The brilliance of DK is in Jello's ability to sing from the perspective of the people he despised. Nobody did that, as well as he did. That's not to say the music wasn't brilliant, as well. The whole package was a perfect storm.
Jello WAS/is those people he dispised, I could see that back in the 80s when I was a kid. I wished back then that he would get elected mayor so he could turn into exactly what he wanted to be all along.
@@zeo1087 I could be off the mark here, but I think Jello's decidedly socialist bent, is being equated with the hippies he hated. They're not the same thing, though.
@@zeo1087 Hmm, where to start? Practically in EVERY way. Look, as hard as it may be to believe that your heroes can't potentially turn their backs on their former ideals, it has to be stressed that that is exactly what has happened with the passage of time with regards to jello. A simple close examination of his catalog of work, particularly his highly influential spoken word albums (which I listened to repeatedly back in the day) in comparison to the things he says now, will reveal that he has indeed compromised much of the stances that he once possessed. We can over look the fact of him getting the covid Vax and telling his fans "you should too". He may as well have said that infamous line of social mockery from Become The Media: "Shut Up And Shop!" Keep in mind, he once had a clause in his 2000 Green Party Presidential platform that forbid the drugging of schoolchildren against their will. The whole paradigm shifted around the time obama got into office and jello shifted with it, regardless of the fact that jello did not vote for him, which I acknowledge. The left suddenly went crazy with power mad authoritarianism, becoming the modern Religious Right, only their religion is woke identity politics and sjw virtue signalling. Jello jumped headlong into this, not realizing that he again is compromising a past bit of advice he gave to his fans on those spoken word albums: avoid becoming a fundamentalist about their activism. He should know better and if anything should be calling these people out: "Yo! This is NOT the way to get people turned onto our ideas; you're giving everything I've been trying to build up over the last 30-40 years a bad image! Stop!" It should also be the same with antifa regarding the constant rioting and violence they engage in. NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If anything, he's become the silent punk rock cheerleader for it all, illustrated bluntly in his series of rants TRUMP STOLE THE ELECTION around the time of Trump's election by blurting out "NOW IT'S TIME TO GET EVIL!!!!" Wow. What happened to encouraging reasonable and rational debate between the two sides in order to try to come to a common ground solution: TO quote jello himself: "Sit down and talk to them. They start spouting Rush Limbaugh style anti immigrant, anti-welfare type rhetoric, don't dismiss them as unreachable. Sit down and talk to them." From Machine Gun In The Clowns Hand. This is especially disheartening when one looks at the mass of online skeptics and social commentators that have sprung up on RUclips and elsewhere in this Age Of Information revolving around the internet and you realize that (gasp) there IS indeed such a thing as rational and sensible thinking conservatives after all, and not all of them do support Trump or the Republicans, there's many independent party type people and no party people period. You think jello would be willing to reach out to and converse with these people so we could really build a united opposition to the powers that be. So what happened to all that? Did he just decide to forget about it with the passage of time and now it's just easier to jump on board the new left wing vs extreme left wing authoritarian express fostered by the msm, which btw is another issue. He now gets all his info and regurgitates the official narrative from sources like MSNBC, CNN, the mainstream newspapers, little realizing that those outlets are all owned and controlled by a group of international financiers that have their own agenda that is detrimental to the rest of humanity. And it doesn't matter the issue, he tows the official narrative, whether it's regarding his own ongoing Trump (whom I have no love for btw) Derangement Syndrome, the covid vaccines, race riots, the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, the Canadian Trucker Strike, Putin, downplaying the corruption and criminality of the negligent biden administration, etc. It's also obvious to anyone who has half a functional brain that jello, along with the rest of his punk rock compatriots and the bulk of the left have clearly displayed that they only really believe in the notions of free speech, expression, choice, assembly etc. for their own side and their side's issues and usually those issues revolve around pushing forms of cultural and social degeneracy, whether it's the gradual perversion of the arts, abortion rights, the lgtbq agenda, excessive non-white third world immigration to the West, the softening of the criminal justice system, lax drug laws, etc. But they'll almost immediately turn around and demand the shutting down of the opposite side trying to hold rallies or lectures/debates on free speech, strong borders, gun rights, private property rights, racial iq differences, the constitution, human biology, whatever the left gets outraged over currently. This man's politics, much like that of punk rock itself, cannot exist without a heaping dose of hypocrisy and double standards behind them. Its gotta be left wing vs extreme left wing and those are the only choices you get; just a very narrow minded perspective of dialectic discourse. And as you can see over on the official Alternative Tentacles channel, with regards to observing the comments sections of, oh, at least the last couple of dozen episodes of WWJD, it's beginning to turn off the more mature, rational, logical and sensible thinking of his fans. I could go on, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. He's a man that has done a complete 180 on many of the past stances, positions and ideals that he had, probably for behind the scenes immunity from persecution and/or financial gain. My guess is that it may have actually begun around the time of the feds raiding his apartment in '85-86 and bringing him up on obscenity charges. It's obvious by now that they must've made a deal of sorts with him behind closed doors, what it was we can only speculate. Choose your idols carefully people.
@@buckyhate7695 No, not necessarily the hippies who cut their hair and opened businesses with a real (admittedly) capitalist dope dealer mentality that originally drove his fury, but more the type of blind followers of whatever form of social convention is at the head of the wheel (the parents of most of us for example), and in recent years, the paradigm has in fact shifted and it is now the left who are the authoritarian control freaks to revolt against, on account of their side's rhetoric being the official establishment narrative pushed by the media, academia, the music industry and Hollywood. The Right are in fact now the rebel alliance trying to bring down the Empire, which jello and the rest of punk rock are now a part of, whether or not they realize it.
Plastic Surgery Disasters is still probably my favorite punk album. Getting to release an album on Alternative Tentacles was definitely a highlight of my life. Jello’s a genuinely super down to earth, nice guy. He would pop up at shows, totally under the radar, no special treatment, I’d be shocked to see him front and center at show after show. “Ferrrrocious as usual guys!”
Hey Rustin, i agree- i love all of DKs albums and singles, FRESH FRUITS was my holy grail when i was 13 ('81). Then came IN GOD WE TRUST which was shocking, so fast and outrageous. I was too young to get the lyrics, my English was poor (i'm from Croatia), but hey, the music was too awesome! In ex-Yugoslavia we were lucky enough to get the possibillity to buy YU print of PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTERS, i was kinda disapointed, it was slower, darker, with no obvious hits like CALIFORNIA, CAMBODIA and KILL THE POOR. I liked it,but...i loved D.O.A, BAD BRAINS and BLACK FLAG better. So, the years were passing by, i got older and the DKs worm kept me restless. So i started to re-discover PLASTIC SURGERY again. To be short, it is my favorite punk album and probablly one of 20 favorite albums of all time of all genres. Production is great, the band is on fire, they play like hell, Jellos lyrics are apocalyptic poetry and my favorite song is RIOT. BLACK FLAG came close with MY WAR and HÜSKER DÜ with NEW DAY RISING. But the winners are DEAD KENNEDYS with their masterpiece-PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTERS
Here's a fun bit of trivia. As mentioned, Jello Biafra lost the rights to play or sing his own songs. But, sometimes in the early 200s, he struck a deal with another musicians called "Blowfly." Blowfly had been singing extremely obscene songs since the 1970s. And now, he had his mind set on doing an album of extremely obscene parodies of early punk and hard core songs. He did not need to get the rights to those songs, because it was classified as parody, and thus legal. He had written a song to the tune of "Holiday in Cambodia" called "R. Kelly in Cambodia," and asked Jello if he would like to sing parts it. He said yes, and he did. So, for the first time in decades, he was able to sing to the tune of one of his own songs on an album, because it was classified as parody. He sang a parody of his own song. RIP Blow Fly. He was punk before punk, and lived long enough to parody it, too
@@milascave2 yes saw Jello and The Melvins @ Slim's on a Halloween they did mamy DK classics and California Uner Allies with a Schwarzenegger accent, cuz at the time Ahnold took over the title from Grey Davis lol remember that fucker after a wacky recall
East Bay & Klaus were absolutely my favorite Git and bass combo in all punk. Saw them many times in early to mid 80's here on east coast. Many fond memories of them and their crew behind the scenes.
How many times did they play the east coast? I grew up in Albany just outside Berkeley. We would go to DK shows every week at least once. My political views were formed by DK Subhumans Crass Rudi Peni. MDC. I haven’t changed a bit. Just older and wiser. IMO DK was by far the best punk band in America. One of the best bands. Smart music. When VH had the amazing lyrics and music for Jump. You might as well jump jump. Brilliant guys DK was singing about shit that actually mattered. Sadly Panama Pan a ma ha was making millions for bloated rock stars and DK needed money to fight obscenity charges. Way before Too Live Crew got the credit they didn’t deserve. Crucifucks best band ever out of Wisconsin. Ok maybe the Femmes. But 2nd best.
