Dee Dee King (Dee Dee Ramone)
Here’s the backstory: I am a huge Ramones fan. They’re the greatest punk band, and the original punk band, despite what my co-host, Steve (@Tellemsteve) tries to tell me. (The Sex Pistols? really?) Anyway. This is the product of Dee Dee, the original bassist from The Ramones, taking a shot at a hip hop career (that several people told him not to do) in 1987. Somewhere I read that he was in the hospital passing time by writing rhymes, which started this whole idea. Dee Dee did a lot of drugs. I should mention that. If you’re looking for a funny way to spend some morning, try to get through his album “Standing In The Spotlight“. The lyrics are… well… lyrics. Music critic Matt Carlson once wrote that the album “will go down in the annals of pop culture as one of the worst recordings of all time.” But the cool part about the album is that it features Debbie Harry and Chris Stein from Blondie, and Marky Ramone on drums. Here’s the best version of the video for Dee Dee King’s Single, “Funky Man”, which I own on vinyl… almost regrettably. The video came out in 1988:
For reference, Eric B. & Rakim’s “Paid In Full” also came out in 1987, the same year as Dee Dee’s album. Just to put things into context, here’s the classic “I Ain’t No Joke”:
