January 30, 2015
7 PM
Book signing at the
Bethlehem Area Public Library
11 W. Church Street
Bethlehem, PA 18018
You must register to attend. Follow this link:
Praise for
PUNK ROCK BLITZKRIEG:
“The
Ramones are one of the three or four most influential American rock bands of
all time, and their story, as related by surviving member Marky Ramone, is both
entertaining and enlightening. So put on your old leather jacket, scream
Gabba-Gabba-Hey at the top of your lungs, and dig in.” – Stephen King
“Marky
and I are from the 70’s as a drummer from the 70's he can show the new boys a
beat or two!
He's
legend!!!” – Peter
Criss of Kiss
“Marky
was an integral part of not one, but TWO of the most important bands in rock
and roll. He saw everything from ground zero and lived to tell about it.
Absolutely vital document!” – Anthony Bourdain
“Marky's
music and style defined the punk rock movement and has influenced countless
artists, entertainers and designers. As a musician, he harnessed the energy of
the 1970s counterculture into a truly new movement, one that resulted in a
seismic shift in fashion, art and music. While playing in great groups like
Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, Dust, Estus, Richard Hell and the
Voidoids, and of course The Ramones he became known as one of the best drummers
on the scene.” – Tommy
Hilfiger
“It’s no secret
that one of the Sire bands I was closest with were The Ramones. After all, my
wife Linda, and good friend, Danny Fields managed them, and musically they
changed the world. I particularly depended on Tommy for strength and reason
within the band, and was quite shocked and saddened when he decided to leave.
Thankfully, with advice from Tommy, they wound up choosing Marc Bell, who I
knew well from Richard Hell and the Voidoids, also a Sire band. Marc is a
drummer supreme, and was a perfect fit in every way, which is why I believe he
was also chosen as the only non-original member to be inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame with the band back in 2002. Beyond that, his story, both
in and out of The Ramones, musically and personally is quite incredible. A good
read.” – Seymour Stein, co-founder of Sire Records
“True
fans will shout ‘Hey! Ho! Let’s go!’” – Booklist
“…illuminating book for fans of the Ramones and punk rock in
general.” – Kirkus
Reviews
Among the most revered rock bands in music
history, the Ramones have been ranked by Spin
Magazine as the #2
"Greatest Band of All Time," second only to the Beatles. As a group,
they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and received a
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011. Renowned drummer Marky Ramone provides
the final word on The Ramones, on and
off the road, in his new memoir, PUNK ROCK
BLITZKRIEG: My Life as a Ramone (Touchstone
Hardcover; January 13, 2015; $28.00; ISBN: 978-1-4516-8775-0). PUNK ROCK BLITZKRIEG is a cultural
history of punk from the front lines and the definitive book that millions of
Ramones fans have been waiting for.
Before joining the Ramones in 1978,
Brooklyn native and self-taught drummer Marc Bell was already a name on the New
York music scene. As a teenager he took the subway to Greenwich Village and got
to hang out with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, and Jim Morrison. By
the time he graduated from Erasmus High School, Marc Bell was signed to a major label record deal. In his early twenties, Marc joined the first
wave of punk in both Wayne County and the Backstreet Boys, and Richard Hell and
the Voidoids. Then, on the advice of drummer Tommy Ramone, Marc was asked to
join the band and became Marky Ramone.
What followed is nailed to the pages of
rock and roll history: Marky built on the iconic, high energy drum sound of The
Ramones, helping them perfect the craft that started down in the basement—the
perfect 2-½ minute song with a hook that stays in your head a lifetime. Marky
gave the beat to the punk classics, “I Wanna Be Sedated.” “Rock ‘n’ Roll High
School,” “The KKK Took My Baby Away, and “Pet Sematary,” going on to play drums with the Ramones for fifteen
years, nine studio albums, and 1,700 shows alongside Queens natives Joey,
Johnny, and Dee Dee Ramone, and the chaos is as memorable as the music.
Joey was the lead singer—the perfect punk
front man and introverted songwriter whose OCD stranded the Ramones at
restaurants, hotels, and airports all over the world. Johnny was the guitarist
and the band’s leader who spouted off his right-wing politics to a band captive
in a van criss-crossing the country. Dee Dee was the eccentric genius of the
band, taking four bubble baths a day, popping a variety of pills handed to him
by fans, and writing songs about alienation, addiction, and despair that would
go on to redefine the term “hit song.”
Marky Ramone’s early years with the band
saw many successes, from the cult film Rock
‘n’ Rock High School to
performing at large venues all over Europe and the Pacific Rim. But the wear
and tear of touring and the dysfunction that was the Ramones drove Marky’s
struggles with alcoholism off the road. In the mid-eighties, Marky left the
Ramones to enter recovery, a process far more difficult than any drum roll or
off-time beat ever could be.
PUNK ROCK BLITZKRIEG
is a social history of
the New York punk scene from a charter member. The tales from the dirty
streets, the drugs, and epic struggles are all part of the unforgettable saga
of a band that sang “We’re A Happy Family” with more than a bit of sarcasm. It also includes never before shared stories
of touring, meeting Stephen King, working with Phil Spector, and the sheer
expanse of the band and punk rock music from the mid-seventies to the early
twenty-first century.
