The Strange History of DEAD KENNEDYS
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
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The strange history of Dead Kennedys! From their early years to "Plastic Surgery Disaster," "Holiday In Cambodia," and "Frankenchrist" to their obscenity lawsuit, Dead Kennedys breakup and messy reunion without Jello Biafra.
Edited by Tim Gilli: bit.ly/tmgprmba
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0:00 Intro
2:31 Early years of the Dead Kennedys
6:08 "Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables" & "Plastic Surgery Disasters"
10:42 "Frankenchrist" lawsuit
15:54 Breakup & legacy 
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should do one on how Henry Rollins' career so closely mimicked Jello's - like a budget dumb guy version
BAD BRAINS
FEAR
Hey I remember you asking what we wanted to see next and DK was one but please tell you’re gonna do a video on Coheed & Cambria
@@dalelane1948 same CIA script
The irony of "before we talk about the Dead Kenedys, let's hear from our sponsors". 😂
Ironic, yes. But they real funny thing is it's an ad about trimming your junk.
gotta pay the bills
@@toecutter well, they gotta advertise something that appeals to the viewers.
I noticed that.
@@chryssoraidy9838crusty punks need one
Me at 15: The Dead Kennedys are right about everything.
Me at 21: Actually these issues are way more complex.
Me at 30: But really it comes down to larger systemic issues.
Me at 50: The Dead Kennedys were right about everything.
I am living this too!
The fact that the songs still hit because as society haven't progressed is sad. Riot is an ever relevant song. So many others come to mind too.
Underrated comment
Goofy
I saw them on their last british tour,and saw jello do a spoken word gig a few years back and he spoke for hours..
The Goth Kids from South Park said it best when they said "If you want to be a non-conformist, all you have to do is dress like us and listen to the same music we do"
In other words conform to not comforming lol
I was a Goth kid for a while, we all wanted to be different just like everyone else.
Per se
I have said that for 30+ years!
@@TraciEaston-hs5xe Greatest show ever, one of the best episodes. Incidentally, I have Easton in my family on my mothers side.
I accidentally found the Dead Kennedys by finding my deceased brother’s record collection. He passed in 1987. I found the record “bedtime for democracy “ around 93. I’m 43 now and still consider the Dead Kennedys the best punk band ever. Maybe it’s the emotional part or maybe it’s just the fact that they changed music in the punk/surf side of underground music forever.
I’m 42. Same…
“Bedtime For Democracy” is awesome!
ALL their albums are awesome!
But especially “Plastic Surgery Disasters” and “In God We Trust” (even though that’s an EP!)
@@terrypussypower the cd has both on it. It stays in rotation!
You're right
I also love de Dead Kennedy's, but I find The Fall the best Punk band. Some say The Fall is post-punk though, I'm not sure about that.
I live in the East Bay. Jello is super cool. He still goes to shows and never tries to make a spectacle of himself. He seems to be there to enjoy the show like anyone else. Despite his notoriety, he's a fan of live music. I respect that
He never tries to enjoy the show?
"He seems to be there to enjoy the show like anyone else. Despite his notoriety, he's a fan of live music."
When punk was coming around, it wasn't about fame. It wasn't about being commercially viable, or radio-friendly. It was raw and authentic expression. A lot of people didn't know how to play music but wanted to, and learned on the fly. But it was about having something to say, or something to get out of their system, and being as overt, loud, openly creative, aggressive, and FREE as possible.
Jello had a helluva lot to say, and he had some really killer musicians to back him up.
It wasn't the same then - pay through the nose to see some famous, or soon-to-be-famous rock star. This was underground. It was raw. And the people who felt it were so few a first, you ended up knowing the folks at the gigs. (Unless you had the same social anxiety i did, lol). It was a community - even a family, and most of us just didn't fit in or want to fit in with society. I mean, being spoon-fed what you should feel or say just doesn't cut it. Punk kind of overcompensated for that, and it's become good and bad for society.
The good was the freedom of expression. It was personal, cuz the hard messages came from kids who had hard lives.
Then there are kids who have it all, but are just negative and need to lash out. ETC., ETC.
Both were getting loaded, and sometimes the acting out was violence that went beyond a copesthetic slam pit.
Things got ugly, especially when heroin and meth started changing everyone.
But punk didn't completely implode. Punk is Dead was the saying early on because of all this. Gangs were forming.
Punks were turning on punks. It was kinda like a mental hospital at times.
But that's what the world has been coming to for the last 50 years anyway. Been watching it unfold, and it sucks.
Internet made it worse, because now everyone thinks they're an expert on shit they've never been involved in, because they read about it.
Like most things, you had to be there. It's what the elders have to say about their scenes, and it's what you younger people will be saying, if you aren't already.
But what matters, and what a lot of people don't get, is that punk is more than music or a look, or just being snotty. It's a subculture that got popularized by the generations that followed it.
And it's still music, and the early punks who are now famous because of it are just as passionate about music as ever.
OF COURSE Jello was just there to enjoy the music. WHY WOULDN'T HE BE? Music is his medium for his freedom of speech.
And if you love music as an expression, or just to listen to, you kind of never lose that.
A lot of us old farts aren't tearing up pits anymore, but we still do shows, because there is nothing like the community of live gigs. That's how it started anyway. Everyone knew each other, cuz it was more about what was happening than setting up some stage show to get famous from. Sure, fame happened, but hell, some bands just have a sound, etc that appealed to a broader audience, like X and Social Distortion.
No rock stars. Just people making the noise they love to make.
When you see someone who influenced you, or who you feel is important to what you love, tell them. They're just humans. They like to know. They don't need you to interfere with whatever they're doing, cuz they're just like you - doing their own thing.
I'm glad some of our punks are famous. It's weird to have to get expensive tickets and VIP passes to be able to say hi to folks you used to share sweat and beer with, but there isn't enough room to fit everyone backstage.
