Marky Ramone

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Marky Ramone
Marky Ramone by foto-di-matti 0083.jpg
Ramone in 2009
Background information
Birth nameMarc Steven Bell
Born (1952-07-15) July 15, 1952 (age 71)
New York City, U.S.
Genres Punk rock, heavy metal, hard rock
Occupation(s)Musician, actor
Instrument(s)Drums, percussion
Years active1971–present
Website markyramone.com

Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952) is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He replaced drummer Tommy Ramone in the Ramones in 1978, and went by the stage name Marky Ramone from then on. He has also played drums for other punk rock and heavy metal bands, including his own band Marky Ramone and the Intruders. He continues to keep the Ramones legacy alive around the world with his band Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg.

Contents

Ramone lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, Marion Flynn. [1] In 2015, he released his autobiography Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone.

Early life

According to his autobiography, he and his twin brother Fred were born at New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children on July 15, 1952, and is of Dutch ancestry on his father's side and of French and German ancestry on his mother's side. [2]

Music career

Bell began playing drums in 1971 with the hard rock band Dust, featuring Kenny Aaronson on bass and Richie Wise on guitar, and produced by Kenny Kerner. Bell recorded two albums with the band, before getting into the punk scene. In late 1972, following the death of the New York Dolls' original drummer Billy Murcia, Bell was the only seriously considered alternative to the eventually chosen Jerry Nolan. [3] [4] "Jerry and I knew each other," he said. "When Billy died, I went down to the loft where the Dolls were auditioning… I could do different time signatures, different accents, and I basically overplayed it – put in all these drum fills that weren't necessary. And Jerry just kept the beat straight. So Jerry got it and I didn't." [5]

In 1973, Marky joined Estus and recorded an album of the same name, produced by the Rolling Stones' first producer, Andrew Loog Oldham. Bandmates for Estus included Harry Rumpf and Tom and John Nicholas. In the mid-1970s, Bell joined Wayne County & The Backstreet Boys, then move onto Richard Hell and the Voidoids and played on their first album, Blank Generation . In May 1978, Tommy Ramone asked Bell to join the Ramones; he accepted and was renamed Marky Ramone.

Marky was with the Ramones for the next five years. He starred in the movie Rock 'n' Roll High School , recorded the anthem, "I Wanna be Sedated", and worked with producer Phil Spector. After five albums with Dee Dee, Joey, and Johnny Ramone, Marky was asked to leave the band in February 1983 because of a drinking problem. He was replaced by Richie Ramone who was himself replaced four years later by Clem Burke of Blondie, who was asked to leave after only two shows. Marky returned clean and sober in August 1987, and played 1,700 shows and recorded ten studio albums with the band (the most records amongst the band's drummers) until their retirement in August 1996. [6]

Ramone and Ken Stringfellow, 2016 Marky Ramone and Ken Stringfellow, 2016.jpg
Ramone and Ken Stringfellow, 2016

In 1996, Marky joined Dee Dee Ramone to form the Ramainz, performing Ramones songs.

In 2000, Marky joined Joey to record Joey's solo album, entitled Don't Worry About Me . Joey told talk show host Joe Franklin that Marky was his favorite drummer along with Keith Moon.

In 1997 and 1999, Marky recorded two albums with his solo band Marky Ramone and the Intruders. In 2001, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award from MTV by U2 singer Bono. In September 2004, Ramone served as executive producer and released a Ramones DVD entitled Ramones: Raw , which featured footage of the band while on tour all over the world along with other various rare, vintage footage. Much of the candid footage is courtesy of Marky Ramone's personal video library. Ramones: Raw is the only certified gold-selling Ramones DVD and one of only two US gold selling releases in the Ramone entire catalog, the other being the greatest hits double LP Ramones Mania . Ramones: Raw is also the highest charting release in Ramones history.

On April 22, 2008, Marky Ramone appeared on a new CD in Canada playing drums with the Canadian punk band called Teenage Head. [7] The CD was called Teenage Head with Marky Ramone and was released in the USA on June 10, 2008.

Other work

Radio

Since 2005, he has hosted the show Punk Rock Blitzkrieg on Sirius XM. The show was originally aired on Faction (formerly Channel 41), but has since been moved to 1st Wave (Channel 33) following the launch of Turbo on Channel 41 and the relocation of Faction to Channel 314 as an Xtra Channel. The show has been renamed to Marky Ramone's 1st Wave Blitzkrieg. [8] [9] In April 2018, Marky Ramone's Punk Rock Blitzkrieg launched as a 24/7 channel (Channel 712) available online only for Sirius XM subscribers. The channel features previously aired recordings of Marky Ramone's 1st Wave Blitzkrieg.

Television

Business

Books

In 2015, Ramone released his autobiography Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone. [12]

Discography

Solo

With Marky Ramone and the Intruders

With Mark Ramone and the Speed Kings

Compilation

Band work

With Dust

With Estus

With The Voidoids

With the Ramones

With The Ramainz:

With Misfits:

With Osaka Popstar:

With Teenage Head:

Session work

With Dee Dee Ramone:

With Joey Ramone:

With Cherie Currie:

With Bluesman:

With Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg:

Music videos

Ramone produced, with Callicore Studio, two animated videos illustrating two songs from the Marky Ramone and the Intruders albums.

Filmography

Awards

Footnotes

  1. The South American version of The Answer to Your Problems? was titled Don't Blame Me.
  2. Legends Bleed is the United States expanded reissue of No If's, And's or But's.
  3. The United States version of Zonked was titled Ain't It Fun.

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References

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  2. Ramone, Marky (January 13, 2015). "Chapter 1". Punk Rock Blitzkrieg. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1451687750.
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  5. Fortnam, Ian (November 2015). "Heavy Load". Classic Rock . No. 216. p. 138.
  6. "Marky Ramone". Ramones.com. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
  7. Heisel, Scott (June 3, 2008). "Web Exclusive: A conversation with Marky Ramone". Alternative Press . Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  8. "Marky Ramone hosts punk show on Sirius Radio". Paste . April 9, 2009. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  9. "SiriusXM Faction". Facebook.com. Archived from the original on February 26, 2022.
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  11. "Marky Ramone". Marky Ramone. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  12. "Marky Ramone Exclusive: Read an Excerpt From 'Punk Rock Blitzkrieg'". Rolling Stone. January 7, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.