Dude. As a punk (drummer in a host of unknown LA bands) in the LA scene from 82 to 86 that bled into 'alt-rock' through 93 I am so grateful I stumbled across this history of the DKs!!!!! Your presentation was entertaining and very historical with opinions always called out and so well reasoned. This type of deep dive into early bands is SO KEY to the preservation of the artistic phenomenon known as "punk" and all of its echoes and resonances through time. Thank you.
Dude --- as an L.A. Westside kid graduated high school in '83 and friends with members of Suicidal Tendencies, and a huge fan of DK, Black Flag, FEAR, Exploited, GBH, Social D, etc... Dead Kennedys made such an impact on the scene, as you know. I was lucky enough to have older siblings and my sisters dated musicians and I used to get to go to the Whiskey, Starwood, Madame Wongs East and West, Club 88, The Central (before it was the Viper Room, and I got to see Wendy O and Plazmatics, Oingo Boingo, The Dickies, The Norml, The Weasels, X, Devo, before they released albums or were just newly released albums when I was only 14, 15 years old around that same time I was hanging out at KXLU radio station at Loyola Marymount University because it was in my neighborhood. It was cool because they got everyone's demo records and I got about 8 or 10 45s from various known and unknown bands, plus an older friend drove a frieght truck and made deliveries for Frontier Records and SST and would give me copies of albums from various bands. Skating at Marina Skatepark with Jay Adams and the Dog Town boys. Those were the days. I saw DK at Devonshire Downs in the Valley I think with Angry Samoans, Vandals, RF7, Agent Orange (maybe) those shows were always a blurr and I get confused about the lineups because I was at so many shows. Anyways sorry to run on about that stuff. Be Cool.
@@13_13kIt sounds lame but I wish I had kept a diary of the shows and bands I saw. I bought a PIL bootleg live at the Pasadena Civic. Once I started listening I realized I was at that gig. The memories came back because of John Lydon’s stage banter.
@@vinylrichie007 --- I've thought about the same thing as you, I should have kept a diary of all the shows and underground (Raves) and after hour clubs that I've been to. I still hang out with one of my best friends that I met in 7th grade and we get to remind each other of shows we went to and parties etc... we went to a gallery here in L.A. on La Brea near Melrose a couple weeks ago that had a Beastie Boys history with different things like original lyrics hand written on notebook paper and posters and flyers from shows and photos, memorabilia, it actually was kinda lame but there were a couple cool things. But one thing we both tripped on was a copy of Flipside magaizine that we both had owned when it came out when we were in high school. It was cool seeing that one of the Beasties kept that thing all these years. But we also reminded each other of going to a concert way back in the early '90s in downtown L.A. called Big Top Locos and it was Rage Against The Machine, Cyprus Hill, and two or three other bands and we were literally the only white people there among hundreds of other people, my buddy, his blonde girlfriend and another buddy of ours also white and after the show was over it turned into a gang war. Like a Suicidal show in Baldwin Park that the promoter over sold tickets and inside the show the whole place was fighting and people stuck outside who paid for tickets but couldn't get in were pissed and the neighborhood gangsters were driving by and jumping the punk rockers because Suicidal and Venice 13 and Venice White Boyz were connected, then the cops showed up, so you had to pick your poison, either stay inside the venue where everyone was fighting, or go outside and try to get to your car before the cops or gangsters got you. Many crazy shows like that back in the '80s and '90s . Those were the days LOL
Jello gave me my first real album credit singing backing vocals on "Last Temptation of Reid", LARD'S greatest and in my opinion one of the greatest punk rock albums ever. I was a fan of all the band members, and it was before Nine Inch Nails drummer Jeff Ward sadly unalived himself and even sitting with him, Al from Ministry, Paul Barker, and Jello around a microphone at 3:45 in the morning, I knew it was a moment of rock and roll history and burned it into my memory. I got to sing on 5 of the tracks just because I happened to be there loaning them some electronic drum pads and they needed an extra voice on the backing tracks. Jello was and is highly intelligent, a resourceful and ambitious workaholic and definitely deserves his place in Rock history. Great job on the biography! Ps.on Ministry's "in case you didn't feel like showing up" video during "Land of Rape and Honey" next to Jello on stage and behind Ogre you can see a guy kneeling down snapping photos, that's me! Honored to have worked with these guys whom I consider the greatest!
Dead Kennedys changed everything in my young life. In 86 (I was 14) an older kid gave me a blank cassette tape with Bedtime on it. I wanted so badly to sing about things like they did. Eventually got into my own punk bands. Great video, my friend!
As an old audiophile I just have to say thank you. To me the DK’s, Minor Threat and Black Flag are The Godfather’s of pink. The DK’s were my first love and many time I was rolling down the stairs TDTF. I even had the Frankenstein Christ album and proudly hung the poster on the wall. Never got to see any of them live but have seen Henry Rollins and Fugazi. If we never had pink we would not have much of the awesome music we do today and Lard was an excellent group. Jello video, he’ll yeah. Fav songs California Uber Alis, Holiday in Cambodia, Buzz Bomb oh and Nazi Pimks, Too drunk to F. Wow it would be easier to say what few I liked the least. Keep pinko g on, you have a new fan if a 50 something guy is ok.
DK was just a really good band, much more musical than most hardcore. The whole band was tight as hell, I'm just in fresh awe of them as an adult. I was into DK when the other kids were into Black Flag.
@@chrhadden I didn't like their frat-boy attitudes, their openly Nazi fans, the constant violence at their shows or their unintelligent and poorly-played dialect of punk rock.
Good one 👍🏽. Nobody younger then 60 yrs of age will ever realize how controversial, violent and glorious this music was…. You can be a rapper now days and nobody will say shit.. but if you walked around in 79 as a punk you where hunted and hated by every dumb hippie…. Or jock .. lol
@@efromhb Same here mate, we were hated by everyone..ha! Fukem! Ppl don't realise how violent it was. But we were right, govts are shit & war is a business...look at the state of the world now ffs.
i didnt realize how old the music was.the only two i got when they were new were frankenchrist and give me convienence.i was like 12 around that time.we were still treated as outcasts at that point too,but that what we wanted .we did everything we could to not blend in with all the docksider wearing polo shirt clowns.there looking down there nose at us was what made us better then them to me anyway.
@@chrhadden They came to our town in 84, after the gig they came to our pubs & drank with us. They were mainly concerned about the bushfires (Ash Wednesday, hundred of fronts from SA to Vic.777p9 Anyway they drank with us like a tribe (they didn't hire out the top floor of the pub & only let chicks in...no locals. That was Green Day & they had to be 'escorted' from the place!! Upset the wrong blokes forever). DH Peligro (sic?) shouted us beer, asked us about local bands... great bloke & crackin drummer. Hear he died the other day....So RIP DH Darren (?) We just called him DH. An American who understood why Yanks aren't well liked throughout the world. Good man.
My first punk record was fresh fruit and it blew me away! To this day, I'm still a huge DK fan. Insigt has to be one of my favorites, though it came out much later on the give me convenience album. Thanks for this awesome video, keep up the good work!
one of my favorites. when i was a kid, i bought FFFRV just based on the interesting artwork. i didnt know much about the DKs and it was a sound i hadnt heard before. didnt know what to think at the time, but after a few listens, it grabbed me. been a huge fan ever since.
@@rking5074 same. I still remember going through the AT catalog and finding Noam Chomsky’s spoken word at like 14 years old. The DK’s were so formative in so many facets of my life.
Shopping in a record store in 80 or 81, never heard of the DKs, and bought my first taste, sound unheard, based on the name. Played it for friends like it was crap, "Like, isn't this crappy," I would say to them. But after a few more listens, I "got it." Bought all of their stuff ever since.
I'm 58. DKs were one of my top bands back in 80. Musically they were great. Not just hardcore. Musicians need to adopt fake names again. It was a lot more fun
Dead Kennedys were the first punk band I got into immediately after checking out D.O.A, who were the first punk band I liked. I think I went straight for DK just based on the fact that they were one of the first names that came to mind when I thought of punk, even with my incredibly limited knowledge at that point, which honestly speaks to their influence. Still one of my favourites to this day, they have so many good reliable classics. Really interesting video as well, glad you’re still making videos!
Yes to all of it. Glad to see they’re being remembered for the impact they had! I moved to SF in 1990 and one of the first jobs I had was working at Alternative Tentacles & also with Dirk Dirksen. I still have my “No More Censorship Defense Fund” T-shirt when Jello, Zappa, et all were fighting against Tipper Gore and the PMRC! That would be a great video!
