1) BASIC INFORMATION.
2) TRACKLISTING.
3) SOME MEMORIES RELATED TO DEE DEE'S DEADLINE BY ALAN LEE SHAW.
BASIC INFORMATION OF DEE DEE RAMONE: THE DEADLINE DEMOS 10'.
Overground
Records (United Kingdom) started in 1988. Owners were inspired to
reissue a few punk rock classics. This record label did publish great
Dee Dee Ramone 10' vinyl titled Dee Dee Ramone:
The Deadline Demos on June 26, 2020. Release is limited of 400 copies.
Overground Records was original label of Dee Dee's this project titled Dee Dee Ramone's Deadline. This 10' has eight demo songs which were recently re-discovered. Dee Dee recorded these demo songs in 1989 with Alan Lee Shaw (Maniacs / Physicals) and George Butler (Warsaw Pakt / Lightning Raiders). Dee Dee was introduced by mutual friend Brian James (ex-Damned / Lords Of The New Church) to Alan Lee Shaw and George Butler. This trio band formed with the proposed name of Dee Dee Ramone's Deadline.
Alan Lee Shaw wrote that band name Dee Dee Ramone's Deadline was his suggestion.
We can be really happy that we has now Dee Dee Ramone: The Deadline Demos 10'.
- Dee Dee's mental health was not great as you would imagine but my love for the Ramones and their place at the pinnacle of punkrock and Dee Dee's unique talent to write such iconic punkrock anthems was enough to keep me interested to keep working with him to form a band to record and tour. Sadly our time together due to circumstances was indeed too brief and our project aborted too quickly, wrote Alan Lee Shaw to me in May, 2021.
Alan did mention that sadly pictures of them all together don't exist (that he know of).
Alan is writing a book titled Damned If You Do. He sent one part / story of it to me. Read it here.
Overground Records tells following in press release of The Deadline Demos: "With rehearsals underway, Dee Dee (lead vocals and guitar), Alan (bass and backing vocals) and George (drums), the project was soon up and running and in the process of negotiating a recording deal with Overground Records, the release would be promoted with a UK tour, when due to unforeseen circumstances (unfortunately the state of Dee Dee's fragile mental/ physical shape), the project was sadly and frustratingly brought to an abrupt end, before any studio recordings or gigs could be completed. The demos from 1989 are the only recordings that occurred. They are forming an important historical record that show flashes of Dee Dee's genius as one of punk's most important original songwriters. The songs never appeared on any of Dee Dee's other releases and but for this recently re-discovered tape would have been lost forever. All eight tracks from 1989 the session are released as a limited edition 10' of 400 copies."
Even press release tells that "songs never appeared on any of Dee Dee's other releases.", two of the songs are in other releases but song titles are a bit different: What About This? is mainly same as is What About Me? in Dee Dee Ramone And The Chinese Dragongs single and Hop Around album. And then I Got A Right is same as is I Gotta A Right To Love Her in Youth Gone Mad Featuring Dee Dee Ramone album.
Overground Records has released also material by Steve Ignorant, The Cravats, The Jerks, The Dickies etc.
TRACKLISTING:
SIDE A:
1) Jumping Jack
2) What About This?
3) One Way
4) I Got A Right
SIDE B:
5) My Baby Only Loves Me This Way
6) She's Dreg From My Heart And Back
7) I Can't Come Out
8) Human Being Parade
SOME MEMORIES RELATED TO DEE DEE'S DEADLINE BY
ALAN LEE SHAWI asked if Alan Lee Shaw wants to write some of his memories of Dee Dee Ramone and those days in 1989-1990. I am really happy that he sent following memories.
STORY BELOW / QUOTE IS FROM ALAN LEE SHAW'S FORTHCOMING BOOK OF MEMOIRS "DAMNED IF YOU DO". COPYRIGHT: ALS ARCHIVES.
- If Dee Dee fans want to read more they must wait until my book is released, hopefully sometime this year, wrote Andy to me on May 10, 2021.
So let's hope book comes out already in 2021.
