It's really cool to see things coming together in a metal band. Metal and punk merging because of the influences of both.”

Wikimetal (Nando Machado): Hello, Mr. Marky Ramone?

Marky Ramone: Hi, who is this?

W (NM): Hi, this is Nando from Wikimetal. How are you?

MR: Oh, hi! How are you?

W (NM): Yes, I'm great, I'm great. I'm very happy to talk to you. We're hoping you'll come to Brazil with Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg on October 20th to play at the Two Wheels Brazil Festival, TWB. How does it feel to be back in Brazil? I know you have many friends here, and you always come here. How does it feel to be in Brazil again headlining this great festival?

MR: Well, a lot of work! It took, let's see, 12, 13 years coming here alone to achieve this, and now we've done it, and we're very happy that we were able to do it. And it's always a pleasure to come back to Brazil, because even when Johnny, Joey and I came here, we loved it and talked a lot about the country, and we made friends and loved the food, we loved everything. And now I can come back on my own, and it's always something that makes me very excited.

W (NM): Excellent. Speaking about the beginning of your career, Mark, who were the musicians who helped you create your unique playing style?

MR: Ah… The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Phil Spector, Wrecking Crew – those were his studio musicians. I really like Buddy Rich, he was a jazz drummer. There are many people I could mention, but those are definitely at the top of the list.

W (NM): And do you remember the first time you heard about the Ramones?

MR: I knew Dee Dee… He was my friend, and he told me he was forming a group, and I was touring with a band called Wayne County, and the Backstreet Boys, and Richard Hell later. And then at the bar, at CBGB's, the Ramones started playing in '74, '75. And they weren't very good at the beginning, they were a little… They weren't that good. As they kept playing, they got more and more in tune, better and better. So that's how I found out, at CBGB's and meeting Dee Dee, and Dee Dee saying to me, “Oh, we're playing, do you want to come hear the band?” But he didn't even have to tell me, because I was always there with my friends, and that's how I found out about the Ramones.

W (NM): And when did you join the band? Do you remember their approach to inviting you to join the band at the time?

MR: Ah, Dee Dee asked me to join the group in the spring of 1978. So, I was back at the bar at CBGB's, and Dee Dee asked me if I would play with the band. And then, at another bar, called Max's Kansas City, Johnny came and also asked me if I would play in the group. So the word spread, and then I started rehearsing with them. And that was basically it, I rehearsed three or four songs when we met, at the audition, and we got along very, very well, and we knew… We knew it would work out, and it was that simple.

When 'End Of The Century' was released, many punk purists disliked the album because of the brass and strings

W (NM): Great story. Tell me a little about the crazy experience, since you mentioned it, of working with the legendary producer Phil Spector?

MR: Well, Phil was the best producer, and we were very happy to work with him, at least Joey and I were. And he wanted to produce our album; people said he carried guns and picked them up, you know… But he didn't do that. When we were in the studio with him, he didn't pick up any guns, he kept them put away. So that story is an exaggeration. But Joey and I had a lot of fun working with him. It took a long time to make the album, but Johnny and Dee Dee didn't get along very well with him because of the way he worked. Johnny and Dee Dee were used to working very quickly on an album, but Phil worked at his own pace. And I understood, because he wanted to put strings, and he wanted to put brass instruments on the album. So there were many things that took time to produce the album. So Joey and I understood that, and we weren't going to argue with Phil Spector. So there was a little tension between the other two band members and Phil. But in the end we succeeded, and Phil and I remained friends until he was arrested.

W (NM): OK. And the album is amazing too.

MR: It's OK, it's really good. But when it was released, many of the punk purists didn't like the album because of the brass and strings. But now, many people come up to me at shows, and they bring the album for me to sign, and they say, "I like it much more now than when it was released." And I understand. I understand what they were saying, what they're saying. They got used to it, they got used to the fact that, you know, the brass and strings and the Ramones, it was a cool experiment.

W (NM): Changing the subject, Marky, we have a classic question on our show, one that we ask everyone we interview, which is: imagine you're driving your car, or maybe in the shower, wherever, listening to a rock station, and a song starts playing that makes you completely lose your mind, and you start headbanging, and you go crazy. What song would that be, so we can listen to it on our show now?

MR: Oh, OK… “Ramones” by Motörhead.

W (NM): In the late 70s, disco was dominant in the music industry, and punk rock and heavy metal were struggling to survive. Do you remember seeing these two subcultures interacting with each other in the United States at that time?

