets better so that he can do the movie. The movie, if we do do it, starts filming sometime next year. The original band members would get back together to do it.
Me: A lot of bands have recorded tribute albums to the Ramones. Have you heard any of these?
Marky: Yeah, some of them are okay. I mean, they're not going to be as good as the Ramones. It's flattering, and I'm amazed that they'd spend their money and time making Ramones albums. I would rather see them do original stuff on their own. But if they want to do that, if it gets them off, I think it's great. I think that they chose a very good vehicle and a very good band to imitate. I'd rather see that then Wasp, Motley Crue, or Whitesnake being imitated. But we're flattered and grateful that there are bands out there that like the Ramones. I mean, it was a good band.
Me: Do you think there are going to be any more home video releases like the Rhino "Ramones Around The World" video?
Marky: I'm working on my home video part 2, probably sometime in June. Gonna do a 2nd one. Rhino released it, but I think Warner Bros. is gonna put out the 2nd...well, Rhino is Warner Bros., but I think that the main company, Warner Bros., is gonna put it out now. Because they were impressed by the sales of this one, and it was advertised in only 2 papers. And it's the biggest selling Ramones thing so far in this time period, which is a gauge on how these things sell. So that's it. Right now, I'm doing my 2nd album, the Ramainz, the college and club tour with my spoken word thing. Another reason why I was asked to do this is because of my credentials in the punk movement, with a lot of different bands, not just the Ramones. I was asked to audition for the New York Dolls. I was the number 2 choice. Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys...we did a Max's Kansas City song. Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Then I was asked by the Ramones. So I was doing this before the Ramones were even together. So I guess out of all the Ramones, I have more experience in the punk scene. Not being with the Ramones from the beginning, but I know enough about the Ramones from the beginning from all of their stories.
Me: Plus, just being part of the scene...
Marky: Yeah, you know...that's basically why I was asked to do this, too. Plus I had a bad drinking problem, and that seems to be kinda interesting too. You have your problems and you get out of it, and you say to yourself "What's more important? Drinking your life away, or getting straight and being able to produce good stuff and lead a healthy good life?" It's better than people telling you what you did the night before, and you not remembering.
Me: Why do you think the Ramones were so big in South America?
Marky: Because they were...obviously they saw something in the Ramones that they liked. We didn't use samples, we were a very real band. We didn't need all the bullshit. A lot of bands now just use samples and they just sound like everybody else. They use a proven formula and they just rip it off. Bands either sound like Pearl Jam, the Ramones, or the Clash...you know what I mean? Or they're white guys wanting to be black. You know, with the rap/white guy stuff. White boys from suburbia trying to act like black guys from the ghetto. And I don't like that shit...I like the real thing. If I'm gonna listen to hip hop or rap, I'll listen to Ice-T. You know what I mean? Let's see...what else...Jesse Camp, the VJ from MTV, I'm in his new video. Plus, the song that I wrote for Joan Jett should be out as a single off the album. And I produced the Ramainz live album. So there's a lot of good shit going down with me and Dee Dee. And I visited Johnny Ramone in Los Angeles and he's doing fine. He lives there now. But we're all rooting for Joey to get better. Everybody...me, Dee Dee.
THANKS TO MARKY FOR DOING THIS INTERVIEW WITH ME!!!!
To find out how to book Marky for spoken word shows, check out The VPD Speakers Web Site