But i get being starstruck. I mean, music is fucking magic, right? Look what it can do. A single song can take simple words and change people's lives.
You'd be surprised who many people who created the subculture are walking among you, looking like they are on their way to Costco for groceries. Not everyone has "that look". We can grow out of attitudes and ideas, but our history is etched in stone. Listen to an old punk talk about life. It's amazing how diverse the ideas are that you'll hear. But it largely is just about not being led by trends. Like something because it speaks to you, not because it's popular. Popularity is what happens when everyone follows others with their eyes shut.
Don't get me wrong - being popular doesn't make you lame - but how you got that way is key. We got people to see our bands by scribbling out some crazy art on a flyer, and running around handing them out, pasting them up, sticking them on news shelves and in places where potential interest was. Nobody was paying for likes. Punk wasn't about getting rich - it was about getting up and making shit happen.
yada yada
Get off my lawn
Well yeah, that used to be how all punk gigs were. You’d almost always see members of the headlining band in the crowd watching the opening bands. There was no rock star bullshit. Band and audience were on equal footing, and would feed off of each other’s energy. Jello’s just doing what he’s always done.
I grew up in the East Bay and DKs were formative for me like they were for many others. He went to a lot of shows and seeing him at Gilman as a kid being a relatively regular dude was super influential.
frankly I'm surprised he goes to punk gigs at all after that disaster of a Gilman show where some crust punk broke his leg.
I caught a lot of flack from the cool scene kids for saying Jello is actually a cool person. They just couldn't fathom that someone who is a famous punk rocker like Jello isn't a millionaire and just drives an old brown hatchback. Strangely Dick Lucas didn't get the same treatment when he lived in the bay area.
I love the Dead Kennedys. The manscapped ad made this really hard to start.
guess the dude got get paid ..he does pretty good job
No one cares
Thank goodness for RUclips chapters for that reason tbh!
Nothing wrong with keeping the nuts shaved though unless you trying to go natural 😂
man's gotta pay his bills
Saw Jello play with the Melvins and the entire set was Dead Kennedys. I would say that's better than seeing the Dead Kennedy's play with a different singer.
I actually love the frankenchrist album. Its got a eerie psychidelic feel to it that fit really well for the time it was released.
Love Frankenchrist. It actually got a lot of hate at the time because it really didn’t fit with the direction punk had gone in up to that point. In ‘85 when it came out, the whole thrash/crossover thing was really taking off, with hyperspeed tempos, barked vocals, metallicized guitars, and songs clocking in at under a minute… and Frankenchrist kind of took it in the opposite direction. The songs were longer and more mid-tempo than they had been on previous DK’s releases, though like you said it had this sinister, psychedelic… almost gothic vibe to it, kind of like their version of The Damned’s Black Album. I thought it was really fuckin’ cool at the time, but I had friends who absolutely hated it. I personally thought “Chicken Farm” was one of their all time greatest songs. That one still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
What about the Give Me convinence or give me death Album? He didn't even mention it, I hoped he would talke about it and it's gory obscene looking cover.
@@vitalsignscritical Wasn’t a real album, was it? Just a compilation of singles, b-sides, compilation tracks, and outtakes. Don’t get me wrong, essential stuff, great thing to own snd great cover art, but an after the fact compilation nonetheless. He was probably just focusing on the real time albums, EP’s, singles. I don’t know, didn’t really watch the whole thing. Didn’t need to.
@@vitalsignscriticalbecause it’s a compilation album. Love it, but you don’t count it among a band’s
Original releases when counting
@@vitalsignscritical It's a compilation of unreleased and singles, not an official album of new stuff. That's probably why.
Hi Fin,fat old punk guy here. In 1985 Jello was doing his spoken word tour because they were not allowed to play music,due to the lawsuit. I went to see him at my local coffee shop and he signed the passenger door of my 66 bug. Later that week I went to see the Butthole Surfers in SF and he was there next to me in the pit. DK was definitely a part of my youth. Good times ❤
I would kill to be able to have seen the Surfers in the mid 80s
That was definitely the best time to see the Butthole Surfers. From roughly ‘84-‘87 nobody could touch them as a live band. As I’m sure you know, the intensity and insanity was off the charts back then. I’m 56, grew up in Texas, and saw the Surfers many, many times. Perhaps more than any other band I’ve seen. I watched them evolve over the years, and in that mid-to-late 80’s period they were just unbelievably good. Always an acid-drenched mind blowing experience.
I also saw them with DK’s (and Circle Jerks) in ‘85, at a heavy metal club of all places in Southwest Houston, and it erupted into a full blown riot. They overbooked the show, had all these obnoxious roid-raging security goons antagonizing the punks, and then the a/c cut out right at the beginning of the DK’s set. This was summer in Texas. It was easily a hundred degrees with 60% humidity. The crowd just snapped. The cops were there in no time and were arresting anyone who left the building. I managed to sneak out the back and hop a fence into a drainage ditch without being seen. Insane night, great memories.
Saw them loads of times,got smashed over the head by gibby with a microphone (he thought,wrongly,that I'd spat on him)
They came to Australia (late 80s) and we're absolutely awesome.
@@Shikta-poobah67was that at Cardis?
I remember hearing someone sing Holiday In Cambodia during a karaoke night, and they thought the lyrics were 'cold, hot' instead of Pol Pot
This is the funniest thing I've ever heard
@@DrMetPhD ikr 🤣🤣🤣
😂😂
We had a song called Coldcock and swear had never heard of them at the time but the ‘chorus’started out exactly the same.
I'm guilty of that. Now I know😂😂
RIP Darren Henley 1959 - 2022 ( D. H. Peligro )
I had no idea. I met him at a meet and greet after a DK show in 2014 (from memory). Super nice guy, a true gentleman, absolutely gutted to hear, and cause of death just depressing.
way underrated drummer, not enough said about him
I think jello Biafra would get a kick out of the guy selling a ball trimming kit before starting a biography about the DKs
"Moon Over Marin" is one of my favorite songs, ever.
