Lobotomy: Surviving Ramones
Lobotomy: Surviving Ramones
This is an Officially Licensed Dee Dee Ramone book!
“LOBOTOMY: SURVIVING THE RAMONES" by Dee Dee Ramone
Reissue edition of the legendary founding member of the Ramones’ classic memoir, published to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the band’s groundbreaking debut album, with a new foreword by fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, the ‘Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll’, Joan Jett. The cover, printed on metallic gold foil, showcases a vintage image of Dee Dee; an outtake from the photo shoot for the Ramones legendary debut album cover as shot by photographer Roberta Bayley in 1976 in NYC.
Lobotomy is the most lurid and unlikely temperance tract yet from the underbelly of rock ‘n’ roll. On a wild roller-coaster ride from his fucked-up childhood in Berlin and Munich to his lonely, methadone-quaffing stay at a cheap hotel in Earl’s Court and newfound peace on the straight and narrow, Dee Dee Ramone catapults us into the raw world of sex, addiction, and two-minute songs. It isn’t pretty. With the velocity of a Ramones song, Lobotomy rockets through headlining days at CBGB to the breakup of the Ramones’ happy family with an unrelenting backbeat of hate and squalor. His girlfriend ODs; running buddy Johnny Thunders steals his ode to heroin, “Chinese Rocks”; 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!
“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 short 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
Dee Dee Ramone was the enigmatic bassist and prolific songwriter for the Ramones, the inventors and best exemplars of punk rock. Dee Dee and the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and received a Grammy Award in 2011 for Lifetime Achievement. Dee Dee’s influence on pop culture is immeasurable; his creative output transcends music, fashion, visual art and literature.