I wonder what he thinks about all the current censorship. He's pretty anti Trump so is it okay to censor Trump, for example? Is it okay to ban everyone that doesn't absolutely love transgender people, etc?? Elon Musk just swore to the ADL that he'll uphold all the stuff about hate speech for them on Twitter, so there's more censorship right there. I don't get why you don't let "hateful" people be hateful (in words, not actions) and simply let people prove them wrong, if that's the case, or ignore them.
I was 15 years old when I heard for the first time a song from DK's PSD album. It was playing on a cassette, inside a friend's car. We didn't let him go home! I just asked him: "What band is this? What is this?" And I felt like I had just met an extraordinary band! The lyrics, the way JB interpreted them, that bass, that guitar, that drummer! What a super band! Here, at that time we listened to the Sex Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks, Ramones, but I thought everything was very "basic", especially on a musical level, but also on a lyrical level. So, that was fresh fruit, album that I only heard some time after PSD and In god we trust Inc
They were better players than most all punk bands...more dynamic songs and very clever political lyrics....peligro’s drumming was insane, ray’s delay and reverb soaked guitar sound was like surf guitar yet creepy and haunting.....they were way different than the simple music punk bands.....they were tops
I'd just finished watching this, then slipped on to Twitter to see Ray's post about DH passing. Absolutely wrecked. Adding him to the list of those remembered today, Dio des Los Muertos. Probably the single most talented drummer of that era. 🤘🧙♂️🤘
My first punk rock show was their gig at the Florentine Gardens on Hollywood Blvd. on September 5, 1981 (T.S.O.L. & 45 Grave were the support acts). From then on until the break up of the original iteration in 1986, I saw them another 10 times. They were then, and remain my favorite band (with Jello only!), as they changed my life.
The first time I saw Dead Kennedys was also at the Florentine Gardens. I don’t remember how many times I saw them live. They were always great live. The flow of some of the shows were ruined by Jello excessively talking between songs.
I grew up in a small midwestern town and discovered the DKs as a teen in the mid-80's. The band contributed to my world view for better or worse. For better I'd say. Nice job. I like your energy as a narrator keep them coming.
I rarely find a youtuber who does a good job of talking about this band's legacy. Well done, spot on, and non biased. You kick ass at doing this. Instant sub
Alternative Tentacles's "Virus 100" tribute album is what got many of us metal kids into Dead Kennedys, especially SEPULTURA and NAPALM DEATH's covers. Later on Igor and Andreas of Sepultura played live with Biafra, D.H. Peligro played live with NAILBOMB (Max from Sepultura's side project) and even covered "Police Truck" with them, and we cannot forget the beginnings of BRUJERIA and Biafra playing with them. LARD is already mentioned in this video. Yes, DK had a huge influence on 90s metal music and we are very grateful for that.
I saw this band at the Longshoreman's Hall in the Los Angeles (the Wilmington area near Long Beach) area back in the 1980s. The LAPD flooded the building with teargas and beat people with clubs and chains as they left the building. The crowd rioted after the show was shut down. There was no reason to shut down the show, and there was no violence or unusual drug use happening. Even so, it was amazing to hear "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" live. I loved the Dead Kennedys!
Used to be one of my absolute favorite bands and even though I don't listen to em like I did back in the day I still keep em in rotation cause unfortunately a lotta their music is absolutely timeless. They're one of those rare bands that I feel could've done amazing things in any number of genres had they not fallen out. And yeah, they without a doubt took the left-libertarian political element that was huge in a lotta punk and made it the mainstream of punk.
Thanks for making this documentary. As a teenager, Plastic Surgery Disasters was the first album I learnt all the words to off by heart! It's still on my regular playlist on my Spotify library. Bleed for Me is my favourite amongst an awesome album.
Was 12 in 1985 and already skatin, listening to bands like poison idea, battalion of saints, gang green and tons of others. Fresh fruit for rotting vegetables was my first dk album. Still listen to plastic surgery and frankenchrist. Never seen dk but seen black flag (henry rollins era) and mdc in the 80's, just to name a couple. Good times. Dk was one of the earliest bay area hardcore bands to start the socal punk scene.
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is an album that i can still hear in my head. I was a little late, picking it up in college in the 90s, but it had a huge effect on me. (EDIT: never noticed autocorrect messed that up so bad)
One of my favorites punk bands of all time. The guitar work of East Bay Ray the bass playing of Klaus fluoride and the late great drumming of D.H.. Peligro and Jello Biafra this was a seminal line up for years to come
Just heard the tragic news of dh peligros death.being a huge DK fan since "holiday in Cambodia" came out dh's drumming was just amazing.ted was great but dh was so tight playing at breakneck speed.i hope the original line up get together for a tribute.god bless you mam.
Bedtime for Democracy was my favorite Album as a kid and the first CD I ever owned... the songs Dear Abbey and Triumph of the Swill are still in my playlist
Thanks for this video. It was well done and a great documentary about a very important band in the punk scene of the late 70s and into the 80s. As an L.A. Westside kid graduated high school in 83 punk rock was huge for my friends and I. DK was and is still one of my favorite bands. Keep up the great video creations.
Man, this guy knows his stuff! I thought I knew everything about DK and I learned a couple of things here. I for one will definitely put a vote in for doing a video about the various exploits of Jello Biafra, there's a lot to go on there.
I know this is about the full band of the Dead Kennedys, and not just one member. But being how close in time this was released to DH's death, I was shocked and heartbroken on how far down in the comments I had to scroll before seeing his name mentioned. The rock world (or whatever sub genre you want to go with) has lost far to many wonderful and talented drummers over the last few years. Please do a better job of honoring them and keeping their memory and music alive. 🖤🥁🎶🤘
Great video man, I’ve been listened to the No Dogs in Space series on DK so this video landed at the perfect time. My favorite album is their debut and my favorite song is either California Uber Allies or When You Get Drafted
I went to my first punk show in '84 as an 11 year old kid. I love punk rock still and I really appreciate all your hard work- I got to see DK in London in 2017 and even though JB wasn't a part of it, it was still SO GOOD.
I m 69 yrs old and still love them. I play their all music everyday. Their influence is far reaching Even those who are younger have heard Dead Kennedy's. Time to listen to Holiday in Cambodia. I'm Tom of Red Table Prints
The Dead Kennedys are one of my favorite American punk bands. And for my favorite song, I'm gonna have to go with "Stars and Stripes/ of Corruption"... Mr.AST...thanks for the clip. Oi! From Bridgetown CA SGV/USA 🇺🇸🎤🛠🎸🍻🫡⚒️🇲🇽
I never knew that Pull My Strings was born in the way that it was. Pretty rad to learn the origin of my favorite DK song. Wish I had learnt that sooner, to be honest.
DK was one of my all time favorites which also includes Minor Threat, Black Flag,Bad Religion and Descendants. I have been listening to Punk Rock since 6th grade which would've been 1987. And I'm born and raised in Santa Cruz so having amazing Bay Area and Local Punk Bands is one of the raddest parts of living here. I forgot to add Social Distortion to my list lol and The Misfits. I collected Misfits shirts in high school because they always came out with good prints. The Cramps did too. I love this music and this lifestyle I wouldn't have wanted to grow up any other way.
Ah yes, the band considered "entry level" in spite of being one of the most important bands in punk history. They were absolutely one of my first loves in my punk rock journey, and I still listen to this day. It was even better in 2001 when all the George Bush references were relevant again! PS - still waiting on that Screeching Weasel vid
Funny you mentioned that they became much more relevant in 2001 when Bush became president. That was the time I got heavily into punk rock music as a teenager. It was also the time I got into politics the first time in my life. The Dead Kennedys wasn't the first punk band I discovered, but I got introduced to them by a friend pretty early on, and I fell in love with them immediately. I loved everything about them, the name, the music, the lyrics, the super dark humor, their whole aestetic. And I still do. I got a turntable this year and the first LP I got was Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.
DK had a huge influence on me personally and helped cement my political views early on in life as well as how I see myself as a person. Besides punk I think DK also had a big influence on metal overall and thrash metal in particular.
I was a teenager in the late 80s and kind of drifted into alternative/indie/punk via New Order (of Blue Monday fame). Before that, the Dead Kennedy's used to scare the absolute shit out of me. I can put that down entirely to the Plastic Surgery Disasters cover, along with the Holiday In Cambodia single cover. Horrific. But holy f**k, when I eventually started listening to them, my mind was well and truly blown. Even 40 years later, they are still one of my favourite bands, let alone favourite punk bands.
I first heard the Kennedy’s in 1980 when I was 19. I saw them live twice and you could talk to them between sets. It was in Montreal at a small club. I also saw Black Flag with Henry singing in the same place
Was that Black Flag at Au Cargo in Montreal for the Slip it In tour, summer 1984 with Saccharine Trust opening? I was there with 3 friends from the Toronto show and we were on the guest list because Elizabeth was trying to put together an interview. She finally got to interview them in Ottawa.