Such a chill relaxing song about not a very relaxing topic.
How we're destroying the only home we'll ever know.
Lol😂. That's their worst song in my opinion
Actually a really good song.
I was scrolling specifically for this comment. It's one of my favorite songs... Ever. The post-apoco feel is subtle but really dark, the music is nostalgic and chill. In the video he didn't have much to say and I've never really hear anyone else talk about this song.
I squish dead fish between my toes try not to pick up any bones I turn around go home on my beach at night bathe in my moonlight ❤ there will always be a moon over marin
I grew up in SF graduating high school in 89. I went to a lot of shows back in the day and Moon Over Marin always stood out to me and I would have never guessed it back then, but I’m writing this comment from Marin. I can confirm the moon is still here
I really like the fact it takes exactly one member to be missing to make it a tribute band. Really shows just how important Jello and the way he sees the world is what makes the band what is. There's always room for Jello.
It all depends on which member is missing. In the case of the DK’s, it *DEFINITELY* ceased to be the genuine article without Jello. I have nothing against, let’s say… Klaus, but if it had been him instead of Jello they could have carried on with a new bass player and would have still been able to call themselves “Dead Kennedys” and mean it. That’s just not possible in Jello’s absence. Plus, the guy they replaced him with? Brandon Cruz? Seriously? It felt at the time like we were being trolled.
To me, it's not the Dead Kennedy's without Jello Biafra. Sorry, i'm just saying.
Jello and east bay ray and it would still be legit aka not a tribute band. But imagine op ivy or rancid trying to tour with out tim Armstrong.
The proof of it not being the dk's without Jello is the fact that the remaining members haven't written any new material.
@@kevincostelloe4006 And even if they had, it still wouldn’t be the DK’s in my opinion. The only reason they didn’t change the name of the band was because there’s $$$ to be made off that name. That’s literally *ALL* it is. A money machine. A cash cow. I don’t mean to dismiss the others’ talents, which are/were definitely notable, but Jello was without question the heart and soul of the Dead Kennedys, love him or hate him. It’s really as simple as that. No Jello, no DK’s. End of.
The ad that the guitarist put on the newspaper ,read like "musicians wanted to form a band. Contact : address blah blah blah,East Bay,Ray",or something like this and this is how he got his stage name.
In the late 1980s I was sending my art samples to record companies to get album cover jobs. I got a nice hand written letter from Jello in the mail ! (even though I never got many art jobs -- I got nice letters , personal photos (Shonen Knife) and was put on the Meat Puppets guest list!). Some of them were my pen pals (Dead Milkmen) before the internet happened.
I met the Dead Milkmen after they played a show and they are the most down to earth guys. No pretentiousness to be found. They signed what I had and even signed some stuff I brought with me for some friends who are fans, but couldn't make the show.
Are you still active in your art?
Cris is a character, I've had several interesting conversations with him, I had alot of questions usually regarding what was going on during writing or recording albums
Yo
Now that is a cool story so many on yt are bs and it's really obvious but this sounds like a real thing lol
Spot on! DK was beyond anarchism. It wasn’t even about counterculture. It was a sort of rebellious existentialism.
Good call.
Well spoken my friend!
True....
Anarchy is only ever a power vacuum anyways.
Well said.
The Dead Kennedys were FANTASTIC. One of the most diverse punk bands that ever existed. Killer musicianship in their given style and song writing while still being RAW and punk af.
Interesting story, bit ironic when dude mentions it's about punk turning mainstream then immediately launches into a sponsor ad😅
54 yrs old and still believe punk is a mental and social statement . its a way of viewing things. Love the band and all they did for a lot of people . thanks for the great vid.
I saw Jello while he was on one of his spoken word tours in 2003. While he was on stage, someone from backstage came up to him and spoke in his ear. Jello informed all of us that the U.S. had officially invaded Iraq...again. Up to that moment, everyone in that room had been protesting and fighting against the invasion. The entire crowd collectively shared an inevitable horror that finally became real. That will stick with me forever.
Sure Thst wasn’t George busy? lol
Now jello sold out to the very establishment he was against
Now he endorses Joe Biden, oh how the mighty have fallen
@@Wheels36H3WM the left loves war now.
There is no statute of limitations on war crimes.
They will be remembered forever more as such, first and foremost.
As I get older (I'm 48) and my political views skew and shift with my life experiences, I realize more and more how incredible their songs were. The were not "political" per-se but rather anti-establishment and outrage at the status-quo of disenfranchisement of any opposition to the ruling class (regardless of who is ruling). Their songs fit with being dissatisfied, angry and frustrated with the world around us, and I think this is the punk ethos.
You'd think it'd be more common, especially in bands whose identity is based on rebellion and nonconformity but 🤷🏻♀️
They were explicitly political. Sorry that you can't pick up on that type of shit.
Too bad Jello become what he always hated once COVID came around and scared everyone. Suddenly he was in favor of pushing the jab on everyone in the name of “public safety.” He really lost me there. In that moment, the veil came down and it was clear that he wasn’t anti-establishment, just another power-hungry leftist who cries victim until he sees an opportunity to seize and wield power.
They were arguably the most political band until Rage
@@noahpauley Political as in endorsing a specific ideology/political party. I understand things very well, but it is a pity people can't have a civil discussion without ad hominem tactics.
@13:35 that kid with the green mohawk was my best friend, a truly kind and devoted person, and is missed to this day. thank you for that moment.
Conformist was and is my favorite song by them. It stands out because it calls out the conformity that had become the norm in other bands, and it also becomes reflective at the end by including the Dead Kenendys themselves. He realizes that he was a part of the problem as part of the "punk leadership.'"
