The Ramones: September 1995

The names of Joey, DeeDee, Johnny and Marky Ramone bring to mind the vision of Chuck Taylor Converse, old washed out Levi’s, white T-shirts and the ever-present black leather jacket. Just like names of places that the Ramones made famous—CBGB’s for one, Max’s Kansas City for another. Paul McCartney used to sign into hotels under the name ‘Ramone,’ which is where Joey got the idea. When I finally caught up with Marky and Joey they were being followed across the country by two guys from Michigan who took their credit card and told their wives they were going on the road with The Ramones. “They said they had the time of their life though. I mean we just played one of those spontaneous incidents that they were possessed or something by the Ramones and they had to follow us. I don’t even know if they told their wives, cause they said they’re in a lot of trouble” Joey said afterwards. Twenty one years, and nineteen albums later this New York City punk band has never given up, broken up or grown up.

1974

Joey: “Started out in 74. I guess really 74. Actually we started as the band was in a different formation than it currently is. I was on the drums and I’d sing one song. DeeDee played guitar and sang but he couldn’t sing and play at the same time so when he’d sing he wouldn’t play, play he wouldn’t sing. John played guitar. When we were auditioning drummers, Tommy would sit down on the drums and kind of show these drummers how to play the style we were looking for, but the ironic thing was Tommy never played drums in his life and he would develop this thing. So then when we couldn’t find a drummer to play the kind of style we wanted we asked Tom if he’d play drums and had it down, he was just natural.” 

1976

The Ramones are playing local NYC clubs and gaining a reputation as a fast, cool band. Marky was in Richard Hell and the Voidoids. The original line-up releases Ramones (1976) and Leave Home (1977). 

Joey: “Well in New York, I guess we found this club we saw, and Television were playing there and we went to check it out. It was like this slum bar on the Bowery called CBGB.” 

“CBGB’s in the early days… there used to be sawdust all over the floor and dog shit all over. Like a minefield” 

The Ramones go to London. This is prior to the Sex Pistols or The Clash. They played two sold out shows, one at the Roundhouse and one at Dingwalls. 

Marky: “The Clash and the Pistols came to see the band in ‘76 in London. They didn’t have any albums out yet, and they were in the audience watching the Ramones.” 

Joey: “All these kids, you know, they came for a sound check to tell us that we were like basically the inspiration behind them starting their bands. Those would be the Sex Pistols, the Clash, The Boomtown Rats. A lot of these bands, the first show they ever played was on a bill with the Ramones on the first big tour we did of Europe and England in ‘77, and I remember like we did that tour. Talking Heads were on a show with us.” 

1978 

Rocket to Russia is released and the Ramones travel extensively. They were out for about two months and did all of Europe, France and Holland and England. 

1978 

Road To Ruin is released and Marky joins the band. 

Marky: “John approached me in Max’s Kansas City when I was with Johnny Thunders, Jerry Nolan and Clem Burke from Blondie. He thought I was too obvious, so he took me to the side and goes you know, ‘do you want to be in the band?’” 

“The only things Joe Strummer had in his cassette collection was Rocket to Russia and a Bob Marley tape” 

“Sid Vicious idolized DeeDee cause he could play. Sid Vicious was a spoiled mama’s boy. They just put him in the leather jacket and safety pins and they devised this image. He worked in a clothes store. And you know they all came from middle class families. They weren’t poor, it’s bullshit, you know?”

1979: Rock N Roll High School 

The Ramones team up with Phil Spector, for an album that expanded their fan base and notoriety, but not everyone was happy with the record.

Marky: “Well everyone thought it could have been better. John hated it. DD hated it, and I didn’t like it that much and Joey thought it could have been better. The song selection was good but the production was ah…you know.”

1980: End of the Century

Marky: “In ‘80, I didn’t think we’d last another three years. I was drinking a lot, DeeDee was doing a lot of drugs and everybody was just disenchanted with the whole spectacle.” 

In early 1981, the Ramones were writing songs for their next album, and the music scene had changed around them. 

1981

Pleasant Dreams was released and the bands like The Cars are starting to get big.

Marky: “Cars, I mean they were good for what they did. But you know, it was just acceptable pop punk. Blondie was going disco with her disco songs. The Sex Pistols were already broken up. The Clash was trying to get bigger. They started playing with at Shea Stadium and then they broke up. I became good friends with Mick Jones because we toured together in the ‘70s. We hung out together. So they broke up. What was left? The Ramones and Heartbreakers continued going on but they really weren’t making any impact. Only maybe in the major cities, like New York, California. So punk was sort of not being accepted because it was too extreme at the time.”

1981 and ‘82 came along and things weren’t too good within the band. There was a lot of fighting, a lot of drinking and a lot of finger pointing. 