@@seanp9277 yeah Blag Flag were at the Cargo and the Dead Kennedy’s were at the Roller Rink near the Berri Voyageur Bus Terminus. ( near St Laurent and du Maisoneuve. I think. Not far from Dutchys).
Hi Jack. I really enjoy your videos on Punk history and plan to watch much more of them. You ask your viewers to submit their favorite punk bands so you can look into them. The DK's are certainly one for me. Their musicality and political oriented lyrics are - in my opinion - equaled by my favorite two punk bands: Victims Family and NoMeansNo. I only saw one show by each of them in the Netherlands, but that made a lasting impression on me. Also starting in the 80's and performing up until the current day (!), I think their unique sounds are iconic and should definitely deserve your attention. But I leave that up to you!
They were excellant musicians, i think that gets overlooked, they were unique, they sound like no one else....totally original in everyway!! They really fucking changed my life!! I have and always will love them i have got 2 copies of the video from 84'! Just incase one broke! Of course we now have the internet!! But in the 80's things were very different!!
Can’t say for sure, but I think my band (the detonators) played one of their very last shows at the Olympic auditorium with the Dicks and Fishbone in 1986. The bassist for fishbone got stabbed on stage but played the rest of the gig. We first played with them in 1982 at Alpine Village in Torrance. That was with the Zero Boys, MDC, and Minor Threat. I last saw Jello in 2016 in Blackpool UK at rebellion. I was with DOA. Good times
I saw Jello speak a couple days after the FTAA summit in Quebec City in 2001, he was still coughing up pepper spray, he signed my DK t-shirt though, Propaghandi stopped at my work to gas up a few days after that, it was a cool week.
Great video, I can't wait to give DKs catalogue a revisit. I gotta say even though it's lame to pick their most famous song as a fav but I think it's there best known song for a good reason. And a separate video on jello would be awesome.
thanks for the history lesson brother! I 'm MUCH oilder then You and still didn't know or understand the back story of many aspects! Pull My String has honestly always been My favorite DK jam, with Holiday and Police Truck second and third! Thanks!!!
Saw the Dead Kennedys live at the Hotel Saint Clair in San Jose. I dressed as a 6'4" transvestite nurse. Guys and girls pinched my ass. Jello threw fistfuls of mayonnaise at the audience. It was magic.
The first time I saw Dead Kennedys was in the back of this produce market in Kansas City which was about as close to Las Vegas as the Midwestern bosses go without getting themselves arrested. I mean, nobody even knew. One guy even made his mother do all the cooking.
I didn't know much about the history behind The Dead Kennedys until now. Thank you, Punk Historian, for doing this Dead Kennedys for Dummies deep dive. (subscribed)
for sure the best punk doc on dk out there. it can also be said it's one of the best punk docs period. thanks brother. your time and effort to make this vid is greatly appreciated. would you please put your talent to task yet again to make one of these masterpieces on w.o w. and the plasmatics? personally, the band that shaped me just a hair more than dk - just a hair. thanks again for the great work.
Seen the dead Kennedys in Montebello Quebec. Good set. Montebello rock fest would be a good video. North Americas largest punk/metal festival went from amazing to bankruptcy in three years. Went to seven years in a row. Almost became like a pilgrimage for me. Man do I miss that place.
I"m sure they were the first punk band I ever heard of. My dad, a staunch conservative, liked their band name (ie: he hated the Kennedy family). Ironically, 20 years after he said that off hand remark, I ended up staying at Jello's house while on tour with a band that once was on Alternative Tentacles. (Jello is a very kind, though odd, person.) I am fairly sure I got Lard before any DK records, though. In fact, I'd love a video about his post DK musical adventures since he he collaborated with a ton of bands. Or, in the case of NoMeansNo, it was a "confrontation. not a collaboration" (in the words of NMN drummer John Wright). Finally saw Jello doing DK songs with Guantanamo in 2011. That is probably his most talented backing band. Ralph Spight is one of the best guitarists you all haven't heard. And freaking legendary bassist Andrew Weiss? C'mon! One of the best shows I ever saw. Best of all, alongside the DK songs, they did one Lard song.
I was lucky enough to see the Dead Kennedys at the Oakland War Memorial Veterans Hall across the bay from San Francisco. The last opening band was supposed to be the Bad Brains but one of the band members got busted for pot at the airport. It took a long time for the Dead Kennedys to come on stage. Jello finally came out and asked over the mic "Has anyone seen our drummer?". I went to go to the bathroom right after that and there was DH Peligro sitting in a corner. East Bay Ray and someone else ran up to him, grabbed him, and pulled him onstage. Awesome show. Six cop cars lined up double parked on the street when the show was over just to make sure there was no "trouble".
The brilliance of DK is in Jello's ability to sing from the perspective of the people he despised. Nobody did that, as well as he did. That's not to say the music wasn't brilliant, as well. The whole package was a perfect storm.
Too bad he became the people he despised later down the line.
Jello WAS/is those people he dispised, I could see that back in the 80s when I was a kid. I wished back then that he would get elected mayor so he could turn into exactly what he wanted to be all along.
@@zeo1087 I could be off the mark here, but I think Jello's decidedly socialist bent, is being equated with the hippies he hated. They're not the same thing, though.
@@zeo1087 Hmm, where to start? Practically in EVERY way.
Look, as hard as it may be to believe that your heroes can't potentially turn their backs on their former ideals, it has to be stressed that that is exactly what has happened with the passage of time with regards to jello. A simple close examination of his catalog of work, particularly his highly influential spoken word albums (which I listened to repeatedly back in the day) in comparison to the things he says now, will reveal that he has indeed compromised much of the stances that he once possessed.
We can over look the fact of him getting the covid Vax and telling his fans "you should too". He may as well have said that infamous line of social mockery from Become The Media: "Shut Up And Shop!" Keep in mind, he once had a clause in his 2000 Green Party Presidential platform that forbid the drugging of schoolchildren against their will.
The whole paradigm shifted around the time obama got into office and jello shifted with it, regardless of the fact that jello did not vote for him, which I acknowledge. The left suddenly went crazy with power mad authoritarianism, becoming the modern Religious Right, only their religion is woke identity politics and sjw virtue signalling. Jello jumped headlong into this, not realizing that he again is compromising a past bit of advice he gave to his fans on those spoken word albums: avoid becoming a fundamentalist about their activism. He should know better and if anything should be calling these people out: "Yo! This is NOT the way to get people turned onto our ideas; you're giving everything I've been trying to build up over the last 30-40 years a bad image! Stop!" It should also be the same with antifa regarding the constant rioting and violence they engage in.
NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If anything, he's become the silent punk rock cheerleader for it all, illustrated bluntly in his series of rants TRUMP STOLE THE ELECTION around the time of Trump's election by blurting out "NOW IT'S TIME TO GET EVIL!!!!" Wow. What happened to encouraging reasonable and rational debate between the two sides in order to try to come to a common ground solution: TO quote jello himself: "Sit down and talk to them. They start spouting Rush Limbaugh style anti immigrant, anti-welfare type rhetoric, don't dismiss them as unreachable. Sit down and talk to them." From Machine Gun In The Clowns Hand.
This is especially disheartening when one looks at the mass of online skeptics and social commentators that have sprung up on RUclips and elsewhere in this Age Of Information revolving around the internet and you realize that (gasp) there IS indeed such a thing as rational and sensible thinking conservatives after all, and not all of them do support Trump or the Republicans, there's many independent party type people and no party people period. You think jello would be willing to reach out to and converse with these people so we could really build a united opposition to the powers that be.
So what happened to all that? Did he just decide to forget about it with the passage of time and now it's just easier to jump on board the new left wing vs extreme left wing authoritarian express fostered by the msm, which btw is another issue. He now gets all his info and regurgitates the official narrative from sources like MSNBC, CNN, the mainstream newspapers, little realizing that those outlets are all owned and controlled by a group of international financiers that have their own agenda that is detrimental to the rest of humanity. And it doesn't matter the issue, he tows the official narrative, whether it's regarding his own ongoing Trump (whom I have no love for btw) Derangement Syndrome, the covid vaccines, race riots, the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, the Canadian Trucker Strike, Putin, downplaying the corruption and criminality of the negligent biden administration, etc.
