Neither Keith Moon nor John Bonham lived long enough to perpetuate their bands' legacies. The group Charlie Watts led was a jazz band, while Ringo Starr did only the few Beatles songs he sang on in his All-Starr Band shows--and barely drummed at all.
It’s come down to Marky Ramone, then, to keep the flame of his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band burning brightly, and that he most certainly did Thursday night at the Gramercy Theatre. With The Ramones’ original lead singer Joey Ramone, original guitarist Johnny Ramone and original bassist Dee Dee Ramone all long gone to Punk Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven (original drummer Tommy Ramone stayed with the group for only the first three albums, and now plays mandolin and guitar in the bluegrass duo Uncle Monk), Ramone heads Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg, which gets as close to The Ramones as humanly possible.
Coming out to the Perry Mason theme—and crowd shouts of the Ramones’ signature chant “Hey! Ho! Let’s go,” Ramone walked over to the vocalist’s mic at the center of the stage and quietly muttered, “We're gonna play some songs you probaby know.” Then seating himself at the drums, he fueled his band of former Misfits vocalist Michale Graves (Ramone also previously played with The Misfits), guitarist Crazy Joe and bassist Graham Van Derveen in a ferocious set of songs that everyone did indeed know, all but maybe two being bona fide Ramones classics.
Starting with “Rockaway Beach”—the 1977 Rocket To Russia album track that could have been a huge summer hit had punk rock had commercial success at the time--Ramone's Blitzkrieg ripped through some 30 rapid-fire songs known to all, including, of course, “Teenage Lobotomy,” “Sheena Is A Punk Rocker,” “Beat On The Brat,” “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue,” “Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment,” “Pinhead,” “Judy Is A Punk,” “Cretin Hop,” "Rock 'N' Roll High School,” “The KKK Took My Baby Away” and “I Wanna Be Sedated.”
It was like watching a well-oiled machine roll straight ahead to the steadiest rock beat—just like The Ramones. Crazy Joe and Van Derveen had the Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone formation and poses down pat; Graves sang strong, and if he doesn’t match the dark color of Joey Ramone’s voice, he brings more action to the performance.
The show closed with “Blitzkrieg Bop,” the lead track of The Ramones' self-titled 1976 debut album, from which the “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!” rallying cry comes. Ramone took an extended drum flourish lasting maybe 15 seconds, and the band exited to the strains of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
Of special note was the cover of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain," and Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World"--which Joey Ramone recorded shortly before he died in 2001. The band also performed their single "When We Were Angels," which Graves wrote.
Noteworthy, too, was Van Derveen’s perfect rendition of Dee Dee Ramone's "1-2-3-4" shout-out before every song.
Outside, meanwhile, was the Marky Ramone's Cruisin' Kitchen food truck, the result of a partnership between the New York-based Cruisin' Kitchen mobile canteen specializing in trattoria-style cuisine and Ramone, who recently developed a signature pasta sauce. The drummer has also designed limited edition signature sunglasses for a Brazilian eyewear manufacturer, and has painted a signed and numbered series of drum heads for the Maximillian Gallery at Sunset Marquis in Los Angeles.
Just this year The Ramones received the Recording Academy's prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award at a special invitation-only ceremony in Los Angeles during Grammy Week. Last year, Marky Ramone was honored with a drum scholarship in his name by the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles.
So he stands out in carrying on his band's name and fame, in more ways than one.
[The Examiner wrote the first book on The Ramones, Ramones--An American Band.]
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