Marky Ramone--Punk Rock Blitzkrieg by Marky Ramone

Author:Marky Ramone [Marky Ramone]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784188306
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2015-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

12

TRICKLE-DOWN ECONOMICS

The building at 29 John Street where Marion and I lived had been around for about seventy years but was no match for my 500-watt stereo system. It was a tall converted loft building in the financial district, a few blocks north of Wall Street. The building was originally commercial but was now ‘mixed use’, in this case about half commercial and half residential. I managed to disturb both halves.

When we had a few days off from touring, I led the life of a king – or at least a punk prince. I would get up in the late morning and order in. In my case, ordering in consisted of calling the liquor store across the street from our building. The owner would usually make the trip up in the elevator to the ninth floor himself. He loved me. And why wouldn’t he? I spent hundreds of dollars on wine, champagne, vodka, and anything else that seemed appealing with a late brunch, or instead of it.

Once I had a few drinks to wake up, the afternoon concert began. I blasted a wide variety of great music: the Kinks, the Who, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, the Beatles, Blondie, Little Richard, the Ronettes, and this other great band called the Ramones. There were complaints from the left and complaints from the right. From upstairs and from downstairs. There were complaints from jewelry wholesalers, law offices, and residential loft dwellers who were having trouble dwelling. Apparently, the pipes carried the sound up and down through the building to a degree where my neighbors could tell whether I was playing the studio version or live version of Tommy.

I didn’t give a shit about the complaints. It was business hours, and this was my business. But they did have a point. It was getting a little too loud. One afternoon, side two of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland cracked the glass in one of our cabinets.

For the first time in my life, I was making really good money consistently, and there was nothing wrong with that. When I first joined the Ramones, the arrangement was done on a handshake, and it was great to get that regular paycheck from Ira Herzog. But I asked for a more formal agreement, and John resisted.

I called my father one day while we were on tour and told him how disappointed I was. He told me not to let them screw me. My dad got me a lawyer, and we asked for a piece of the record royalties and merchandising. Our offer seemed reasonable to me: about half of what John, Dee Dee, and Joey got starting with my first Ramones album, Road to Ruin, and thereafter a slightly increasing percentage with each album that followed. The Ramones camp held out for a long time, but my father told me to stay cool because eventually they would cave. And that was exactly what happened.

Meanwhile, John was excited because his man, Ronald Reagan, was gearing up for the 1980 presidential race.

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