I always read the lyrics to Holliday in Cambodia as a critique of naive, self proclaimed Marxists on college campuses . Almost a “you think communism is such a great idea? Why don’t you head on down there and check it out?” 🤷🏻♂️ but what do I know
Yeah, same here. And the lyrics seem to suggest this as well : "Now you can go where people are one, now you can go where they get things done"
Sounds like how a sympathizer would describe the regime.
I think it's more complex, since Pol Pot denounced Marxism himself, and was supported by the west. It's more of a criticism of privileged kids who like the aesthetic of progressivism while living in the epicentre of imperialism and enjoying its benefits
@@aprofondir nail on the head
I am 70 year old retired drummer. In the late 70’s they stopped in Boulder, Colorado where I was student at music conservatory. They called my percussion prof at university and said they needed drummer. They were on the way to NYC. So I met with them and jammed for a while. I didn’t know who they were, but they were okay. They liked my playing and offered me gig. I turned them down and maybe have regrets. After they reached a certain amount of fame, that I was reading about them in rolling stone magazine. I thought, man I should have took that gig and would have maybe chance of hooking up with Debbie Harry. 😂 My teacher was pissed for turning down a job that could have been a paying gig. After all, that’s what I was there for. Making money playing drums. Oh well.
Everything for a reason, sir. That's a great story, though. (And it is a shame Debbie missed out.)
cool story bro except i'm not being sarcastic, that's actually a cool story
I am pissed you turned down that gig and I don't even know you!
Wow...that's tragic. Why on earth would you pass that up...knowing them or not. Oh well.
@Jeeiff My guess is that as a percussion major he looked down on a lowly punk rock band. I'm pretty sure if it had been a small jazz band of some repute he would have taken the gig. I have seen it before. When you are in music school you are a better musician than 95% of the other musicans in the world and you are constantly being told how good you are because you really are. When you are that young you dont have the experience to keep your head from inflating and when a bunch of punk rockers come into town they aren't good enough for you. His professor knew the value of paying gigs though because he has just been around longer. He knows you don't throw away good food you eat it.
I had a gig once at a fraternity house one summer. Just a 3 piece rock band. The drummer couldn't make it and we didn't know what to do. We were walking through the music building and there practicing was an absolute drumming legend. He was a teaching assistant for the percussio section of the marching band and was working on a masters.in performance. I knew him pretty well and I figured there was no way he'd want to do a gig with my crappy little band. As soon as I mentioned $50 and free beer for 2 hours at a party he said Yeah I can do it. I didn't even want him to do a rehearsal with us but he insisted. I thought that an experienced musician.
Not throwing shade I have just seen it before, it's a music schools syndrome that passes when you graduate and have to start earning money.
I had a classic "never meet your heroes" moment when I spoke with Jello after a spoken word event.
Do tell! Don't leave us hanging, man!
Their lyrics just let you know this shit has been going on for decades. People pretending like all this is “new”, either don’t have a clue, or are part of the machine themselves.
Skateboarding popped in the 90s and started gatekeeping super hard as well, hand in hand with what was happening with punk
Early 90s skateboarding was one of the most toxic, awful scenes I’ve ever been around
@@ThePunkRockMBA late 90's and the beginning of the 2000's were also awful and elitist, gotta say that the best i ever felt in the subculture is now, happened a lot, and fore the better if you ask me
@@nickmaatjes5611 Quite honestly, that shit survived in pockets into the later 2000s and 2010s. It's a much better scene now for sure, but you still get a handful of older guys who still feel the need to gatekeep the shit out of rolling around on a plank of wood with wheels because they know what "real" skating is.
@@ThePunkRockMBAyou're obviously meant to exploit scenes you shouldn't be a part of
Good point.
Correction: liberals are not leftists
Thank you man
Cope harder
@microchrist6122 lol. You could offer a master class in coping. You're coping with your hairline with that neckbeard hat 😂
Sure they're not, bud. Sure.
Most modern day liberals are leftist. Didnt used to be that way though.
I first saw the DKs in 1979, opening for Sham69 at the Whiskey in Hollywood. Jello joined the us in the pit for Sham after the DK's set. Great show, every DK show then was fantastic. In the early days of punk 75-80, anyone who into Punk was a misfit or outcast, with a wide variety of looks, perspectives and sounds. We were a small minority of the general culture at the time. Considered dangerous and weird by most. It kind of felt like being in a secret club, where only other punks truly understood.
FACTS- Class of '77 here. You had to be there to grasp how musically revolutionary it was for rock music to go from a developed and matured art form, to something entirely new.
The tones were different; the tempos and time were fresh- from an in the pocket classic rock time to one where the time (beat) was constantly falling forward- think Vibrators Pure Mania. Personally, I didn't give af about the fashion or politics originally- this was a new form and take, on Rock-N-Roll. What Duane Eddy would sound like had he been a '70's kid.
I still recall how I did not understand the RAMONES, despite being in the Tri-State Area at the time and well aware of their presence. I've concluded yrs later that it must've been bc my brain was wired to a blues based 1-4-5 turnaround rock form, and of course that was the genius of the RAMONES- that they created an original song structure. Salute!
Back when punk rock was anti - establishment and rebellious, 79-82 was the golden era
So glad this vid is made, my dad was best friends with the drummer of the Dead Kennedys and he sadly passed away last year but it was such an honor to meet the guy cause he just had such finesse to punk drums! East bay ray was exactly what you would expect and claus just asked how my aunt was because that’s his ex 😂
DH was a machine.
HUGS
No better drummer in punk.
RIP DH
I had a friend who has into DK back then and he had all the info on them. This was prior to the Internet and it was amazing that he knew so much about this band from California. The music was eye opening for sure and started me on my journey to punk music appreciation.
Back in the day of cassette tape exchanges and home made fanzines made on photocopiers.
