DEE DEE KING aka DEE DEE RAMONE - Funky Man (1987)

1987, Dee Dee's in hospital. The guy in the next bed hears the doctor calling him 'Douglas Colvin' so he starts calling him Doug E fresh, after the rapper. Dee Dee gets into this and starts making up raps to pass the time. They're pretty funny and he makes a 12" single for Rock Hotel Records under the pseudonym Dee Dee King with this great artwork by James Rizzi. It gets a pretty good reception and Dee Dee wants to make an album. It finally comes out in 1989 produced by Daniel Rey with Mark(y) Bell(Ramone) on drums and guest appearances from Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. Standing In The Spotlight is 10 fun songs sung in a rap style. Its got the original longer version of 'The Crusher' that the Ramones did on their 'Adios Amigos' album. At this time he's still in the Ramones but he gets a taste of being the front man and the only boss and he likes it. Not too long after the album is released he leaves the band.... another info: Rapper Dee Dee King is actually rocker Dee Dee Ramone going through a whopping identity crisis in the late '80s. As Ramones drummer Marky Ramone put it, "Dee Dee isn't a rap artist, he's a rock artist. I thought it was sort of unusual. One day he started wearing Mercedes Benz chains around his neck and gold rings. It was crazy. You know, I really think he lost his mind." After leaving the Ramones in 1989, Dee Dee also spent the '90s writing Ramones songs (including six tracks on the Ramones' 1995 Adios Amigos), doing some production work, recording a solo rock 45 with a new band called the Chinese Dragons, and releasing a pair of solo rock classics on Wanker Records.

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