MEMORIES BY ALAN LEE SHAW:
Dee Dee Ramone had come to London, UK, in 1989/1990 via an abortive attempt at possibly getting a side project going with Stiv Bators and Johnny Thunders, who were both holed up in Paris at the time. As it turned out Dee Dee had escaped from what was a nightmare scenario (his words) and come to London to seek out members of the Damned in order that he may establish contact again and possibly to get some help in putting a band together in London.
Dee Dee had got himself some lodgings in Westbourne Park / Notting Hill where I'd go to work on his song ideas. We were to acquire a drummer in the shape of a locally well-known Portobello Gold pub regular drinker and journeyman drummer George Butler. George, a no-nonsense Scot who had been playing drums since the 1960's backing up many famous faces who ambled into town. I was happy to go with the flow but wary of Dee Dee's fragile state at the same time.
A slight oddity was that Dee Dee wanted to change to guitar from his normal position as bass player, so it was that on many of our walks down Portobello Road he espied a Gordon Smith guitar in a guitar shop and for some reason just had to have it. Changing to bass was not a problem for me but Dee Dee was only a rudimentary player on guitar. Hearing him play guitar, it struck me how on earth did he come up with these masterpiece punk rock classic songs in the Ramones, it was obvious that the rest of the band were responsible for turning his rough worked up ideas on guitar into punk rock iconic gems.
Realizing this obvious flaw, I probably should have bailed there and then but forever the optimist I was in the mood to see it through. We polished up a handful of Dee Dee's new songs, these had been rehearsed with George on drums and myself on bass. Dee Dee would throw the odd petulant tantrum from time to time but all in all we were moving ahead. We even got a name, Dee Dee's Deadline, which was my suggestion and deemed appropriate. Dee Dee was funding his stay from his Ramones royalties and I went with him on occasion to an accountant somewhere in the West End where he would pick up money wired from his manager in the States.
Things were going well until the Notting Hill Carnival that year. We all piled out of the Gold onto the pavement, drinks in hand to watch the festivities when who should turn up but Dee Dee who had shaved his head to an all over razor cut. While I was not unfamiliar with the skin head look, to see Dee Dee shorn of his signature pudding bowl mop top was a shock to the system, with Brian telling me later that my face was a picture when he came into view, something told me this was not a good sign! I was quickly coming to the realization that Dee Dee was something of a train-wreck waiting to happen and I was beginning to see the other side of the coin i.e. what his fellow band mates in the Ramones had been putting up with all these years. An example of which.
Ian Dickson who by this time had kicked the driving instructor job into touch and had picked up the gauntlet as a rock photographer once more had kindly offered to do some band shots and had driven me to pick up Dee Dee from his first floor apartment on the way to rehearsals.
Ringing the front doorbell, I heard this almighty crash of something heavy falling down the stairs and as the front door finally opened Dee Dee was standing in his sneakers in a massive pool of white emulsion paint. In his haste he had knocked two 10 litre tubs of paint down the stairs and totally nonplus ignoring the look of horror on my face shut the door behind him walked passed me with dripping sneakers to Ian's car, on seeing Dee Dee's dripping sneakers, Ian quite rightly said in no way was he getting into his newly renovated Lotus Cortina in such a state.
Without a second thought Dee Dee removed his sneakers, throwing them into the bushes in someone's garden. Now, paint free, he slid into the front seat as if nothing had happened and off we went.
I subsequently read his own biography, Poison Heart - Surviving The Ramones (aka Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones), where in it he recounts an evening where he set the bed on fire with him and his girlfriend in it only at the last minute to get out. This struck me again how Dee Dee could be a disaster waiting to happen.
Speaking to Brian about this episode his advice was Dee Dee only needed a bit of TLC and all would be fine. Thanks Brian!, writes Alan Lee Shaw.
AS I DID MENTION, STORY ABOVE / QUOTE IS FROM ALAN LEE SHAW'S FORTHCOMING BOOK OF MEMOIRS "DAMNED IF YOU DO". COPYRIGHT: ALS ARCHIVES. HOPEFULLY BOOK COMES OUT ALREADY IN 2021.
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