Dee Dee Ramone dead at 50.

June 6, 2002 11:45 AM

Dee Dee Ramone dead at 50. First Joey, now Dee Dee. I wanted to be a punk rocker, too, just like Sheena, but I wasn't cool enough back in my rock and roll highschool days. If a punker dies, do we wear white to mourn him/her?
posted by luriete (39 comments total)

cover thine tattoos, take out your piercings, shave the dog.
posted by brookish at 11:47 AM on June 6, 2002

Not mentioned yet on his official site.

Good question re: wearing white. Seems appropriate to me.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:48 AM on June 6, 2002

Sad. It's amazing though that this did not happen sooner. Dee Dee has been using for going on thirty years. I highly recommend reading this book.
posted by anathema at 11:49 AM on June 6, 2002

I am a Ramones fan, but I am not terribly surprised by Dee Dee popping off. Not like the guy kept himself in tip top shape.

Obit threads....it's like some macabre race over here from Yahoo headlines to see who can yell "Dee Dee's dead!" first.

Also, I can't believe you said "punker".
posted by Kafkaesque at 11:52 AM on June 6, 2002

Maybe I'll walk a few blocks over to Joey Ramone Place and have a moment of silence and/or loud screaming.
posted by malphigian at 12:03 PM on June 6, 2002

Too Tough to Die? No.

I'm going to listen to a little '53rd and 3rd' now.
posted by sj at 12:08 PM on June 6, 2002

Just as long as Ringo is okay.
posted by dong_resin at 12:12 PM on June 6, 2002

Goddammit. As I read that I hit my desk so hard two of my co-workers turned around. The Ramones were the band that made a rock and roller outta me when I saw Rock and Roll High School at 10 on my neighbors cable. And now two of 'em are gone.

Goodbye and thanks, Dee Dee.
posted by jonmc at 12:20 PM on June 6, 2002

Damn. That's about all I can say. Too sad for words.
Currently reading Lobotomy and listening to "Standing In The Spotlight"...
posted by spilon at 12:23 PM on June 6, 2002

To be fair, jonmc, it's not like the Ramones were in for another big record. The band was as dead as the Replacements.

(open wound, rub salt)
posted by eyeballkid at 12:30 PM on June 6, 2002

Eyeballkid, according to that logic, we shouldn't have been too concerned about the death of George Harrison.
posted by websavvy at 12:32 PM on June 6, 2002

somewhere Dee Dee, Joey and Bobby Stinson are passing around some Carbona and a rag and laughing at that crack, EBK.

And it's true though, but I owe them a lot, so I'm still sad to hear it.
posted by jonmc at 12:36 PM on June 6, 2002

Even though every last one of us would have given anything to be rock stars back in the day, aren't you glad it didn't pan out? This man and his group gave us so, so, so much fun, and all he got out of it personally was a habit. No second acts in American lives, etc.
posted by Faze at 12:50 PM on June 6, 2002

...
posted by metrocake at 12:59 PM on June 6, 2002

aren't you glad it didn't pan out?

Nope.

and all he got out of it personally was a habit.

and presumably more cash than I've got....
posted by jalexei at 12:59 PM on June 6, 2002

My roommate was listening to the Ramones last night, probably at the same exact time Dee Dee was expiring.

Faze, from joeyramone.com: "Our years in the business managed to take a lot of fun out of things. It's still fun playing, but they made us miserable. Maybe it was naïve of us to think it was gonna be a little easier than this. Nobody did anything for us. We got treated like shit."
- Joey Ramone (1996)
posted by gohlkus at 12:59 PM on June 6, 2002

Damn. Just last night I made my kids watch "Rock and Roll High School." So long Dee Dee.
posted by maurice at 1:10 PM on June 6, 2002

websavvy: so the Ramones are getting back together then?

I was referring to jonmc's comment about the Ramones, not about Dee Dee's solo work, art, books, production work, etc.
posted by eyeballkid at 1:20 PM on June 6, 2002

we shouldn't have been too concerned about the death of George Harrison

I wasn't. Not *everybody* is a Beatles/solo member fan, ya know.
Re: Ramones - "R&RHS" was on AMC about three weeks ago; ah, memories. Yeah, my kids think it's sort of bizarre, but I really think they got a kick out of it, too. The music is timeless, after all.
posted by davidmsc at 1:21 PM on June 6, 2002

I saw The Ramones when the were touring with Lollapalooza several years ago. Devo was the other special guest and all the kids were just sitting there like lumps or booing those two bands while us old timers were singing along and doing our goofy dancing.

Chris Cornell yelled at the audience to say Soundgarden wouldn't even exist if it weren't for the likes of The Ramones and Devo. I think they played three songs and left.
posted by whtsherbkt at 1:26 PM on June 6, 2002

wfmu broadcasting ramones until further notice: love it
posted by lilboo at 1:27 PM on June 6, 2002

Damn. Damn damn damn.

