If Dee Dee Ramone had never done anything but count to four, his place in rock history would still be assured. And if there’s one thing that sums up the adrenalin rush that was a Ramones concert, it’s that moment of interplay between singer Joey and bassist Dee Dee that happened before damn near every song: "Take it, Dee Dee!" "One, two, three, four!"

Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Colvin, died last week at age 50, of an apparent heroin overdose. His death comes barely three months after he practically stole the show at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — giving himself a big thanks as the Ramones were inducted, and seeming in good shape. Dee Dee’s passing marks the loss of the two guys who made the Ramones great: Joey was the regular guy who lived for rock ’n’ roll; Dee Dee was the outlaw.

True to the Ramones’ spirit, Dee Dee managed to write fun-sounding songs about the most sordid of topics — most notably "53rd & 3rd," from the band’s eponymous debut album, which marked his first lead vocal and drew from his experiences turning tricks in Manhattan. "Chinese Rock," co-written by Johnny Thunders (and recorded by both Thunders and the Ramones) ranks with the Velvet Underground’s "Heroin" as one of the best and frankest songs on the topic. Even after quitting the band in 1990 (most fans regarded replacement bassist C.J. Ramone as a pale substitute), he continued to write a good chunk of their material. The best of his later songs — "Strength to Endure," "Poison Heart," "Main Man" (all from 1992’s Mondo Bizarro) — sported tough lyrics about survival and self-reliance; Dee Dee was apparently clean for at least part of the past decade.

His solo career was marked by moments of outright eccentricity. His late-’80s rap album (Standing in the Spotlight, credited to Dee Dee King) belongs in the halls of infamy, as does a show he performed at the Allston club Bunratty’s around that time, when he wore a pith helmet and combat fatigues throughout the set. But he made amends with the terrific mid-’90s import CD Zonked! — whose "I Am Seeing UFOs," sung by Joey, ranks as the great lost Ramones track. And he made good on his writing aspirations by turning out a memoir and a novel for Thunder’s Mouth Press: Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones (2000) tells the band’s story in all its ragged glory, and last year’s Chelsea Horror Hotel is a hoot. With enough sex, violence, drug, and occult content to get the PMRC started up again, the story peaks with a ghostly, smack-driven jam between Dee Dee, Johnny Thunders, Sid Vicious, and Stiv Bators. You’ve got to figure that jam must be going on somewhere else right now.