It's also obvious to anyone who has half a functional brain that jello, along with the rest of his punk rock compatriots and the bulk of the left have clearly displayed that they only really believe in the notions of free speech, expression, choice, assembly etc. for their own side and their side's issues and usually those issues revolve around pushing forms of cultural and social degeneracy, whether it's the gradual perversion of the arts, abortion rights, the lgtbq agenda, excessive non-white third world immigration to the West, the softening of the criminal justice system, lax drug laws, etc. But they'll almost immediately turn around and demand the shutting down of the opposite side trying to hold rallies or lectures/debates on free speech, strong borders, gun rights, private property rights, racial iq differences, the constitution, human biology, whatever the left gets outraged over currently. This man's politics, much like that of punk rock itself, cannot exist without a heaping dose of hypocrisy and double standards behind them. Its gotta be left wing vs extreme left wing and those are the only choices you get; just a very narrow minded perspective of dialectic discourse. And as you can see over on the official Alternative Tentacles channel, with regards to observing the comments sections of, oh, at least the last couple of dozen episodes of WWJD, it's beginning to turn off the more mature, rational, logical and sensible thinking of his fans.
I could go on, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. He's a man that has done a complete 180 on many of the past stances, positions and ideals that he had, probably for behind the scenes immunity from persecution and/or financial gain. My guess is that it may have actually begun around the time of the feds raiding his apartment in '85-86 and bringing him up on obscenity charges. It's obvious by now that they must've made a deal of sorts with him behind closed doors, what it was we can only speculate. Choose your idols carefully people.
@@buckyhate7695 No, not necessarily the hippies who cut their hair and opened businesses with a real (admittedly) capitalist dope dealer mentality that originally drove his fury, but more the type of blind followers of whatever form of social convention is at the head of the wheel (the parents of most of us for example), and in recent years, the paradigm has in fact shifted and it is now the left who are the authoritarian control freaks to revolt against, on account of their side's rhetoric being the official establishment narrative pushed by the media, academia, the music industry and Hollywood. The Right are in fact now the rebel alliance trying to bring down the Empire, which jello and the rest of punk rock are now a part of, whether or not they realize it.
Plastic Surgery Disasters is still probably my favorite punk album. Getting to release an album on Alternative Tentacles was definitely a highlight of my life.
Jello’s a genuinely super down to earth, nice guy. He would pop up at shows, totally under the radar, no special treatment, I’d be shocked to see him front and center at show after show. “Ferrrrocious as usual guys!”
PSD is definitely the tightest, most consistently good DK album. The CD that included In God We Trust is a banger.
Hey Rustin, i agree- i love all of DKs albums and singles, FRESH FRUITS was my holy grail when i was 13 ('81). Then came IN GOD WE TRUST which was shocking, so fast and outrageous. I was too young to get the lyrics, my English was poor (i'm from Croatia), but hey, the music was too awesome! In ex-Yugoslavia we were lucky enough to get the possibillity to buy YU print of PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTERS, i was kinda disapointed, it was slower, darker, with no obvious hits like CALIFORNIA, CAMBODIA and KILL THE POOR. I liked it,but...i loved D.O.A, BAD BRAINS and BLACK FLAG better. So, the years were passing by, i got older and the DKs worm kept me restless. So i started to re-discover PLASTIC SURGERY again. To be short, it is my favorite punk album and probablly one of 20 favorite albums of all time of all genres. Production is great, the band is on fire, they play like hell, Jellos lyrics are apocalyptic poetry and my favorite song is RIOT. BLACK FLAG came close with MY WAR and HÜSKER DÜ with NEW DAY RISING. But the winners are DEAD KENNEDYS with their masterpiece-PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTERS
@Metal Fan That's probably why your name isn't Punk Fan. Why then, are you watching this and commenting?
Watch his "What Would Jello Do" series on RUclips. He is really a genius and totally down to earth.
@Metal Fan lol don’t be sorry man. No one cares, or cares who Opeth is. Have a good one.
Here's a fun bit of trivia.
As mentioned, Jello Biafra lost the rights to play or sing his own songs.
But, sometimes in the early 200s, he struck a deal with another musicians called "Blowfly." Blowfly had been singing extremely obscene songs since the 1970s. And now, he had his mind set on doing an album of extremely obscene parodies of early punk and hard core songs. He did not need to get the rights to those songs, because it was classified as parody, and thus legal.
He had written a song to the tune of "Holiday in Cambodia" called "R. Kelly in Cambodia," and asked Jello if he would like to sing parts it. He said yes, and he did. So, for the first time in decades, he was able to sing to the tune of one of his own songs on an album, because it was classified as parody. He sang a parody of his own song.
RIP Blow Fly. He was punk before punk, and lived long enough to parody it, too
Blowfly was a fucking legend
@@thepunkhistorian6397 When Biafra performs live with different projects he does sing DKs songs. Lots of footage on yt available.
@@milascave2 yes saw Jello and The Melvins @ Slim's on a Halloween they did mamy DK classics and California Uner Allies with a Schwarzenegger accent, cuz at the time Ahnold took over the title from Grey Davis lol remember that fucker after a wacky recall
East Bay Ray is one of the most under rated guitarists. Always loved the surf influences in his playing.
He had a great surf-y band in the 90s called Jumbo Shrimp
The whole band was made up of virtuosos.
Absolutely one hell of a unique guitarist
Agreed. Unique player, love his tone too.
Couldn't agree more! My most fav punk guitarist and he was even so much more than that!
East Bay & Klaus were absolutely my favorite Git and bass combo in all punk.
Saw them many times in early to mid 80's here on east coast. Many fond memories of them and their crew behind the scenes.
Saw them in May. Got on stage with them. Most epic moment of my life
Hell no jello and dh are the band. Is east bay ray paying people for writing this nonsens
How many times did they play the east coast? I grew up in Albany just outside Berkeley. We would go to DK shows every week at least once. My political views were formed by DK Subhumans Crass Rudi Peni. MDC. I haven’t changed a bit. Just older and wiser. IMO DK was by far the best punk band in America. One of the best bands. Smart music. When VH had the amazing lyrics and music for Jump. You might as well jump jump. Brilliant guys DK was singing about shit that actually mattered. Sadly Panama Pan a ma ha was making millions for bloated rock stars and DK needed money to fight obscenity charges. Way before Too Live Crew got the credit they didn’t deserve.
Crucifucks best band ever out of Wisconsin. Ok maybe the Femmes. But 2nd best.
Always thought DK had the best musicianship out of all the punk bands from their era. East Bay Ray was phenominal!
No he is not
Jello is phenominal and dh peligro
EbR is the punk clapton
@@scottmeikle3724 perfect description!
No, that would be Minutemen though in some circles that may not be considered "punk" per se.
Megadeth did a cover of Police Truck on their latest album. Love to see anyone showing love for DK's.
Ellefson had a DK sticker on his bass during "Peace Sells."
@@lobotomyscam1051 Yep, I remember.
If you were a punk in the early late 70's 80's this song had MEANING.
The cops used to beat up and arrest us for no reason.
@@DiogenesOfCa yeah, y'all got to feel how it is to be black.
@@WillToNihilsm Not really the same
Dude. As a punk (drummer in a host of unknown LA bands) in the LA scene from 82 to 86 that bled into 'alt-rock' through 93 I am so grateful I stumbled across this history of the DKs!!!!! Your presentation was entertaining and very historical with opinions always called out and so well reasoned. This type of deep dive into early bands is SO KEY to the preservation of the artistic phenomenon known as "punk" and all of its echoes and resonances through time. Thank you.
Dude --- as an L.A. Westside kid graduated high school in '83 and friends with members of Suicidal Tendencies, and a huge fan of DK, Black Flag, FEAR, Exploited, GBH, Social D, etc... Dead Kennedys made such an impact on the scene, as you know.
I was lucky enough to have older siblings and my sisters dated musicians and I used to get to go to the Whiskey, Starwood, Madame Wongs East and West, Club 88, The Central (before it was the Viper Room, and I got to see Wendy O and Plazmatics, Oingo Boingo, The Dickies, The Norml, The Weasels, X, Devo, before they released albums or were just newly released albums when I was only 14, 15 years old around that same time I was hanging out at KXLU radio station at Loyola Marymount University because it was in my neighborhood. It was cool because they got everyone's demo records and I got about 8 or 10 45s from various known and unknown bands, plus an older friend drove a frieght truck and made deliveries for Frontier Records and SST and would give me copies of albums from various bands. Skating at Marina Skatepark with Jay Adams and the Dog Town boys. Those were the days. I saw DK at Devonshire Downs in the Valley I think with Angry Samoans, Vandals, RF7, Agent Orange (maybe) those shows were always a blurr and I get confused about the lineups because I was at so many shows.
Anyways sorry to run on about that stuff. Be Cool.
@@13_13kIt sounds lame but I wish I had kept a diary of the shows and bands I saw. I bought a PIL bootleg live at the Pasadena Civic. Once I started listening I realized I was at that gig. The memories came back because of John Lydon’s stage banter.
@@vinylrichie007 --- I've thought about the same thing as you, I should have kept a diary of all the shows and underground (Raves) and after hour clubs that I've been to.
