Classic Rock Revisited founder Jeb Wright recently caught up with drummer Marky Ramone to discuss his forthcoming autobiography, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone, due out in January. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Jeb: You are reflecting on the past in this book. Did a lot of ghosts of the past visit you during the writing process?

Marky: "The skeletons definitely came out. I had to tell it like it was. There were the rehabs and the D.T’s and the craziness that drinking a little too much can do to you. Like going to the furniture store in my car and driving through the store. That was a blackout. We are talking mid-afternoon and I drove right through the window. I was mugged and I was fingerprinted… who wants to go through that again? If I had kept on doing that I could have killed someone or myself. It was just the right time to stop." 

Jeb: You revisited the early days of the Ramones. It had to be interesting to look at your life under such a microscope. 

Marky: "The book goes through the whole gamut of my life. I talk about auditioning for The New York Dolls and then hanging out in the New York scene. I talk about making Rock and Roll High School and working with Phil Spector and what went down at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Grammy Awards behind the scenes. It is not just about the Ramones. I talk about being with Richard Hell and the Voidoids and when we toured with The Clash in ’77. I got the firsthand look at how the punk scene was evolving there for four and a half weeks on that tour. This book is very comprehensive."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life As A Ramone will be released on January 13th, 2015, via Touchstone Books. And what better way to celebrate the book's arrival than with gloriously mega-decibel renditions of Ramones classics, which is exactly what Marky will be offering up on Saturday, January 17th at the Gramercy Theatre in NYC.

Joining Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg that night will be special guest Andrew W.K. on vocals, and for fans that want the ultimate experience, VIP tickets will be available, which includes a personal meet and greet with Marky and Andrew and an autographed copy of the book.

"These songs are too good not to be played," says Marky. "I am really looking forward to playing live once more in my hometown of NYC, and celebrating the arrival of the book."

Punk Rock Blitzkrieg will serve as a social history of the New York punk scene from an eyewitness. Yes, it has plenty of tales from the dirty streets, drugs, and rock and roll, but it also takes readers on a musical journey of a legendary band. And a few days after it's release, fans will get the opportunity to rock out - and possibly meet - one of the greatest rock n' roll drummers of all time.