The records came with an address where you could send I believe a dollar and they would mail you like a zine that had all sorts of additional information and context about the songs. Jello was a marketing genius before that was the norm.
Good vid - I'm 52 and I found the Kennedy's at 14 when I was a skater...I bought Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death at the local skate shop and it blew my mind....I had just begun playing guitar and writing poetry and Jello's lyrics were a *huge* influence on me...this guy is the real deal - his writing was about as truthful as it gets and lord knows we need some of that now...thanks for the video 👍
I’m a bit younger than you but same, bro same. ❤skating and DK on boombox.
Same age, same story. Except I got Plastic Surgery Disasters.
My older brother listened to the DK's non stop, and went to see them in their heyday. So I got to know all their music pretty well. We went together to see the recent line up. Still pretty cool. The music stands up.
Holy crap. A punk rock video on the Punk Rock MBA. It’s a Festivus miracle
I’ve made dozens of punk videos! Or are you one of the people whose definition of punk stops in 1983?
I’m messing with you Finn. I absolutely love your videos and have been a subscriber for years. I find your videos to be very informative and entertaining. You are one of my favourite creators
@@ThePunkRockMBAbru, it’s a joke.
@@ThePunkRockMBA Oof 😖
🙄@@ThePunkRockMBA
I have to say that this was one of the best videos I have ever watched on RUclips. I grew up listening to DK and your commentary was beyond spot on!! Keep up the great work!!!
I was around back then. My old 'zine, "HEADPUMP" was among the things stolen by cops in the raid on Jello's place... Good job, Finn!
One of my favorite artists of all time. I'd love to see you interview Jello Biafra or do a podcast with him.
"It definitely wasn't about just Slavishly emulating what other bands did 10,20, 30 years ago..." I have argued this point so many times, thanks for the great content Finn 🤘🏻
I think it’s funny that you launched right into your Dead Kennedys‘s history punk rock right after a two minute ball shaving commercial….
Thanks again for offering up post graduate work I am old and need that doctorate this does a lot more than your previous videos by expounding on the bands and not just the genre.
R.I.P. D.H. Peligro
Pleaaaase do a video on NoMeansNo, super underrated punk band that pioneered the sound, esp for mathy music and punk etc. They even have a whole album with Jello.
If you haven't already, go check out the newly released book on them called From Obscurity to Oblivions, by Jason Lamb & Paul Prescott. It's on PM Press. It's an oral history featuring literally hundreds of interviews plus tons from the band themselves. And photos from their entire existence (including some I took in the mid 2000s, which I'm thrilled are in print).
and yes, this channel needs to cover them.
Yes please.
Yes please.
Yes please.
Dead Bob on tour this March.
@@MarkWilson-ij9jd wait fr
This video made me sub, good one. I do wish you had mentioned Jello’s record label “Alternative Tentacles” however, they put out some amazing releases from bands everywhere in the world
"Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables" is, along with the Germs' "(GI)", the closest the US came to "Never Mind the Bollocks"...!
You did a good job on this, gave a hard pill to swallow on the many gate keepers, punk is an elitist social club, DK took aim at hypocrisy, jello was often ridiculed in the scene and was beaten up couple times for those lyrics which cut too close to bone, good job thank you, many blessings
One of the greatest bands of all time. No one sounds like them.
Dude!! So awesome to see you mention the Screamers!
I was a high school senior in Orange County when California Uber Alles came out and I was amazed that there were other people who thought the state was becoming a horrible joke. The idea of suede denim secret police was the perfect description of the laid-back, be mellow lifestyle I couldn't stand. I'm not saying the Dead Kennedys changed my life, but they sure helped me understand what it was that I didn't like about my home state.
Dead Kennedys were my introduction to the genre, when I was about 13 too, and what an introduction. And yet because I then wasn't fluent in English, I don't think I fully appreciated them until I was in my late 20s when I started looking at their lyrics closely, and they blew my mind. I love a lot of bands with meh lyrics, because good music is hard to deny, but damn when a band has a message and knows how to get it across, I appreciate that so much. Brilliant band. So relevant, such a legacy.
One of the greatest bands ever. It's sad they broke up in such a nasty way. I know everyone always thinks of Clash, Pistols, and Ramones as the 3 main punk bands, but I think Dead Kennedys should be grouped with those 3 as the original great punk bands.
You make a good point on Where Do You Draw the Line, too. They really were the philosophers of punk rock.
Speaking of philosophy, their implicit admission to not knowing where to draw the line is kinda like Socrates. He was the wisest man in Athens because he knew that he knew not.
I sympathize with the leftist punk idea that there must be a better society than what we have now, perhaps a fundamentally different one, but no one really knows what that is, let alone some uneducated burnout. We can try different ideas, but that takes tolerance and compromise, which is incompatible with the self-righteousness that a lot of punks develop.
Agreed
They carried the torch for the genre during a time when there wasn't a main band truly representing punk at the time outside of specific geographical local scene for example.
@meowtherainbowx4163
Socrates was cool, but Diogenes was frickin Punk Rawk. Can we agree that Plato was a turd?
I know I certainly never thought of the Clash, Pistols, and Ramones as “the main three”. Then again, I don’t think in terms of “the main punk bands” like it’s some end-all, be-all thing… with *ANY* band, or bands. It was never about that for me. There’s just some bands I love more than others, and it has nothing to do with popularity, notoriety, or some kind of perceived ‘importance’. The Clash got to headline big stadiums at one point in their career, while their peers were still struggling to fill small venues and clubs. So what? That didn’t make them any more (or less) important to punk than a band like The Ruts, who played a very similar style of punk but were never anywhere near as commercially successful or well known. The point is, it doesn’t really matter what the popular opinion of a band is. It’s what they mean to *YOU* personally. In that regard, the DK’s have always rated near the top for me.
I feel like the only people who still think anything of the Pistols are people who know nothing about punk.
