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The show also attracted a coterie of CBGB's veterans.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
Joey Ramone came to the show with Clem Burke, from Blondie. But Dee Dee
acted really rude to Joey. After the show was over, my girlfriend Carol happened
to be sitting at the bar. Dee Dee was about to leave, and he walked up to the bar
to say goodbye to Carol. Joey was already at the bar, talking to Carol, and Joey
said, “Hey, Dee Dee!”
DeeDeedidn'tevensay“hello”toJoey,whohadgonetothetroubletoshow
up at our gig. Dee Dee totally snubbed him.
Carol told me, “Man, Dee Dee was really mean to that guy. He walked right
out on him.”
I thought it was strange too. But at the time, the Ramones had been trying to
get Dee Dee not to use the name Dee Dee Ramone. He had been forced to go to
court and spend money just to use the name Dee Dee Ramone. I remember the
day they agreed to let him use his name. He was thrilled about the fact that he
could use the Dee Dee Ramone name, but it really didn't mean anything to me
at the time. I guess if you look back on it, it would have been pretty wild if the
Ramones had made him go out on stage as Douglas Colvin.
After their experience playing with each other in the Dee Dee Ramone Group, Robert
Campbell's final statements about Dee Dee aren't about his musical talent, and they aren't
about his impulsive personality. They're about his work ethic. Lots of people have talent,
but talent only goes so far. Not everyone has a work ethic, though. Not everyone has self-
discipline. Young artists need to remember that the tortoise wins the race. Dee Dee forged
his work ethic by playing with the Ramones, by practicing hard, always with an eye to-
ward improving his skills. He humbled himself to his craft. And, like a mentor to a pupil,
he passed his work ethic on to Campbell.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
I learned a lot about playing from Dee Dee. For one, I later realized that making
those tapes during rehearsals really helps you out. You can go back and hear
where you're messing up or whether you're sounding good. And I also learned,
whenIplayedwithhim,togointhereandplaytheentiretime.We'dstopasong,
and might take a minute, maybe two minutes, for a break between songs, and
then we'd be off playing again, no time for fooling around. That's how I do it
now, too. So I learned about that.
So that is how I hooked up with Dee Dee, a real rock star. People think that
rock stars just lie around on their ass all day, but that's not true. Anyone who's a
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