MR: Well, metal appeared in '69, '70 actually, with Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, and Deep Purple. America was behind in heavy metal, about a year or so. But punk and metal… Metal got really big in the mid-70s, I'd say, you know, after Sabbath's third album. And then there was Deep Purple's "Machine Head," the live album. So there was a lot… Metal was already established. Punk, in '74, '75 in New York, at CBGB's, wasn't. That was the only place we could play, really, so it took much longer for punk to be recognized. Metal became much bigger than punk. So, I mean, we were competing with disco, with stadium rock, and all those bands that were, you know, self-indulgent, and played five, six, seven-minute songs, and all that, which I had nothing against… Everyone has their own taste. But that's what we were competing with, so the record labels were pushing disco and stadium rock. They thought punk was too violent, too… you know, too much. So the radio stations moved away from that, and that's why a lot of punk bands started playing disco music, so they would get airplay. And that's why a lot of metal bands started playing ballads. They played ballads so they would get airplay. But the Ramones, we stayed true to what we believed in, and you know, now we're played more than ever on radio stations all over the world, with “I Wanna Be Sedated”, “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “Rock N' Roll High School”, “Sheena is a Punk Rocker”… So it was a matter of competing with what the record labels were putting on the radio, obviously, to make money. And that's what was happening.

We solidified punk. There were bands before the Ramones, in '69, '70, like the Stooges, MC5, but they didn't play fast. They didn't count between songs.”

W (NM): And what did you feel, what did you think when you saw all the heavy metal bands fusing punk and metal, and becoming huge, like Metallica, Anthrax, all those bands that mixed punk and metal, what did you think of that at the time?

MR: Well, it was better than disco… We knew that these bands liked the Ramones, we knew that they liked Black Sabbath, we knew that they liked, you know, Zeppelin, and all these great bands. So, you know, it's really cool to see these things come together in a metal band… Metal and punk merging because of the influences of both. Then bands like these guys emerge, and that shows the influence they… What influenced them, which are the Ramones, Black Sabbath, many metal bands that were emerging at the time.

W (NM): We think the Ramones are obviously a band that transcends any musical style; they're that kind of band. But speaking about the punk movement, when we talk about heavy metal, it's quite clear that Black Sabbath invented it. There were bands like that before, but Black Sabbath kind of brought it all together, and that's symbolic for heavy metal fans. Even though there were bands like Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Cream, who obviously influenced the style. Is it fair to say that the Ramones invented punk, even though there were bands like MC5, The Stooges, and others that influenced the style? Do you think the Ramones could be the first real punk band?

MR: Yes, we solidified it. There were bands before the Ramones, a year or two before… This was in '69, '70, like the Stooges, the MC5, but they weren't… They didn't play fast. They didn't count between songs. Many of them were influenced by the rhythm of the blues. And, you know, the MC5 was basically a political rock 'n' roll band. The Stooges were like a garage band, kind of garage rock. And that's what was happening at the time, and you could also say that "Summertime Blues" by Blue Cheer was heavy metal, which came out in '68. So, you know, there were punk elements in those groups, but the Ramones solidified it, and Richard Hell too, in New York, with the album "Blank Generation". And then Malcolm McLaren took that and brought it to England, and then formed the Sex Pistols.

W (NM): Yes, you're right.

MR: It was that simple.

W (NM): And the album “Blank Generation”, on which you played, was also very important for the beginning of this movement, right?

MR: Yes, that was a punk anthem in New York, at CBGB's, that song. And then the Pistols wrote "Pretty Vacant," which was the same thing as "Blank Generation." And the Sex Pistols wrote "Pretty Vacant," which was something else about the same situation in London, you know…

W (NM): Do you remember the first time you came to Brazil? If I'm not mistaken, you played at a place called Palace, and I don't know if you remember this, but skinheads showed up in the streets to fight with the punks and the young people, and the place had to close its doors. Do you remember that?

MR: No… I went there, I think, the second time, and we played in a huge place. What I remember is wonderful fans and young people enjoying the music… It was very passionate. And that's why we kept going back, you know, that's something I'll never forget. And then many of the young people started forming their own bands, and using the Ramones as an influence to start their groups. And then, when we came back, they all… You know, many of them already had their bands, and they gave us their CDs, their tapes, and we were very happy to see that we were influencing their way of life and making music. That's what I remember.

W (NM): We have another question that we ask everyone we interview. Could you choose a song that you are very proud to have written, or perhaps recorded, so that we can hear it on our program now?

MR: "I Wanna Be Sedated".

W (NM): Excellent. I imagine this one was even more difficult than the first, right?