I still hang out with one of my best friends that I met in 7th grade and we get to remind each other of shows we went to and parties etc... we went to a gallery here in L.A. on La Brea near Melrose a couple weeks ago that had a Beastie Boys history with different things like original lyrics hand written on notebook paper and posters and flyers from shows and photos, memorabilia, it actually was kinda lame but there were a couple cool things. But one thing we both tripped on was a copy of Flipside magaizine that we both had owned when it came out when we were in high school. It was cool seeing that one of the Beasties kept that thing all these years.
But we also reminded each other of going to a concert way back in the early '90s in downtown L.A. called Big Top Locos and it was Rage Against The Machine, Cyprus Hill, and two or three other bands and we were literally the only white people there among hundreds of other people, my buddy, his blonde girlfriend and another buddy of ours also white and after the show was over it turned into a gang war. Like a Suicidal show in Baldwin Park that the promoter over sold tickets and inside the show the whole place was fighting and people stuck outside who paid for tickets but couldn't get in were pissed and the neighborhood gangsters were driving by and jumping the punk rockers because Suicidal and Venice 13 and Venice White Boyz were connected, then the cops showed up, so you had to pick your poison, either stay inside the venue where everyone was fighting, or go outside and try to get to your car before the cops or gangsters got you. Many crazy shows like that back in the '80s and '90s .
Those were the days LOL
@@13_13k The coos liked to disrupt Dead Kennedys shows.
Biggest regret: Had a chance to see that last tour and passed because of work/no dough - then they broke up. I kick myself even now for not going.
Jello gave me my first real album credit singing backing vocals on "Last Temptation of Reid", LARD'S greatest and in my opinion one of the greatest punk rock albums ever. I was a fan of all the band members, and it was before Nine Inch Nails drummer Jeff Ward sadly unalived himself and even sitting with him, Al from Ministry, Paul Barker, and Jello around a microphone at 3:45 in the morning, I knew it was a moment of rock and roll history and burned it into my memory. I got to sing on 5 of the tracks just because I happened to be there loaning them some electronic drum pads and they needed an extra voice on the backing tracks. Jello was and is highly intelligent, a resourceful and ambitious workaholic and definitely deserves his place in Rock history. Great job on the biography! Ps.on Ministry's "in case you didn't feel like showing up" video during "Land of Rape and Honey" next to Jello on stage and behind Ogre you can see a guy kneeling down snapping photos, that's me! Honored to have worked with these guys whom I consider the greatest!
Yeah and I was The 5th member of the Beatles
Well done. I was 18 when Fresh Fruit dropped...in university. Needless to say i've been a major fan since. You're our legacy. Keep it fresh
Dead Kennedys changed everything in my young life. In 86 (I was 14) an older kid gave me a blank cassette tape with Bedtime on it. I wanted so badly to sing about things like they did. Eventually got into my own punk bands. Great video, my friend!
Similar story, I'm 49 now. Still love DK and every other band/side project he did, especially Lard. Last Temptation of Reid is gold
As an old audiophile I just have to say thank you. To me the DK’s, Minor Threat and Black Flag are The Godfather’s of pink. The DK’s were my first love and many time I was rolling down the stairs TDTF. I even had the Frankenstein Christ album and proudly hung the poster on the wall. Never got to see any of them live but have seen Henry Rollins and Fugazi. If we never had pink we would not have much of the awesome music we do today and Lard was an excellent group. Jello video, he’ll yeah. Fav songs California Uber Alis, Holiday in Cambodia, Buzz Bomb oh and Nazi Pimks, Too drunk to F. Wow it would be easier to say what few I liked the least. Keep pinko g on, you have a new fan if a 50 something guy is ok.
Never liked Pink myself! ok as a lightweight pop artist but not in the same league in my mind!
Yep....pink revolutionised pink rock...at least her husband has a black flag tattoo 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah! Pink is not dead!
Pink is for girls!
😊😢. Fff
Sq
DK was just a really good band, much more musical than most hardcore. The whole band was tight as hell, I'm just in fresh awe of them as an adult. I was into DK when the other kids were into Black Flag.
like what you couldnt like both?thats lame
@@chrhadden I didn't like their frat-boy attitudes, their openly Nazi fans, the constant violence at their shows or their unintelligent and poorly-played dialect of punk rock.
Hahahaha WTF why can’t you enjoy both?! That’s NOT smart. Oh I’m with one but not the other. I like the Sex Pistols but not the Clash. Ridiculous.
they are both very important bands from the era. get real.
I was around back then. I don’t know anyone who didn’t like both bands.
Good one 👍🏽. Nobody younger then 60 yrs of age will ever realize how controversial, violent and glorious this music was…. You can be a rapper now days and nobody will say shit.. but if you walked around in 79 as a punk you where hunted and hated by every dumb hippie…. Or jock .. lol
I'm in my 50s and I understand the punk rock glory. I also can appreciate the comment about being hunted.
@@efromhb Same here mate, we were hated by everyone..ha! Fukem!
Ppl don't realise how violent it was.
But we were right, govts are shit & war is a business...look at the state of the world now ffs.
i didnt realize how old the music was.the only two i got when they were new were frankenchrist and give me convienence.i was like 12 around that time.we were still treated as outcasts at that point too,but that what we wanted .we did everything we could to not blend in with all the docksider wearing polo shirt clowns.there looking down there nose at us was what made us better then them to me anyway.
@@chrhadden They came to our town in 84, after the gig they came to our pubs & drank with us. They were mainly concerned about the bushfires (Ash Wednesday, hundred of fronts from SA to Vic.777p9
Anyway they drank with us like a tribe (they didn't hire out the top floor of the pub & only let chicks in...no locals. That was Green Day & they had to be 'escorted' from the place!! Upset the wrong blokes forever).
DH Peligro (sic?) shouted us beer, asked us about local bands... great bloke & crackin drummer.
Hear he died the other day....So RIP DH Darren (?) We just called him DH.
An American who understood why Yanks aren't well liked throughout the world.
Good man.
Oregon... tolerant Oregon... lol.
My first punk record was fresh fruit and it blew me away! To this day, I'm still a huge DK fan. Insigt has to be one of my favorites, though it came out much later on the give me convenience album. Thanks for this awesome video, keep up the good work!
Insight is such a great track…Still have it on the Kill the Poor single…
Agreed. As an introverted, cynical 15 year old that didn't know where I fit in, "Insight" spoke to me and was a big part of me getting into punk.
Syd Barrett's influence on East Bay Ray's "echoplex" sound is apparent and NO accident.
that is laughable
Not according to the authorized DK biography "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables:the Early Years"@@nickcarroll5034
Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death is in my top 3 all time albums.
one of my favorites. when i was a kid, i bought FFFRV just based on the interesting artwork. i didnt know much about the DKs and it was a sound i hadnt heard before. didnt know what to think at the time, but after a few listens, it grabbed me. been a huge fan ever since.
i did the same. how can you not buy a record with burning police cars on the front.
DK & Jello Really Woke Me Up To Local Politics & Politics in General. Forever Grateful.
@@rking5074 same. I still remember going through the AT catalog and finding Noam Chomsky’s spoken word at like 14 years old. The DK’s were so formative in so many facets of my life.
That’s the same reason I grabbed Rage against the machine’s debut. The cover was a Tibetan monk, committing self immolation in protest.
Shopping in a record store in 80 or 81, never heard of the DKs, and bought my first taste, sound unheard, based on the name. Played it for friends like it was crap, "Like, isn't this crappy," I would say to them. But after a few more listens, I "got it." Bought all of their stuff ever since.
Absolutely iconic band. First heard them when I was like 10 or 11 and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Well done. I definitely would love a deep dive on Jello's endeavors
I'm 63 and still love DK. Saw someone recently with a Holiday in Cambodia t-shirt and got jelly.
I'm 58. DKs were one of my top bands back in 80.
Musically they were great. Not just hardcore.
Musicians need to adopt fake names again. It was a lot more fun
Gene and Dean Ween agree.
one of the most unique sounding groups in rock music history...not just punk rock
Dead Kennedys were the first punk band I got into immediately after checking out D.O.A, who were the first punk band I liked. I think I went straight for DK just based on the fact that they were one of the first names that came to mind when I thought of punk, even with my incredibly limited knowledge at that point, which honestly speaks to their influence. Still one of my favourites to this day, they have so many good reliable classics.
Really interesting video as well, glad you’re still making videos!
I love that DOA is still at it and Joe Keithley is still putting on killer shows at age 65.
Yes to all of it. Glad to see they’re being remembered for the impact they had! I moved to SF in 1990 and one of the first jobs I had was working at Alternative Tentacles & also with Dirk Dirksen. I still have my “No More Censorship Defense Fund” T-shirt when Jello, Zappa, et all were fighting against Tipper Gore and the PMRC! That would be a great video!
