Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones

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!