It's not so much that it's unexpected, or that Dee Dee had a great unproduced body of work. But I just hate it when somebody goes out early like that.
posted by mccreath at 1:38 PM on June 6, 2002

"I just hate it when somebody goes out early like that."

Is 50 really early for a rocker with a heroin addiction? Let's be realistic.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:50 PM on June 6, 2002

50 is early for anybody. His death is explained but not excused by his drug problem.

For those who don't appreciate the loss of the Ramones, it's a matter of disconnectedness. For me, I remember their heyday and the excitement of the mosh pit when mosh pits were scarey foreign things. For people much younger or older than me, I think the Ramones and their significance is totally lost.

I think it's time to order the DVD of Rock and Roll High School.
posted by shagoth at 1:57 PM on June 6, 2002

Does this mean we have to suffer through another round of every washed-up, two-bit pop star trying to claim the Ramones as their one, true influence? (I'm talking to you, Mr Hewson.)
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 2:01 PM on June 6, 2002

"50 is early for anybody."

Right, shagoth.

mr_crash_davis, you're right, too, in the sense that only making to 50 with at least a 30 year history of heroin addiction, to say nothing of any of his other substance abuse, is probably realistic. But that doesn't make me any less sad about it. I thought Johnny Thunders went too early, and I thought Stiv Bators went too early, as well.
posted by mccreath at 2:05 PM on June 6, 2002

Do you remember lying bed
With your covers pulled up over your head?
Radio playin' so no one can see
We need change , we need it fast
Before rock's just part of the past
'Cause lately it all sounds the same to me

*sniff. yeah, i do. good-bye Dee Dee
posted by Ufez Jones at 2:51 PM on June 6, 2002

Dee Dee was scheduled to play a concert in Ventura on Friday night. I was going to go.

I remember seeing the Ramones play in this tiny place in Santa Barbara called La Casa de La Raza with another band call RKL. The Ramones were loud and obnoxious and crazed and great. They went all out, even with a little crowd. Joey was "stage diving" into the Mosh pit. They rocked.
posted by MaddCutty at 2:57 PM on June 6, 2002

There is a magazine on the newsstands now that reprints a lot of NME articles from 1975-79. I bought it last night, and was reading an article about the Ramones. In this article, Dee Dee loses a tooth while giving an interview. It just falls out of his mouth. The writer assumes (probably correctly) that this was because of Dee Dee's drug problem. I was talking with my husband about this last night, before going to sleep, because a relative of mine has a similar issue -- she's lost all of her teeth by the age of 30, because of a crystal meth habit. I said that it was surprising that Dee Dee was still alive, since it's well known that he still uses.

How strange, the timing.
posted by litlnemo at 3:18 PM on June 6, 2002

Another dead rocker...gee.
posted by HTuttle at 4:13 PM on June 6, 2002

Well, mark this day down.

My uncle, who was more like my big brother since he was only six years older than I, died less than an hour ago, at the age of 41. Somehow, I find it hard to be as flippant when it's this personal.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:15 PM on June 6, 2002

Well, you have my condolences, for one.
posted by y2karl at 5:01 PM on June 6, 2002

Thing is... we all make our contribution!
George Harrison said it all
Dee Dee...
Joey...Sid
Jimi
Jim
Elvis
posted by dash_slot- at 5:27 PM on June 6, 2002

Dee Dee Ramone was the greatest Punk Rock song writer ever.

I, for one, will miss him.
posted by punkrockrat at 5:56 PM on June 6, 2002

Does this mean we have to suffer through another round of every washed-up, two-bit pop star trying to claim the Ramones as their one, true influence?

Gee - that's kinda harsh, dontcha think? If there's one band that changed my life, it's The Ramones. I've no doubt Bono is completely sincere when he says the same. The band was a bolt of lightning and if a "two bit rock star" wants to publicly acknowledge that, I've got no problem with it. The Ramones and U2 were important to me during my youth. Screw off with yer smug attitude.
posted by davebush at 7:29 PM on June 6, 2002

*sniff* damn *sniff*

I remember you.
I remember lying awake at night
And thinking just of you
But things don't last forever
And somehow baby
They never really do.

I remember you, from Ramones : Leave Home (1977)
posted by dejah420 at 7:51 PM on June 6, 2002

50 is early for anybody. His death is explained but not excused by his drug problem.

The last thing Dee Dee needs is an excuse. For anything.
posted by fnord_prefect at 7:53 PM on June 6, 2002

My first Ramones album was an eight-track tape.
posted by elgoose at 6:52 AM on June 7, 2002

It's a bummer to hear about.. and I still have to get all of my Ramones onto mp3.

Can't get the fmu radio casting to work yet, though.
posted by rich at 10:07 AM on June 7, 2002