Last 60 seconds of your commentary is brilliant!!! So well said. Thanks for a great piece.
Big fan of DK. I have them tattooed on me. They helped shape my politics at a young age. I discovered actual anarchist political theory as opposed to whatever lawless hellhole most punks think anarchism is. Their lyrics also inspired me to do activism and community outreach
I can't remember if it was DK or Rage that brought me to read Bakunin, Ché, and Marx, but it was before 2000. And as a fan of etymology, i kept quoting Inigo Montoya, "You keep using that word. I don't think it's what you think it means", when people equated anarchy with chaos. Glad, this was before Julien Donkey-Boy.
I saw the Dead Kennedys at the Whiskey a Go Go back in the day. I do respect Jello for his integrity, and also originality, and not only because of his lyrics. As far as I know, no one has ever sounded like him in his vocals then or since.
@@son_of_dad I did and he does sound close to Jello, but not “spot on.” Anyway, thanks for the recommendation.
Nope. He’s a true original. I’ve heard many singers try to emulate him over the years, but none succeeded. There’s only one Jello.
Always thought that Barney the Dinosaur modeled his voice after Jello, which is fantastic, if you think about it. LOL
@@Shikta-poobah67 Isn't that the case 100% of the time? Isn't there only one you?
Damn, Finn. I got into DK back in high school in the early 90's. They haven't been on my radar for many years, but when this vid was recommended, it did truly sink in just how much more relevant DK's music seems today than back around 1993.
American punk is a mystery to me. The New York scene - Blondie, The Ramones, Television - to my ears were just slightly heavier versions of 1960s rock-'n'-roll. West coast punk like the Dead Kennedy's had a sociopolitical stance and driving guitar and drum anthems like the Clash, which melded into later garage rock like Nirvana.
DK is still hugely popular in Britain. Fresh Fruit and Give Me Convenience...are platinum certified here. I love the fact that Too Drunk to Fuck was a Top 40 hit here. But like many people, I caught up with them much later.
Give Me Convenience and Strangelways Here We Come were the first two CDs I ever bought. Mostly I had their albums on cassette thought and probably still do in that drawer won't open! 😅
Probably the most popular (in the UK) of all the American punk bands. Possibly the Ramones as well, at least in the early days. The Dickies also seemed to do pretty well over there as I recall. Strange how certain bands do better overseas than others, and that works both ways. The Damned did fairly well for themselves in America, at least in terms of concert attendance (the radio won’t touch ‘em here).
Isn't the alternate title of "Too Drunk to Fuck" in the UK "Just your Average Thursday"? ;)
@@slayerofthebuzz1 nope but if it were written today and the band were based in some uni town in Blighty, yeah, I can imagine it would have an less offensive and very dull title.
@@MosherBearcan't imagine the BBC allowing that song on...😊
I was 12 when Frankenchrist came out. It changed my life. I also saw them a couple of years ago with Ron "Skip" Greer (no relation) on vocals. It was surreal. East Bay Ray is one of my favorite guitar players, so it was just awesome to watch him play, but "Skip" is no Jello Biafra (to say the least).
that guy annoyed the hell out of me at their show
I saw the Kennedy’s in Australia in 1984. It still is one of my all time favourite gigs.
Really good video- as thoughtful and nuanced as the Dead Kennedys themselves. Thank you.
This was awesome. Very well thought out and very lyric focused.
I will always love THPS for turning me on to these guys
Those lyrics take no prisoners. Doesn't pick a side, doesn't offer solutions, only asks appropriate questions. He is a true cynic.
Hypocrites beware.
"I'm not telling you, I'm asking you." is a powerful sentiment. I've had many people argue with me after I asked questions. Arguing with questions? How does that work? I don't think punks want anarchy. I think punks want chaos. And they have that. It's a controlled and more or less safe chaos at shows. But real anarchy is not sustainable. It will turn into something. And the easiest things for societies to slip into are not good scenarios. Someone will decide that they'd be able to amass wealth and power by cornering this resource or taking control of this business, whatever it is. It might be corporate people or organized crime people or religious or spiritual people. Anarchy collapses upon itself. It has to.
One of the best punk bands ever, often overlooked.
Agreed. Up there with The Damned as OG punk that never really let go of their punk roots.
overlooked they are not lol
How exactly are they “overlooked”? Ask anyone, punk or non-punk who the most important American punk bands of all time were/are, and I guarantee you they’ll mention Dead Kennedys in the first sentence, right alongside Ramones and Black Flag. They were also one of the only American punk bands to get into the charts in the UK. They were hardly “overlooked”. Maybe you meant “under appreciated”?
Thank you for covering this band and topic. The music scene has been overan by chickenshit conformists who’s sole identity is amplifying the message of the state and legacy media.
Jello has gone on to do exactly this in recent years. As have most of his peers in punk rock.
At the end of the day, even punk rock stars had to fill in their tax return, given they're self employed and all. A lot of your music faves are selling you a vision they don't live in.
I think you think that DK are right wing lol. They most definitely are not.
what's more punk than not leaving home because the government said so?
@@LeviBulger still thinking in terms of "left/right" eh? Maybe time to not.
Nice, didn't realize you made a whole video about these guys, good to see!
Saw the DKs in 1985 in Morgantown, WV. Still remember Jello at the beginning of the show asking people not to kick the mic into his face when they jumped off the stage. One of the best bands ever!
one of my favorite bands cant think of a time I skip any of dead kennedys songs on my playlists
East Bay Ray is one of punk's best guitarists, bar none.
I first heard about the Dead Kennedys around 1985 when I was in middle school and a skater but had no money to buy tapes. This was also when groups like 7 Seconds, Youth Brigade, The Faction, Descendants, Social Distortion etc was on my radar. I'm 52 now still trying to skate and just doing a deep dive loving the Dead Kennedys they were ahead of their time.