I wonder what he thinks about all the current censorship. He's pretty anti Trump so is it okay to censor Trump, for example?
Is it okay to ban everyone that doesn't absolutely love transgender people, etc??
Elon Musk just swore to the ADL that he'll uphold all the stuff about hate speech for them on Twitter, so there's more censorship right there.
I don't get why you don't let "hateful" people be hateful (in words, not actions) and simply let people prove them wrong, if that's the case, or ignore them.
I was 15 years old when I heard for the first time a song from DK's PSD album. It was playing on a cassette, inside a friend's car. We didn't let him go home! I just asked him: "What band is this? What is this?" And I felt like I had just met an extraordinary band! The lyrics, the way JB interpreted them, that bass, that guitar, that drummer! What a super band! Here, at that time we listened to the Sex Pistols, Clash, Buzzcocks, Ramones, but I thought everything was very "basic", especially on a musical level, but also on a lyrical level. So, that was fresh fruit, album that I only heard some time after PSD and In god we trust Inc
They were better players than most all punk bands...more dynamic songs and very clever political lyrics....peligro’s drumming was insane, ray’s delay and reverb soaked guitar sound was like surf guitar yet creepy and haunting.....they were way different than the simple music punk bands.....they were tops
Amazing video, I love Jellos energetic vibes and often the strangest faces and body language I've seen before in his stage performance
I'd just finished watching this, then slipped on to Twitter to see Ray's post about DH passing.
Absolutely wrecked. Adding him to the list of those remembered today, Dio des Los Muertos.
Probably the single most talented drummer of that era.
🤘🧙♂️🤘
My first punk rock show was their gig at the Florentine Gardens on Hollywood Blvd. on September 5, 1981 (T.S.O.L. & 45 Grave were the support acts). From then on until the break up of the original iteration in 1986, I saw them another 10 times. They were then, and remain my favorite band (with Jello only!), as they changed my life.
Awesome. Loved 45 Grave.
The first time I saw Dead Kennedys was also at the Florentine Gardens. I don’t remember how many times I saw them live. They were always great live. The flow of some of the shows were ruined by Jello excessively talking between songs.
@@blackbeansmatter128045 Grave were so good live. With the exception of the songs on Hell Comes To Your House they didn’t capture that magic on vinyl.
One of my favorite bands. Jello Biafra is a lyrical genius.
🙋⚡✨💥
❤
Yes I agree the lyrics song titles and album titles are brilliant
I grew up in a small midwestern town and discovered the DKs as a teen in the mid-80's. The band contributed to my world view for better or worse. For better I'd say. Nice job. I like your energy as a narrator keep them coming.
I rarely find a youtuber who does a good job of talking about this band's legacy. Well done, spot on, and non biased. You kick ass at doing this. Instant sub
Alternative Tentacles's "Virus 100" tribute album is what got many of us metal kids into Dead Kennedys, especially SEPULTURA and NAPALM DEATH's covers. Later on Igor and Andreas of Sepultura played live with Biafra, D.H. Peligro played live with NAILBOMB (Max from Sepultura's side project) and even covered "Police Truck" with them, and we cannot forget the beginnings of BRUJERIA and Biafra playing with them. LARD is already mentioned in this video. Yes, DK had a huge influence on 90s metal music and we are very grateful for that.
I saw this band at the Longshoreman's Hall in the Los Angeles (the Wilmington area near Long Beach) area back in the 1980s. The LAPD flooded the building with teargas and beat people with clubs and chains as they left the building. The crowd rioted after the show was shut down. There was no reason to shut down the show, and there was no violence or unusual drug use happening. Even so, it was amazing to hear "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" live. I loved the Dead Kennedys!
Used to be one of my absolute favorite bands and even though I don't listen to em like I did back in the day I still keep em in rotation cause unfortunately a lotta their music is absolutely timeless. They're one of those rare bands that I feel could've done amazing things in any number of genres had they not fallen out. And yeah, they without a doubt took the left-libertarian political element that was huge in a lotta punk and made it the mainstream of punk.
Thanks for making this documentary. As a teenager, Plastic Surgery Disasters was the first album I learnt all the words to off by heart! It's still on my regular playlist on my Spotify library. Bleed for Me is my favourite amongst an awesome album.
Was 12 in 1985 and already skatin, listening to bands like poison idea, battalion of saints, gang green and tons of others.
Fresh fruit for rotting vegetables was my first dk album. Still listen to plastic surgery and frankenchrist.
Never seen dk but seen black flag (henry rollins era) and mdc in the 80's, just to name a couple. Good times.
Dk was one of the earliest bay area hardcore bands to start the socal punk scene.
I like those other bands you mentioned more than the DKs funnily enough
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is an album that i can still hear in my head. I was a little late, picking it up in college in the 90s, but it had a huge effect on me. (EDIT: never noticed autocorrect messed that up so bad)
Why them vegetables always gotta be hot rodding around here and tearing up the place?
You rod those vegetables... Where do you put your rod? Like, you're fucking Jack o' Lanterns or something?
My favourite ever band!!!! And I am a metal head at heart 😮
One of my favorites punk bands of all time. The guitar work of East Bay Ray the bass playing of Klaus fluoride and the late great drumming of D.H.. Peligro and Jello Biafra this was a seminal line up for years to come
Just heard the tragic news of dh peligros death.being a huge DK fan since "holiday in Cambodia" came out dh's drumming was just amazing.ted was great but dh was so tight playing at breakneck speed.i hope the original line up get together for a tribute.god bless you mam.
Bedtime for Democracy was my favorite Album as a kid and the first CD I ever owned... the songs Dear Abbey and Triumph of the Swill are still in my playlist
Best American Punk band by far
Great job on this! 'Police Truck' is my favorite track as well. Big fan of the band Dog Faced Hermans thanks to Alternative Tentacles.
Thanks for this video. It was well done and a great documentary about a very important band in the punk scene of the late 70s and into the 80s. As an L.A. Westside kid graduated high school in 83 punk rock was huge for my friends and I.
DK was and is still one of my favorite bands.
Keep up the great video creations.
I agree with your opinions. I am home, recovering from a stroke. Brain damage sucks, but you help me remember. Thanks.
My first exposure was having been GIVEN the "In God We Trust Inc" EP by a friend, cuz "you're into this punk rock shit".
Instantly addicted.
Man, this guy knows his stuff! I thought I knew everything about DK and I learned a couple of things here. I for one will definitely put a vote in for doing a video about the various exploits of Jello Biafra, there's a lot to go on there.
I know this is about the full band of the Dead Kennedys, and not just one member. But being how close in time this was released to DH's death, I was shocked and heartbroken on how far down in the comments I had to scroll before seeing his name mentioned. The rock world (or whatever sub genre you want to go with) has lost far to many wonderful and talented drummers over the last few years. Please do a better job of honoring them and keeping their memory and music alive. 🖤🥁🎶🤘
This is interesting to see after the news of D.H. Peligro's passing yesterday. R.I.P.
there's always room for Jello! Loved is albums with NoMeansNo and DOA, his early spoken word stuff is really good too
I seen them in Huntington WV during their reunion tour. Great show
Great video man, I’ve been listened to the No Dogs in Space series on DK so this video landed at the perfect time. My favorite album is their debut and my favorite song is either California Uber Allies or When You Get Drafted
Dude! Marcus and Carolina knocked it out of the park on their punk series! Really excited to listen to them talk about Patti Smith!
Awesome!
The Dickies next please
Very under appreciated crazy geniuses
God bless you my child , this was so great !!! Police truck is also my fav and ANY video that mentions SNFU is like goin g to church for me.
I went to my first punk show in '84 as an 11 year old kid. I love punk rock still and I really appreciate all your hard work- I got to see DK in London in 2017 and even though JB wasn't a part of it, it was still SO GOOD.
I m 69 yrs old and still love them. I play their all music everyday. Their influence is far reaching
Even those who are younger have heard Dead Kennedy's. Time to listen to Holiday in Cambodia. I'm Tom of Red Table Prints
The Dead Kennedys are one of my favorite American punk bands. And for my favorite song, I'm gonna have to go with "Stars and Stripes/ of Corruption"... Mr.AST...thanks for the clip. Oi! From Bridgetown CA SGV/USA 🇺🇸🎤🛠🎸🍻🫡⚒️🇲🇽
Can we remember for a moment DH Peligro?
Rest in peace dude.
I never knew that Pull My Strings was born in the way that it was. Pretty rad to learn the origin of my favorite DK song. Wish I had learnt that sooner, to be honest.
Great editing and rundown. Thank you!
love the dedication to the band in this video. Hands down my favorite band.
Always loved their art work as much as their music…
Yes!!! Newspaper and ads cut outs. Inspired me for school art medium projects.
My favorite Dead Kennedys album is plastic surgery disasters
PSD is a masterpiece.
