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He was the Bass Guitar ist for the group from their formation in 1974 through 1989, when he left to pursue a short-lived career in Rap Music under the name Dee Dee King. Afterwards he continued to write songs for the Ramones until 1996, when the band retired. Dee Dee wrote or co-wrote most of the Ramone's songs, including "53rd & 3rd", "Commando", and "Poison Heart". Dee Dee struggled with drugs for much of his life, especially Heroin , beginning his drug use as a teenager, and continuing to use for the majority of his adult life. BIOGRAPHY Colvin was born in Fort Lee , Virginia , and raised in Berlin, Germany (later to move back to the Forest Hills, Queens, NYC, NY, USA), the son of an American soldier stationed there and a German woman. His parents separated shortly after his birth, and he lived in Berlin until the age of 16, when he and his mother moved to the Forest Hills section of New York City 's borough of Queens . There he met Johnny Ramone (John Cummings) and Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi), then playing in a band called The Tangerine Puppets , named after a Donovan song of the same name. They quickly became friends, being outcasts in that heavily middle class neighborhood. In 1974 , Johnny and Dee Dee formed the Ramones with then-drummer Jeffry Hyman (soon to be Joey Ramone ), who took over vocal duties after Dee Dee decided that he could not sing lead and play bass well at the same time. Tommy then became the drummer. Colvin wrote a considerable amount of the Ramones' material (almost half of the ramones songs were written by him), such as "53rd and 3rd" (a song about Rent Boy s; Dee Dee had been a prostitute on 53rd and 3rd, even though he refuses to speak about it, saying in the Ramones documentary "End of the Century," when asked about that situation, that he would like to "bypass that" and that "everyone blows up the negative"), "Glad To See You Go" (written about his then-girlfriend, Connie, a stripper and fellow drug user with a volatile personality), "It's A Long Way Back to Germany", "Chinese Rocks" (originally recorded by Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers as Johnny Ramone, a former addict himself, was not enthusiastic about the Ramones doing songs about drugs) and "Wart Hog". In 1989 , after quitting the Ramones, Colvin started a brief -- and to some fans, rather embarrassing -- career as rapper Dee Dee King with the album "Standing in the Spotlight". Critic Matt Carlson writes that the album "will go down in the annals of Pop Culture as one of the worst recordings of all time. Which, of course, makes it one hell of a great collector's item." {Link without Title} After the album failed, he returned to punk rock with various bands like Sprokkett and The Spikey Tops. In ''; rehearsal recordings of Dee Dee with Allin appear on the ''Hated'' soundtrack, and on the posthumous live Allin compilation '' Res-Erected ''; while video footage of rehearsals is available on DVD through Allin's estate's website {Link without Title} . In 1992 he formed new band called The Chinese Dragons, which was followed by the group ICLC from 1994 to 1996. With ICLC Dee Dee also did an EP and a full-length album "I Hate Freaks Like You". In 1996 he guested the final Ramones show at The Palace, Los Angeles, doing the lead vocals for one song ( C.J. Ramone was by then the group's bassist). The performance, as documented in the ''We're Outta' Here'' live DVD is quite humorous, as Dee Dee misses two verses (even though he wrote the song) sings out of tone, starts earlier and resorts to talking cheerfully. After Ramones retired, Colvin formed a Ramones tribute band called The Ramains with his girfriend Barbara and former Ramones drummer Marky Ramone. He also recorded several solo albums under his old name Dee Dee Ramone: "Zonked/Ain't It Fun" (1996), "Hop Around" (1999) and "Greatest & Latest" (2000). In new millennium he teamed with Paul Inderk Kostabi, leader of the hardcore punk band Youth Gone Mad and former guitarist of White Zombie . Kostabi helped Colvin to start a new career as a painter, but they also recorded several songs together. In 2000 he formed the Dee Dee Ramone band with guitar extremist Christian Martucci , formerly of The Chelsea Smiles . This lineup consisted of Dee Dee Ramone (vocals and guitar/bass), Christian “Black” Martucci (vocals and guitar), Anthony Smedile (drums), Chase Manhattan (drums), and Stefan Adika (bass). This was Dee Dee’s touring band up until the time he died. Christian appears as “Chris the Creep” in Dee Dee’s last novel entitled Legend of a Rock Star, A Memoir: The Last Testament of Dee Dee Ramone. Dee Dee’s last album was supposed to be a live album produced by Gilby Clarke ( Guns N’ Roses rhytm guitarist from November 1991 to late 1994 ), taking place on June 12, 2002 at Hollywood’s Key Club Hollywood . There are several bootlegs of this line-up, most notably "Live in Milan, Italy". This DVD shows the band at their absolute best playing all Ramones classics with dual vocal assault by Dee Dee and Christian. This bootleg can sometimes be found lurking in the Ramones section on Ebay . Colvin was found dead on the evening of June 5 , 2002 , by his wife Barbara Zampini ("Barbara Ramone") at his Hollywood , California apartment. A Heroin overdose was the official cause of death. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California , as is his former bandmate, Johnny Ramone, who died a little more than two years later. His headstone features the Ramones seal surrounded by the line "I feel so safe flying on a ray on the highest trails above" taken from the song "Highest Trails Above" (by Dee Dee Ramone) from the Ramones album '' Subterranean Jungle '' ( 1983 ). At its base is the quote "Ok...I gotta go now". Dee Dee's final studio recordings were released on the album " Youth Gone Mad featuring Dee Dee Ramone" ( Trend Is Dead! Records 2002). DISCOGRAPHY WITH THE RAMONES Albums
Singles
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