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creative person has to work their ass off. Somebody in a major band can tell you
what they're going to do on July 4th three years from now. They know exactly
what they're going to do. Now what kind of freedom is that? They owe people
their time. Real freedom is when you don't owe anybody anything. That's why
it's true, in that Janis Joplin song, “Freedom's just another word for nothing left
to lose.”
Dee Dee had all his money and everything, but he didn't live like a rich man,
even though if he wanted to buy anything, he had the money for it. Plus his rent
at the Chelsea was all paid up—he didn't have to hustle like the rest of us.
The Chelsea's front desk manager Jerry Weinstein had a somewhat different take on Dee
Dee's wealth and spending habits. And Weinstein may well have had a better line on it all,
since he was the person who collected Dee Dee's rent every month.
JERRY WEINSTEIN
DeeDeewentthroughmoneysoquicklythathewasnotallowedtokeephisown
money.Hehadanagentwhopaidallhisbills.Hewasalwayspaidupatthehotel
because whenever he owed us any money, we would send the bill to his account
and his agent would write a check for it right away. But Dee Dee went through
money like water. Now, since he's dead, there's more money in his account than
when he was alive. Barbara, [Zampini, Dee Dee Ramone's widow] came back
recently to the hotel, last month or so. They make a lot of money off of Dee Dee
Ramone.
TIM SULLIVAN
Dee Dee ended up moving to California, getting inducted into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, and then dying of a heroin overdose. I know that he hated being
a junkie. With a lot of junkies, it's not so much that they're junkies and want to
stayhighallthetime—it'samatterofbeingabletogettheirfixsothey'llsimply
feel okay. If they cannot get it, they get very sick. I'm not sure if Dee Dee was
a full-on daily junkie, or if he was a binger, who would do heroin, say, once a
month for four or five days. And then feel bad about it.
The stereotype of the suffering poet may be a tired one, but the fact is, Dee Dee lived
the stereotype. When his childhood wasn't brutal, it was lonely. He had a hard time being
happy.
ROBERT CAMPBELL
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