I grew up in Poland in the early 80's, left (with parents) as a 15 year old, and I think your thought process is spot on. Dead Kennedys were super popular in Poland back then by the way.
For me their influence definitely influenced my early interest in politics and causes. Course I was growing up on them in the 80’s when I was in high school. I also think you should have mentioned “Police Truck” since prior to rap, especially the West Coast rap scene, no one ever wanted to talk about police brutality and the seemingly limitless immunity law enforcement had.
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It’s a Gold Album for Dead Kennedys!
43 years after its release on September 2, 1980, “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” has finally been certified Gold (yesterday, the 15th), by the RIAA! This is possibly the most influential independent album in American punk rock history, and this is long overdue.
This is DKs second Gold Album, after “Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death,” awarded in 2007.
This took years of work to put together, and we are honored to have had DKs on Manifesto for the past 22 years! - Dead Kennedys
"Give in, ride the punk nostalgia wave for all it's worth. Recycle the name of my old band for endless reunion tours. Sing all the songs from the good ol' days about how bad the good ol' days were"
Jello Biafra, Buy my Snake Oil.
Thanks for this, @FinnMckentyPRMBA! I have to admit feeling a little vindication. :) So glad you came around on the philosophy behind the DKs. You were right, they didn't propose solutions as much - "I'm not telling you, i'm asking you!". Instead of force feeding their audience what they should think, their message was to get people thinking, and use the diverse thought of the many rebels to reform/remake a better world. Great video.
Used to love punk rock in the 90s when I had no real responsibilities and virtually no life experience outside of opinions, criticism and angst. Definitely a soundtrack to biased ignorance, looking back.
DK is one of the few bands I loved at the time and still dig to this day. They really were more cognizant than most others in the scene about the ideological hypocrisy and the slippery slope of things to come when the idealistic concepts being promoted as “progressive” play out in reality.
Guess I’ll stop there.
Exactly. They WERE. Then along came a lil ol' thing called the passage of time.
As a 13 year old in 1984, I discovered DK via skate punk. In 1985 I carved their logo into my hand as my first body mod. Shortly after, the NY Hardcore scene took over DC in what I referred to as "the jockificaton of punk rock". Being wild and totally random in your style went out the window very fast. It really bummed me out as the "scene" was taken over by tough kids who didn't seem to need a place to go, as they looked and acted just like the jock wrestlers that made hanging around the school events and suburban parties dangerous for outcasts like me.
It's funny how our perceptions of when the "scene" takeover is based around when you first experience it. For you, the change happened a couple of years after you first discovered the music, just the same as me but starting 6 years later.
My favorite part is the advertisement that's jammed in there ;)
I like your video. I want to adress a few points I particularly agree with or want to share a story about. In one time in my life I would have said I was a punk rocker but I never was I just liked the music. I am 51 which means I was too young for the 80s punk scenes and too old for punk's resurgence not no mention I was deep in the goth industrial scene in the mid 90s. The Dead Kennedys were almost prophetic with the songs you mentioned. I saw first hand how the alternative music scene went form a cool place where freaks could hang out to a rigid conformist commercial scene it happened almost overnight with Nirvana and Metallica's black album. People who were rocking out to Warrant the previous year were telling me they were into the grunge scene since 1987. The punk scene was just like it you mentioned Pennywise but Pennywise and every Epitaph band sounded just like Bad Religion. My final time in a pit was when a green haired eyebrow pierced frat boy from UCSB tried to,sucker punch me while moshing. The scene was mainstream MTV full of the people I couldn't stand in college and high school shallow and commercial attitude over substance.
As for the Dead Kennedys band I saw them without Jello when Oxnard Shores favorite son Dr Know front man Brandon Cruz was singing for them. It was cool I was in my 30s so I watched from the bar. I really appreciated the musicianship of DH Klaus and Ray Brandon was cool and interacted well with the audience but you're right without Jello they're a cover band kinda like Van Halen with Sammy Hagar. I must also say Klaus Flouride has my vote for,best punk bassist of all time.
The Give Me Convenience record was a mainstay for me in high school. And later in my early and mid 20s, I remember really connecting to those lyrics in a personal way. When I was at university and studying history and international relations theory, it was really easy to take the view point that you thought your professors wanted to hear because you wanted to be a mainstream person who could have doors open to him in grad school and beyond. Your politics matters when you're studying that stuff because it's not like other social sciences where you're free to pretend you're a radical leftist and play weekend warrior. Sociology departments may have been dominated by middle class self styled communists and radicals (who are only ever in reality just liberals of various stripes) but that's not the case in economics and political science departments. Believe it or not, calling yourself a Marxist, for instance, in an economics program isn't actually going to open a lot of career doors for you. It's still that way today, but it was even more true when I was in school. I always used to think about that song Man With the Dogs, which I always interpreted as a song about the cognitive dissonance we feel when we're doing what's expected of us but sense that it's wrong. That music gave me confidence to not sell my soul and try to retain my intellectual (and moral) integrity, basically.
One of the greatest bands of all time. Well done, you've summarized simply and interesting.
I'd met Eric Boucher at a glam/metal show on Larkin St in SF and he was such a motormouth about the whole Bay Area music scene and it impressed me because I was trying to form a band. Then, I saw him again about a year later at the Mabuhay while we waited to get gig night assignments from Dirk. I told him the name of my band was The Living Daylights and he nervously said his band was Dead Kennedys. I kinda laughed and he said, 'Too much?' I said no, go with it, people will remember it. About two months later I helped get the DKs a gig with us at 330 Grove. Everything moved at the speed of light back then.
I love this band and their music so much. Jellos lyrics spoke to me as a 15 year old, and by then these songs where 20 years old. I love punk, but very early on I had a big appreciation for the artits that called out the bullshit in all camps, including their own. I couldn't even understand everything he said and how it could be interpreted, since English isn't my first language, but his delivery was so captivating, I wanted to find out as much as I could about it. Jello wasn't just influential to my taste of music, he was influential to my whole outlook on life and society.