Tragically, Joey died in April 2001 from
lymphoma. Shortly after, Dee Dee died of an overdose. Johnny lost his battle
with prostate cancer in September 2004. Most recently Tommy Ramone died in July
2014 of cancer. These towering figures in rock history live on in our hearts,
on the airwaves, and in the riveting tales of their surviving brother, Marky
Ramone.
About the Author:
Marky Ramone is currently in
his tenth year as a D.J. on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, hosting ‘Marky Ramone’s
Punk Rock Blitzkrieg.’ Marky has also appeared on numerous TV shows, including
‘Late Night with David Letterman,’ ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,’ ‘The
Simpsons,’ ‘Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations,’ and ‘ZRock.’ With no signs of
slowing down, Marky Ramone continues to tour the world with his band, Marky
Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, featuring various lead vocalists – including Andrew W.K.
In 2011, The Ramones received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. It was the
first Grammy for the punk rock pioneers.
PUNK ROCK BLITZKRIEG: My Life as a Ramone
By Marky Ramone
Touchstone Hardcover
On Sale: January 13, 2015
Price: $28.00
ISBN: 9781451687750 / ISBN 10:
1451687753
For
more information on PUNK ROCK BLITZKRIEG,
please visit:
Marky Ramone Blitzkrieg
•
Marky grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn, during the 1960’s, and like many
up-and-coming drummers at the time, saw
himself as a “Ringo.” The first band he played drums in was the Uncles (a
tribute to the 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' TV show), and they rocked Ditmas
Junior High School. Soon after, Marky
met Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles, and Jim Morrison at a club in the city…and was
ready to be a rock star.
• Marky’s first break out band
was the proto-heavy metal, Dust. The trailblazing (and way-ahead-of-its time) band
signed a major recording contract and recorded a self-titled album - opening for Alice Cooper and managing to
break the Billboard Top 100 chart.
•
Marky next honed his drumming in the successful 70’s band, Estus…but it
wasn’t really his scene. He didn’t truly
feel at home until he became part of the early New York punk scene and joined
two of the most infamous bands to play the clubs: Wayne County and The
Backstreet Boys and Richard Hell and the Voidoids (playing on the latter's
classic 1977 album, 'Blank Generation').
• Marky joined The Ramones after
drummer, Tommy Ramone, decided to leave the band. For
Marky, it was just rock and roll logical
- he already had the look down, was wearing the leather jacket and jeans in
Dust, played the drums exactly as the machine gunned songs demanded, had known
the boys from Queens for years…and was just as much a freak as they were. Although Tommy and the band
were parting, it wasn’t on terrible terms; Tommy was actually the member that
recommended Marky to the rest of the band.
•
All
four original members took on the same stage surname as a tribute to Paul
McCartney’s pseudonym, Paul Ramon, back from when the Beatles were the Silver
Beatles. They
were all from a nice, middle-class (largely Jewish) neighborhood in Queens,
known as Forest Hills.
• Stephen King invited the entire band up to his
house in Bangor, Maine. He handed Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone a copy of his
book, Pet Sematary, and in under an hour, Dee Dee wrote a song about it.
Stephen King loved it and wanted it recorded by The Ramones for the new movie
that was coming out, based on the book. The song hit #4 on the Billboard
Modern Rock chart.
• In 1994, Bono invited The
Ramones to play a huge show with U2 in Ovideo, Spain. Bono presented The Ramones with their MTV Lifetime Achievement Award in
2001, which made perfect sense - the
band had inspired Bono since the late 70s when he saw them play in Dublin.
•
Their final album, 1995's Adios Amigos, was written mostly by Dee
Dee.
• After guest hosting a couple
of radio shows, Marky was invited by Sirius to have his own show that invites
listeners to enjoy punk rocks songs and learn about where they came from, Marky
Ramone’s Blitzkrieg plays unique bands like Rancid and Circle Jerks, among
many other top artists. It’s been airing for ten years.
•
After Marky’s drinking became
so out of control that he drove through a storefront window (!), he was forced
out of The Ramones in 1983. During his early sobriety, he actually became a bike messenger, before
rejoining The Ramones in 1987. He has been sober for over thirty years,
constantly keeping himself in check.
• The 2004 DVD release, “Raw”,
is a compilation of mostly home videos filmed predominantly by Marky, and
entered the Billboard video chart at number 5. It has since been certified
gold in three countries and currently the best-selling Ramones DVD release to
date. It has also
subsequently aired on VH1 Classic.
• In 2010, Marky shared his recipe for pasta sauce, by
introducing Marky Ramone’s Brooklyn’s
Own Pasta Sauce, where a portion of the proceeds go to the non-profit,
Autism Speaks.
•
In February 2011, The Ramones received a Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award. It was the first Grammy for the punk rock
pioneers.
•
As a member of The Ramones for over 15 years, Marky's
book will serve as the definitive story of one of rock’s most influential and
popular bands.
•
Marky continues to play
around the world, including guest performances at Barclays Center (in his hometown of
Brooklyn) with such major acts like Arcade Fire and Fall Out Boy.
See you January 30th
Cheers
Frank FOE