Marky: “Well, at the time, I guess so. And it’s funny because when MTV was started they wanted our videos. And we gave them our videos. As MTV grew, they didn’t want out videos anymore. They banned “Psychotherapy” and Green Day ripped it off, the hospital scene. They ripped it off, I mean it’s obvious.” 

1983 

Subterranean Jungle was released. Marky takes a four year vacation. “We just finished the Subterranean Jungle album. I didn’t want to have anything to do with music business. I just wanted to have fun.” The Ramones released three records before Marky rejoined in 1987. It was kind of a hazy period in Ramones history. 

Joey: “It was a weird time. Kind of a strange time in my life. I was indulging quite a bit in those days. And I think my life was kind of a darker period maybe.”

Too Tough To Die (1984), Animal Boy (1986) and Hallway to Sanity (1987)

Marky joined the band again in ‘87. He did the Pet Cemetery album in ‘89, which featured his first shot at songwriting “Learn to Listen.”

Ramones Mania (1988) 

This sells pretty well, and still no Ramones on steady rotation on MTV. And no huge festival shows for the most famous punk band in the world. 

Marky: “A bunch of fucking wimps that were afraid to play with us. Because you know the ‘Old Mighty Ramones’ you know, strong energetic bands, you know a lot of these bands grew up on us and they were afraid to open for us. So thats what happened with Lollapalooza.”

Brain Drain (1989 )

Things definitely enhanced, according to the Ramones, who have outlasted even their own expectations. 

Joey: “We know what makes us tick. Why we’re doing this in the first place, I mean we’re all like big fans of rock and roll first. We didn’t form a band to be hip and trendy and get laid. But it don’t hurt.” 

All The Stuff Vol. 1 (1990)

Marky: “Oh, I’ll tell you what the shitty albums are: Subterranean Jungle, I hated it. I hated the Brain Drain album with “Pet Cemetery” on it. I hated those two the most. I didn’t like the Phil Spector album that much. I like Road to Ruin, I like Mondo Bizarro, I like ¡Adios Amigos!, I like Rocket to Russia and I liked all the others.”

All The Stuff Vol. 2 (1991)

1990 comes around. It was like the ice age came. All the dinosaurs came back. All the hair bands are gone.

Joey: “ I guess it kind of started over the last couple of decades. I mean from the time the Ramones infiltrated the system more or less. Then over the years there was like Jane’s Addiction and then Nirvana was a great band. And then like in the ‘90s there’s this punk resurgence happening. I guess like the high rollers are Green Day and Offspring.” 

Marky: “We have kids coming to our shows who are anywhere from 14 to 18 now. We have a new audience, we see it growing. Where were they before?…the reason why is we weren’t played over the radio we weren’t played over MTV and punk wasn’t important anymore until ‘92 or ‘93, around there. Then Green Day came out, Offspring came out. Big Ramones fan, named his kid Ramona. One of the Green Day guys. I think the drummer named his kid Ramona.” 

Loco Live (1991) 

The Ramones make it through another decade, the decade of the yuppie. And still, no change for these New Yorkers. Some of their old cohorts weren’t so lucky. Namely Johnny Thunders. 

Joey: “Yeah, that’s what happens to the best of the drug addicts. You’re just left. No trophies for drug addicts, No trophies for drug addicts, they got to get with it.”

Marky: “Yeah, yuppie’s got their asses kicked when the stock market went down in 87. They were greedy, showing their wealth to everybody. Now they’re lucky if they get fucking jobs, a lot of them are waiters. And to me they fucking deserve it. Because they were creepy bastards. You know they look at me, okay you fucking long-hair and your sneakers. What are you some fucking asshole?” 

Mondo Bizarro (1991)

Marky: “Johnny Ramone is the best guitar player alive at what he does. Technically, not good at all. But you get another guitar player to do all that for an hour and 15-20 minutes up there, it can’t happen.”

Acid Eaters (1994)

We did a show with U2 in Spain, So I’m walking around backstage. They’ve got all these computers. What the fuck is all this? Then I realized they’re getting all this sound. The drum is hitting a symbol and you hear a drum sound instead. They’re all programmed. What you hear U2 doing half of it’s on computer. That’s cheating the people. I hate that. I want to make sure the band is what you hear. I never like them anyway.” 

Adios Amigos (1995)

Marky: “This new album of the Ramones now I have to say saved their asses. Because out of a one through ten I gave it a nine.” 

Joey: “These questions made me like had to take a piss.”

So the Ramones probably are finished after this tour, at least in this form. But they left us a legacy. They did to America what no one else could do, and they didn’t change one bit along the way. Gabby Gabba Hey.

Read more from the SLUG archives here: 
River Bed Jed: February 1993 
The Best Day of My Whole Life