I grew up listening to DK and Jello's philosophy really influenced my world view. Even though they weren't Gen X, they really captured the spirit of my generation.
Same...his preaching wrenched me from being Reagan youth (not the band) to prog left. He told us shit that we would find to be true about our lying gov't years later. Jello moulded my political awareness...even if I may disagree with him today.
I only had one friend that even went to a college never mind on to a university after that. We all just got factory jobs or jobs in shops when we turned sixteen. I'd been booted out of school aged fifteen and once you're sixteen you have to pay your parents housekeeping money for food and bills. My mate was from a better background though and his mum was a primary (elementary) school teacher and they owned their own home and all that stuff. I like DKs lyrics cos they can be quite biting about middle-class people. Hehehe. Viva Jello!
@@Jeeiff Yes, ol' Jello is now quite the cranky old man!
Nice video. Great to look back. I turned 15 in 1979, so I was definitely there for the 80s, and I think you did a great job presenting the DKs and some of the philosophy behind them and punk in general. Thanks! (I also remember the day I bought their 1st album and the guy behind the counter, who was fairly cool and open-minded in general, saying that he just couldn't accept a band with such a name, that they had crossed the line--and I had to explain to him that the band was quite deep and socially conscious. Ahhh the memories...lol)
Brilliant! Thank you so much. One of my most favorite bands of all time. I thought you nailed it and surprised how young you are, so insightful!
One of the greatest of all time. Sad that some modern era punks don’t call out BS as often. They just fall in line. Jello included. Great video Finn.
My fave song and lyric off Frankenchrist is This Could Be Anywhere/Everywhere. Powerful social storytelling and uniquely poetic. "No amount of neon jazz could hide the oozing vibes of death"
Niiiiiiice. I need to check out the lyrics again as it's been a minute. Jello has GREAT lyrics on that album. A growing boy needs his lunch always stuck w me, but I have to check out that song again. I always loved that breakdown in This could be anywhere
@@agrowaxI’ve always loved that one line in “Growing Boy…” - “liquor filled statues of Elvis Presley, screw his head off and dtink like a vampire”. Just the imagery in that alone is so great. I love Frankenchrist. Great album.
Excellent video! Thank you for making it! 💚😇🖤
I’m a bit late to this video, but I really enjoyed it and just wanted to say a quick thanks.
One of my favorite appearances by Jello was in Ministry’s 1989/90 live concert video (I was in 10th grade when it came out and it quickly became a favorite) which I’m fairly certain was recorded at a Dallas, TX show. Before their song “Land Of Rape And Honey”, he did a short spoken word intro to it, which was just fantastic, and then he danced around to the song. He battered the cowardice of bigotry, mocking the fascist salute by morphing it into sucking his thumb, over and over. It was a really powerful message with an unforgettable image.
I watched the video so many times that I wore out my VHS, but kept it as a relic of something that was hugely influential in my teenage years. To this day, that concert video remains one of the best live shows I’ve seen, and I’m fairly certain that it can be found here on RUclips. An album of the show was later released under the title “In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up (Live)”, but it was truncated and unfortunately “Land Of Rape And Honey” doesn’t appear on it.
Thanks again for this video. I haven’t listened to the Dead Kennedys in a year or two, and this just pushed them back up in my playlist rotation 👍🏻
The Dead Kennedys were the first "real" punk band I heard (around 1984) behind The Violent Femmes. I still love them and listen to them to this day. I have seen them twice with Skip singing in Jello's place. He actually does a really good job. As much as I would love to see Jello, it just isn't going to happen. Now with D.H. Peligro deceased, I'd be surprised if they tour anymore. Anyway, great job as always, but you did forget Give Me Convenience Or Givie Me Death released in 1987, which is actually my favorite album of theirs.
I live 90ish miles from the Femmes home town. They are still popular around here. I guess as a teen back then I didn't consider them punk but it makes sense really.
Mate, Frankenchrist was their best album. I must’ve listen to that album a thousand times. Stars and Stripes of corruption was their epic crowning glory. Lyrically, it was so ahead of its time and relevant to many events in recent times. They weren’t scared to call out the corrupt politicians and phoney celebrities of the day. One of my favourite bands ever.
It’s a great album, no doubt… but their “best”? That’s *REALLY* debatable. Why not just say it’s your favorite, and leave it at that? Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Frankenchrist, and I have ever since it came out back in ‘85. I think it’s a masterpiece of an album, but every album they had made up to that point was equally astounding in its own way.
As a longtime fan since 1980, I can’t really say that there’s a “best” album. Just several really great ones.
5:03 - "just the same boss in a different outfit..." The Who alluded to that in 1971 - "Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss...." Thank God for the Who, and the Dead Kennedys.
Was lucky enough to see DK at the Olympic auditorium in Los Angeles in 1986. One of my favorite shows. I truly love a lyricist that makes me think and Jello could positively do that. Appreciate the work you do to give me more knowledge
Standing up to hypocrisy and oppression is NOT "l'eftist", though Jello grew up in a 'liberal' family, the left/right paradigm wasn't as compartmentalized as it is in 2024. Been listening to DK since the 80s, they helped inform my world view. This is SOOOOO getting a video response! As always, thank you for doing the video(s).
Oh make no mistake Jello _is_ a leftist, he makes Bernie Sanders look like Joe Manchin. The problem is America, particularly middle America is so far to the right that Ronald Reagan would be too liberal for today’s Republicans
Uhhh...were you not familiar with the "Moral Majority"? The left/right culture war was just as bad then as it is now. If not, MORE extreme, because you could still be openly anti-gay during the early days of the AIDS crisis. Nothing in 2024 is new, just amplified by internet wars.
Always a great day when Finn drops a new video! I appreciate you for teaching me so much about Alt. Music!