DK was one of my all time favorites which also includes Minor Threat, Black Flag,Bad Religion and Descendants. I have been listening to Punk Rock since 6th grade which would've been 1987. And I'm born and raised in Santa Cruz so having amazing Bay Area and Local Punk Bands is one of the raddest parts of living here. I forgot to add Social Distortion to my list lol and The Misfits. I collected Misfits shirts in high school because they always came out with good prints. The Cramps did too. I love this music and this lifestyle I wouldn't have wanted to grow up any other way.
The Cramps!!
I'd take them over the Misfits anyday!!
Great video! Here in Europe DK still has a fanbase to this day. Pioneers and Jello is my favorite punkvoice.
Ah yes, the band considered "entry level" in spite of being one of the most important bands in punk history.
They were absolutely one of my first loves in my punk rock journey, and I still listen to this day.
It was even better in 2001 when all the George Bush references were relevant again!
PS - still waiting on that Screeching Weasel vid
Funny you mentioned that they became much more relevant in 2001 when Bush became president. That was the time I got heavily into punk rock music as a teenager. It was also the time I got into politics the first time in my life. The Dead Kennedys wasn't the first punk band I discovered, but I got introduced to them by a friend pretty early on, and I fell in love with them immediately. I loved everything about them, the name, the music, the lyrics, the super dark humor, their whole aestetic. And I still do. I got a turntable this year and the first LP I got was Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables.
DK had a huge influence on me personally and helped cement my political views early on in life as well as how I see myself as a person. Besides punk I think DK also had a big influence on metal overall and thrash metal in particular.
I was a teenager in the late 80s and kind of drifted into alternative/indie/punk via New Order (of Blue Monday fame). Before that, the Dead Kennedy's used to scare the absolute shit out of me. I can put that down entirely to the Plastic Surgery Disasters cover, along with the Holiday In Cambodia single cover.
Horrific.
But holy f**k, when I eventually started listening to them, my mind was well and truly blown.
Even 40 years later, they are still one of my favourite bands, let alone favourite punk bands.
I first heard the Kennedy’s in 1980 when I was 19. I saw them live twice and you could talk to them between sets. It was in Montreal at a small club. I also saw Black Flag with Henry singing in the same place
Was that Black Flag at Au Cargo in Montreal for the Slip it In tour, summer 1984 with Saccharine Trust opening? I was there with 3 friends from the Toronto show and we were on the guest list because Elizabeth was trying to put together an interview. She finally got to interview them in Ottawa.
@@seanp9277 yeah Blag Flag were at the Cargo and the Dead Kennedy’s were at the Roller Rink near the Berri Voyageur Bus Terminus. ( near St Laurent and du Maisoneuve. I think. Not far from Dutchys).
DK taught me everything growing up, the best. Great video again sir.
Hi Jack. I really enjoy your videos on Punk history and plan to watch much more of them. You ask your viewers to submit their favorite punk bands so you can look into them. The DK's are certainly one for me. Their musicality and political oriented lyrics are - in my opinion - equaled by my favorite two punk bands: Victims Family and NoMeansNo. I only saw one show by each of them in the Netherlands, but that made a lasting impression on me. Also starting in the 80's and performing up until the current day (!), I think their unique sounds are iconic and should definitely deserve your attention. But I leave that up to you!
They were excellant musicians, i think that gets overlooked, they were unique, they sound like no one else....totally original in everyway!! They really fucking changed my life!! I have and always will love them i have got 2 copies of the video from 84'! Just incase one broke! Of course we now have the internet!! But in the 80's things were very different!!
Can’t say for sure, but I think my band (the detonators) played one of their very last shows at the Olympic auditorium with the Dicks and Fishbone in 1986. The bassist for fishbone got stabbed on stage but played the rest of the gig.
We first played with them in 1982 at Alpine Village in Torrance. That was with the Zero Boys, MDC, and Minor Threat.
I last saw Jello in 2016 in Blackpool UK at rebellion. I was with DOA. Good times
You sir are a punk legend. Those who know, know.
@@therapist6328 hahhahaha
I just got there before most people, but thanks for the compliment.
I saw Jello speak a couple days after the FTAA summit in Quebec City in 2001, he was still coughing up pepper spray, he signed my DK t-shirt though, Propaghandi stopped at my work to gas up a few days after that, it was a cool week.
Good show dude, my favorite kennedys song is let's lynch the landlord, just a fun feel good
Great video, I can't wait to give DKs catalogue a revisit. I gotta say even though it's lame to pick their most famous song as a fav but I think it's there best known song for a good reason. And a separate video on jello would be awesome.
Holidays in Cambodia I mean&
Wow! What a fantastic information pack. Thank you very much for making this video with every second worth watching!
thanks for the history lesson brother! I
'm MUCH oilder then You and still didn't know or understand the back story of many aspects! Pull My String has honestly always been My favorite DK jam, with Holiday and Police Truck second and third! Thanks!!!
Love It, absolutely love it. Will be a DK fan till I die ☠️ Love to see a video on Jello Biafra. There's always room for more Jello!
Yooooo a video about my favorite band of all time, great work as always dude!
Saw the Dead Kennedys live at the Hotel Saint Clair in San Jose.
I dressed as a 6'4" transvestite nurse. Guys and girls pinched my ass. Jello threw fistfuls of mayonnaise at the audience.
It was magic.
Dh palgero is my favorite Dead Kennedys drummer
Peligro?
The first time I saw Dead Kennedys was in the back of this produce market in Kansas City which was about as close to Las Vegas as the Midwestern bosses go without getting themselves arrested. I mean, nobody even knew. One guy even made his mother do all the cooking.
I love that the drummer is wearing a JFA shirt.
(Jodie Foster's Army)
One thing you missed was Jello worked with NoMeansNo quite a bit.
I didn't know much about the history behind The Dead Kennedys until now. Thank you, Punk Historian, for doing this Dead Kennedys for Dummies deep dive. (subscribed)
Subscribed! I look forward to going through your catalog and can’t wait for future vids.
Always look forward to your content. Good stuff, thanks bro.
for sure the best punk doc on dk out there. it can also be said it's one of the best punk docs period. thanks brother. your time and effort to make this vid is greatly appreciated. would you please put your talent to task yet again to make one of these masterpieces on w.o w. and the plasmatics? personally, the band that shaped me just a hair more than dk - just a hair. thanks again for the great work.
Bed time for democracy is a great album
I have the Giger poster and had Jello sign it for me at a spoken word performance he gave in 1994.
Seen the dead Kennedys in Montebello Quebec. Good set. Montebello rock fest would be a good video. North Americas largest punk/metal festival went from amazing to bankruptcy in three years. Went to seven years in a row. Almost became like a pilgrimage for me. Man do I miss that place.
YEZ, Mr French. Rockfest was for sure the best! :(
I feel the same sadness when I think of Molson Park in Barrie.
@@therapist6328 warped tour and other shows. That was back in the day. How old are you?? Lmao 🤣 🤘👍
@@joshfrench5858 I am a young 48 year old.
@@therapist6328 👍🤘 40 here. That was a awesome venue
Another great video. I’m sure Al Jourgenson will be pleased that you chose that particular picture of him when he sees this 😂
😂😂
@@thepunkhistorian6397 Al's Mom loved this picture very much
I"m sure they were the first punk band I ever heard of. My dad, a staunch conservative, liked their band name (ie: he hated the Kennedy family). Ironically, 20 years after he said that off hand remark, I ended up staying at Jello's house while on tour with a band that once was on Alternative Tentacles. (Jello is a very kind, though odd, person.) I am fairly sure I got Lard before any DK records, though. In fact, I'd love a video about his post DK musical adventures since he he collaborated with a ton of bands. Or, in the case of NoMeansNo, it was a "confrontation. not a collaboration" (in the words of NMN drummer John Wright).
Finally saw Jello doing DK songs with Guantanamo in 2011. That is probably his most talented backing band. Ralph Spight is one of the best guitarists you all haven't heard. And freaking legendary bassist Andrew Weiss? C'mon! One of the best shows I ever saw. Best of all, alongside the DK songs, they did one Lard song.
I was lucky enough to see the Dead Kennedys at the Oakland War Memorial Veterans Hall across the bay from San Francisco. The last opening band was supposed to be the Bad Brains but one of the band members got busted for pot at the airport. It took a long time for the Dead Kennedys to come on stage. Jello finally came out and asked over the mic "Has anyone seen our drummer?". I went to go to the bathroom right after that and there was DH Peligro sitting in a corner. East Bay Ray and someone else ran up to him, grabbed him, and pulled him onstage. Awesome show. Six cop cars lined up double parked on the street when the show was over just to make sure there was no "trouble".
Great video dude,
I think it's the best debut lp ever
One of the best ever