MR: No, you know, I love that song, it was the first song I recorded with Johnny, Joey, and Dee Dee, on “Road to Ruin,” in 1978. But, you know, I have a… I was in a heavy metal band when I was a teenager, and the band was called Dust, and I just released the album, the two albums I did with two of my… We were a three-piece band in the United States. And the albums were released five years before the first Ramones album. And if you look at the cover of the first album, you see me in a leather jacket and jeans. So the Ramones were big fans of Dust, because they would come to see me play at the Village. They didn't have a band yet, so I was already making albums before the Ramones even started. And what the albums are, is heavy metal, and there's an encyclopedia of heavy metal. Now, when the Dust album was released, a song from the album was voted into the top 10 of the charts. So, as a heavy metal band, Dust, we were one of the first bands in the United States to be called a heavy metal band. And that was in '70, '71. And my guitarist ended up producing the first two Kiss albums, and we became very good friends. So he was only 19 years old when he produced “Kiss” and “Hotter than Hell”.

W (NM): Great. Would you like to choose a song from Dust so we can listen to it on our show now?

MR: Yes. Alright, everyone listening to Wikimetal, this is Dust. The song is called “Suicide”.

"Not a day goes by that I don't think about the three of them, because they're no longer here."

W (NM): If you were to summarize each member of the Ramones, especially those who are no longer with us, what would be the first thing that would come to your mind if I said, for example, Dee Dee's name?

MR: He was my best friend in the group, he was a whirlwind. He was funny, he always said something that made me laugh out loud, and he was a great bass player, he could match my playing style, and, you know, we had a lot of fun together. And he was very open as an individual. And I'll always miss him, you know, he was a great friend.

W (NM): And Johnny?

MR: Johnny and I had a lot in common. We collected science fiction posters, and we liked science fiction movies. He was a more normal guy who liked to play music. And he didn't like going to parties as much as Dee Dee and I did. Actually, he didn't like parties, but you know, we were different. He was more or less the guy who took care of business and things like that. But we needed someone like that in the group, to deal with me, and Dee Dee, and Joey, and you know, we all had our roles. So Johnny was basically more… He was older than us, too, he was about six years older than me, Dee Dee, and Joey. But, you know, he was a great guitarist, I miss him, and you know, I knew him for… Wow, twenty-something years.

W (NM): OK, and Joey?

MR: Joey was very quiet, very introverted. Again, he was a close friend, but very… How can I say it? He had a problem called OCD, and everyone knows that, and it affected him and the people around him. But I understood that there was some problem. But now we understand what his problem was, because at that time, we didn't know, so it was kind of strange, until you understand what a person's problem is, you don't know how to deal with it, and now we know, because there's a term for it. But he was a very friendly guy, he was very quiet, he was a great singer, he had a lot of stage presence, and again, he's someone I miss, someone I'll always remember, and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the three of them, because they're no longer here, you know, they passed away.

W (NM): You also recorded Joey Ramone's wonderful album, his last album, I love that album.

MR: Yes, it's the only solo album that has any importance. He was alive during the recordings, and he asked me to play. I played on the album, but I could only play six songs because I was on tour, and I was really… I didn't have enough time to learn the whole album, so I could only do half with them. And we did the song that we both love, “What a Wonderful World,” which Louis Armstrong recorded. And, you know, Joey got to see his vision come true because he always wanted to do a solo album. And he did it before he died, and when we were recording, he would leave the hospital so he could sing in the studio. And after he did what he had to do, we would take him back to the hospital.

W (NM): OK, so if you don't mind, can we listen to a song from that album? Maybe the one you mentioned, by Louis Armstrong.

MR: OK. Hi everyone, this is Marky Ramone, and you're listening to Wikimetal. And now you're going to hear "What a Wonderful World" by Joey Ramone and myself on drums.

W (NM): That's legendary, Mark. So, before we finish, what would you say to a young person who is just starting to play drums?

MR: Keep practicing… Practice – that’s the most important thing. And try to maintain a… Don’t smoke cigarettes, don’t do hard drugs, and try to exercise. Believe in yourself, that’s the most important thing. And if you think you’re good, and if you think you have the gift, keep playing and playing and playing. Form a group – that’s important, because you have to play with other people, musicians, so you can understand what each musician does. As a drummer, you have to keep the beat, and that’s very important. So listen to all… Listen to all kinds of music, not just what you like. Open yourself up, you know, listen to jazz, listen to metal, listen to punk, listen to… Even listen to blues. It’s very important because these are different rhythms. So, you know, I suggest this to a guy who’s starting out.

W (NM): Well, it was wonderful talking to you, Marky Ramone, legendary drummer, it was a real honor. It's not every day that we get to talk to one of our rock 'n' roll heroes, so personally, it was a great honor. Thank you very much again, and we'll see each other here in Brazil, for sure.

MR: OK.

W (NM): All the best.

Listen to the entire episode here: