2) MORE DETAILS AND MY THOUGHS (JARI-PEKKA'S)
3) COMMENTS BY DEE DEE'S MOTHER etc.
4) BOOK SIGNING
5) SOME REVIEWS
1) BASIC AND BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Phoenix Books & Audio company released officially on June 1, 2009 book called Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones Years) by his ex-wife Vera Davies (writer name: Vera Ramone King).
Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones Years) has 256 pages and it is an hard cover book.
Book was published in scheluded time even in mid April, 2009, was told, release might be postponed or cancelled, because executor of Dee Dee Ramone's estate has gone to court to stop publication of a book. Ira Herzog says Vera violated an agreement to let him review and change anything she wrote about the bassist.
Read one interview here released in September, 2009.
Photo of Dee Dee and Vera is taken in
Germany in mid 80's by great Ramones fan and photographer Lothar Felkel
who knew Dee Dee well. Photo is also
in my second book Rock In Peace:
Dee Dee And Joey Ramone.2) MORE DETAILS AND MY THOUGHS (JARI-PEKKA'S):
Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones Years) has lot really great photos, like many of Dee Dee's and Vera's wedding and with their relatives and family members.
Sadly book has surprisingly many uncorrect details. Book has not written "sensational" way as might had gotten impression because of some promotional lines published announced in advance. Following are basic infos, 75 % of these I had wrote before new turn. Some of these has also my thoughs:
There are lot sad stories to tell. Also of course lovely ones. But after book was promoted with "USA's scandal story way", like about the drama and fear surrounding Dee Dee's first heroin overdose, I did not knew do I wanna hear them as I would put it this realistic way: "If Vera simply tells the truth, I am sure somebody will accuse her saying nasty things."
Many also thinks how Dee Dee without Vera would have got a call from heaven earlier. That is also realistic. Anyway they loved each other very much and they were married in 1978. Many times Dee Dee would succumb to his bad habits and would have to struggle to get back on track again. Dee Dee quit the Ramones in 1989. One month earlier Dee Dee's and Vera's ways were separated (even they officially divorced many years later in 1995). Dee Dee moved to England and then to Amsterdam to clean himself up. Vera forbid Dee Dee to write about her in his books even though they had been married for so many years.
Vera has told, psychic reader called Linda Drake merely passed on the information from the other side by channelling Dee Dee. Book progress started going on that way...
Anyway Vera toured extensively with the Ramones, living the punk era firsthand. Book has more than 50 never-before-published photos of the Ramones. Vera Ramone King pays tribute to her late husband, revealing what it was like to live with and love a heroin addict and the genius behind the Ramones.
Nowadays Vera lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.
Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones Years) has lot really great photos, many of Dee Dee's and Vera's wedding and with their relatives and family members. Marky Ramone is only in few photos and Richie Ramone in one photo. Is great to see Dee Dee together with people like Rodney Bingenheimer, Keith Richards, Daniel Rey, Sid Vicious, Eddie Van Halen, Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor etc.
Most of the photos are marked just being from Vera's collection. At least some photo captions has mistakes, like one photo being from Vera's collected has marked to be taken in Madrid, Spain in 1980. Same photo is in my Rock In Peace: Dee Dee And Joey Ramone book, and it is taken by Celine Moray at the show in the USA in 1987. As I said, photos in general are really great. Also Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones Years) has some photos of handwritten lyrics (one of the unreleased song) and photos of postcards Dee Dee had sent. One card is from my home country Finland with Finnish postmarks. Dee Dee writes on it: "Dear Vera, so nice to be back in Helsinki. Great to talk to you on the photo. The Finnish people are very nice to me and are giving me the super star treatment. See you in England. Ove Bunny."
3) COMMENTS BY DEE DEE'S MOTHER, BY KEITH GREEN AND BY CHRIS FRANTZ AND TINA WEYMOUTH :
1) Dee Dee's mother writes in a back cover of the book:
"I'll always be grateful to Vera... Her story tells it all and this final tribute to Dee Dee will keep his legacy alive long after he's gone. I know he's smiling down from heaven."
2) Many of you fans does remember Keith Green and his classic Dee Dee Ramone photos from 1993. Keith Green wrote to me that one of those his photos of Dee Dee on the balcony with guitar in Chelsea Hotel is included to Vera's book. Also Keith wrote that his five never-before-seen portraits of Vera in 2007 are featured on the insides. Keith writes following:
"Vera truly peels back the curtains in her exciting yet tumultuous memories while reliving the wild side of the '70s punk extravaganza through the eyes and heart of a punk bride. A real lesson in passion and survival."
3) Comments by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club:
"As one who was really there and lived to tell the tale, Vera Ramone has written a beautifully tragic love story about her life with Dee Dee Ramone and the band. It's all here, sex and drugs and rock and roll and death. Vera's book is a great read, a real page turner and hey, Daddy-O, it's all true.
4) BOOK SIGNING:
Vera had a book signing at the Barnes & Noble store in SOHO Tribeca at 7PM on June 8, 2009. Next day, June 9, 2009, Vera was at Marky Ramone's radio show called Marky Ramone's Punk Rock Blitzkrieg on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 28.
5) SOME REVIEWS:
1) This review is written by Shane Baldwin of Record Collector magazine. Book got three stars of five (3/5).
"There are many Ramones books on the shelves and, given the band's harsh history of personal problems, internal squabbles and the criminally unfair big-hit-that- never-came resulting in gruelling years on the road just to earn a living, they naturally tell a tragic story. None, however, are as personal as the harrowing memoirs of the former Mrs Dee Dee Ramone.
Vera married Douglas Glenn Colvin on 2 September 1978 but, even though a little on the wild side herself, she can't possibly have known what she was letting herself in for. That she really loved Dee Dee is more than evident in this well written, if sometimes repetitive tome, but however hard she tries, the man himself emerges as selfish, childish and, even worse, abusive and violent. She writes honestly of Dee Dee's tendency to fly into a temper and beat her when roused, then, as if feeling guilty about revealing this, quickly leavens it with sometimes cloying tales of the generous, caring side of his nature. As this only seemed to emerge when it suited Dee Dee - when it gave him pleasure to give presents or make similar seemingly altrusistc gestures . these are not entirely convincing."
2) This review is written by Luke Toney of Racket Magazine. He gives six points of ten (6/10).
"Vera Ramone King's Poisoned Heart recounts the story of the author's tumultuous relationship with the Ramones' core songwriter, Dee Dee Ramone. While the book has some unique and interesting insights into life behind the scenes in the lives of its subjects, it is plagued by repetitive passages clishes.
I heard the book portrayed Dee Dee Ramone in such a negative light that his estate tried to prevent its release. This fact probably built more hype around the book than was warranted. In reality, the book glazes over nearly every instance of violence or abuse mentioned, and many of the more positive moments as well. The descriptiveness of events is greatly lacking. I honestly think this is due more to its being written by an amateur than a professional biographer. Upon finishing the book I told my editor that it reads like a teenage girl's diary. This is still the most accurate and concise description I can give.
However, there is another side to my criticism. In an age when most celebrities hire ghost writers to tell their stories in print this work is undoubtedly the work of its author. For that I commend Mrs. King (a pseudonym - her real name is Vera Davies). What the book lacks in storytelling ability it makes up for in character. The auth's personality definitely comes through and it's rather surprising she's kept such a bubbly outlook considering the difficulties she's been through.
Perhaps the book's greatest asset is its handling of Dee Dee's mental condition. Dee Dee was eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As someone with a loved one with bipolar disorder, I can confirm that Mrs. King's descriptions of life with someone afflicted by bipolar are extremely accurate. Having experienced the associated mood swings and "everyone is out to get me" attitude personally, I have absolutely no doubt that King's book speaks the truth about Dee Dee and his behavior.
The real tragedy is that when not diagnosed early, as was Dee Dee's case, sufferers often turn to self medication in the form of illegal drugs commonly resulting in addictions that can haunt them for life, as long or short as that may be. Studies show that 25-50% of people who suffer from Bipolar Disorder attempt suicide. It has cut many promising lives short; that of Kurt Cobain is one of the more well known cases.
Taken in this perspective Poisoned Heart is really the story of how a man who suffered a debilitating mental disorder, with the help of friends and loved ones, overcame his condition long enough to change the shape of rock'N'roll, and craft one of the largest and most prolific catalogues of rock music ever. In that regard Poisoned Heart is a triumph."
3) This review is written by Ramones fan Luciano Durigan from Sao Paulo, Brazil
"This is a book for Dee Dee afficionados like myself. But you need to read four books on Dee Dee before reading this one. If you love Dee Dee's music and if you need to know more about him, read these books Lobotomy: Surviving The Ramones (amazing), Legend Of A Rock Star (great), Chelsea Horror Hotel (good) and then Please Kill Me (fantastic). These four books are a great read. After that, if you still need to know more about Dee Dee, read this book. It is not bad, but it is very short, it needs edition (there are a lot of repetitions in the book) and it leaves so much untold. There are some cool stories though, but it could been so much better."
4) This review is written by Ramones fan Clifford C. Hritz:
"This book is the final chapter in getting to know all sides of Dee Dee Ramone. Just like when I read the book about John Lennon by May Pang, I feel I got to see a more intimate, true side of the person. And when you get it from the lover or spouse, you get an entirely different view than when the manager, band members or the artist themselves write a book.
Vera Ramone King could have easily written a vicious, poisonous book about Dee Dee, but she obviously is too full of kindness, compassion and love for him, despite what she went through with him, from the physical to the mental abuse. If anybody in Dee Dee's life had the right to speak ill of him, it was Vera and she didn't. Sure, she talks about the craziness and mental illness of Dee Dee but she also states that he is still in her heart and holds no ill-will towards him.
You may have read Dee Dee's books and Monte Melnicks books, which were all great reads, but Vera takes you to a much more personal place. If you want to truly know what a tortured artist is, read this book. It will make you laugh out loud at times and even shed a tear for both Vera and Dee Dee."
5) This review is written by Ramones fan William Olmstead:
"I really like Dee Dee (warts and all) but I can't believe Vera took that abuse for so long. She must have really loved him. This book puts you in the middle of one of the best punk bands of all time as well as New York City life of the era. Good writing and although a fairly short book, a real page turner with lots of cool pictures..."
6) This review is written by Ramones fan Glenn S. Hawley:
"Short and a little too much on the repeat button! Well, I'm glad that Vera can finally tell her story. I hated how she wasn't even mentioned in Dee Dee's books (i now know Why).
She tell's the tale, in an inviting personal style, but she really didn't make the good times seem so great or the scary bad times, scary bad enough! I think there was only a few times I felt for her happy or sad, or scared! It would have been nice to hear how she dealt with being on the road, dealing with the groupies etc...
I got tired of her telling me what a great guy/husband he was, or how much she loved him, or how complicated guy he was, in the same way over & over... I think the Ramones are/were amazing, so I'm going to read most books about them & I'm glad this one is here as well! I wish Vera well too, I'm glad she made it through! She is a survivor!"