Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones

by Dee Dee Ramone, Veronica Kofman, Legs McNeil (Foreword by), Joan Jett (Foreword by)

Overview

Lobotomy is a lurid and unlikely temperance tract from the underbelly of rock 'n' roll. Taking readers on a wild rollercoaster ride from his crazy childhood in Berlin and Munich to his lonely methadone-soaked stay at a cheap hotel in Earl's Court and newfound peace on the straight and narrow, Dee Dee Ramone catapults readers into the raw world of sex, addiction, and two-minute songs. It isn't pretty. With the velocity of a Ramones song, Lobotomy rockets from nights at CBGB's to the breakup of the Ramones' happy family with an unrelenting backbeat of hate and squalor: his girlfriend ODs; drug buddy Johnny Thunders steals his ode to heroin, "Chinese Rock"; Sid Vicious shoots up using toilet water; and a pistol-wielding Phil Spector holds the band hostage in Beverly Hills. Hey! Ho! Let's go!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780306824982
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	651,027
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dee Dee Ramone was the bassist and songwriter for the Ramones, the creators and best exemplars of punk rock. He left the band in 1989, but performed one last time with his brothers in 1996. He is the author of Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones.

Table of Contents

	The Rock and Roll Crime Spree by Legs McNeil	ix
	Introduction: Chasing the Dragonfly	1
Part 1	Childhood	5
	Deutschland Deutschland Uber Alles	7
	The Summer of Hate	29
	Teenage Runaway	37
Part 2	Blitzkrieg Bop!	43
	Forbidden Fruit	45
	The Boy Met Johnny	53
	Home Is Where Hell Is	59
	Take It!	73
	Connie	81
Part 3	Ramones Leave Home	105
	Rock and Roll Star	107
	It's Alive!	111
	High School Confidential	121
	End of the Century	125
	Chicken Beak Boy	133
Part 4	Road To Ruin	143
	One for the Road	145
	Hard Pressed	149
	Psycho Therapy	167
	Los Ramones	177
	Endless Bummer	183
	Heart of Poison	187
	Connie: Part Two	191
	Alligator Alley	197
	Happy Family	203
	End of the Road	209
	Back to the Village	213
Part 5	Survivor	217
	Paris	219
	The Liquid Concentration Camp	225
	Westbourne Park	235
	Cold Turkey at the Chelsea Hotel	243
	The Blues	249
	Buenos Aires	257
	Holland	261
	Mechelen	269
	Epilogue: Argentinian Farewell	275
	Discography	289

Editorial Reviews

"Dee Dee was the heart and soul of the Ramones. He brought that aspect to everything he did. Dee Dee set the tone for who and what the Ramones were, giving their identity consistency, and setting the bar for what would eventually define punk rock."--Joan Jett, from the foreword

"Dee Dee Ramone's life was nothing sort of extreme. He was plagued by demons, but created music as if by angels. As chaotic as his reality was, his music was just as brilliant. Dee Dee lived and died by the sword we call rock 'n' roll. Now let him tell you as only he could!"--Jerry Only, The Misfits

"There's no one in a better position to write a definitive work on the New York punk scene.... [Lobotomy] is a compelling, raw nerve rampage through the frazzled brain of one of rock's most tragic heroes."--Ian Fortnam, Vox

Waterbury Republican-American, 6/19/16
"Dee Dee's memoir is alternately funny and sad and well worth revisiting to get a real feel for the darker side of the punk rock legacy."

SLUG , 6/29/16
"A perfect glimpse into the life of the controversial bassist."

Punk Globe, 7/31/16
"[Dee Dee's] recollections are essential and entertaining."

From the Publisher

Determined to kick heroin, methadone, and his past, Ramone checked himself into New York City's Chelsea Hotel upon writing these memoirs of his 15 dysfunctional years as bassist/songwriter of punk's poster boys, The Ramones. To describe them as a haphazard, hazily recalled series of mostly gory episodes is more than fair, but to thousands of fans they will take on higher meaning, as this is the only Ramones story by a Ramone. Luckily, amongst all the boozing, scoring, overdosing, and power struggling, Dee Dee brings in producer/ consummate nut case Phil Spector for comic relief. Before he oversaw the production of the CD End of the Century, Spector invited the band to his Beverly Hills mansion. When our narrator tried to leave, Spector brandished a pistol and made his guests listen to him play "Baby I Love You" on the piano until 4:30 a.m. Had Lobotomy been more structured and detailed, it would have nicely complemented the 1970s New York punk bible, Please Kill Me. As it is, however, this book is more about Dee Dee surviving himself than about the Ramones, and what he does remember of the era and his estranged band mates makes better anecdotes than a book. For larger popular music collections.--Heather McCormack, "Library Journal" Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal