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went for some other people who might have wanted to play with Dee Dee, like
Richard Hell or somebody in the punk rock world.
I guess that was how the Ramones held onto their money. By now, they were
past their heyday in the late 70s when their material was new. “Keep it in the
family” was a financial thing. Making music was just a job to them.
To the Ramones, it was like this—if you had been a Ramone, for the rest of
your life you had to be 100% Ramone. You couldn't record solo albums and you
couldn't do your own work. But Dee Dee had quit the band like five years ago!
By that time, Dee Dee hated all of the Ramones except for Joey, and he only
liked Joey on good days. He hated Marky Ramone, and he hated their drummer
Tommy really bad.
Dee Dee told me that he finally decided to quit the Ramones this one time
when they were driving in the van. Dee Dee wanted to listen to a Reba McIntire
tape but Johnny wanted to listen to a baseball game instead, and Johnny angrily
threw the Reba Mclntire tape at Dee Dee. That was the last straw for Dee Dee.
Dee Dee also said that, when he and Johnny Ramone had been getting along,
they would tryandsee whocould lookat the audience with the most hateful face
possible. Dee Dee said Johnny was pretty damned good at it.
When Dee Dee and I had first started rehearsing together, it was really fun.
We'd play for a while using these little battery-powered amplifiers. He had a
Fender Twin, this little amp about as big as three packs of cigarettes. So we'd be
playing for a while, and after some time he'd say “Let's talk for a while.” He'd
sit there on the couch and tell me these stories about the Ramones, what it was
like being on the road with them and all this crazy stuff. He also told me about
other rockers that he knew.
Among these were two of punk rock's most controversial provocateurs: Lydia Lunch and
reveals himself to be something of a punk prude.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
G.G. Allin!!! Aaagh! That guy's crazy. He's out of jail now?
DEE DEE RAMONE
Yeah, he got out. I saw him in Chicago. He got out. He was in Jackson County
Jail, in Michigan.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
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