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Psycotic Pineapple Berkeley Punk Band

Jake Cosmos Aller
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Psychotic Pineapple, Berkeley Punk Band

Music Journal 2025 Updates

one of my favorite Bay Area punk bands is the Psychotic Pineapple. They were most active in the 80’s and 90’s but still play on occasion.

Here’s my poetic tribute to the band.

the Berkeley mad psychotic pineapple.

was an underground Berkeley icon.

The pineapple said, “Bad Luck comes in threes.”

Last night he smoked a joint and went for a walk.

the pineapple dude encountered a cat,

not just a cat but a cosmic black cat.

and the cat was riding on a dog,

and a mouse was riding on the cat,

and the pineapple was amused to see this,

I told him only in the SF Bay area,

thinking back to when I was eight.

and wished I had a cosmic cat.

I would have made such a cacophony.

the cosmic cat was still my secret friend.

 

The Burns Sonnet is a Shakespearian sonnet but it does not follow traditional meter or rhyme

 

The Psychotic Pineapple is a Bay Area punk band that was most active in the 70s and 80s, but still gets together occasionally to play music.  They sometimes played sets with the Rubinoos another Bay Area band as they often played together. They only recorded one or two albums and were best known for their wild life performances. I saw them life once and it was one of the best concert I ever went to. The members of the band are all old friends I grew up with.  They were particularly know for their art work and promotional posters which always featured a psychotic pineapple playing the guitar.

 

 The Berkeley mad psychotic pineapple

An icon of the underground was he

With luck that came in threes, he’d dabble

In cosmic visions only he could see.

One night he smoked a joint and took a stroll,

Encountered there a cat of cosmic fame,

A dog did bear the cat within his role,

And on the cat, a mouse without a name.

The pineapple, amused by what he saw,

Reflected on the scenes of SF Bay,

It made him think about the cosmic law

Of how his friend, the cat, did come to stay.

Oh, cacophony of cosmic dreams,

The cosmic cat, my friend in starlit streams.

 

Some background info from Co-Pilot

 

I found some information about the band you’re referring to! They are known as Psycotic Pineapple. Here’s a brief overview:

For more detailed information, you can check out their Last.fm page or look for documentaries like “Where’s the Party?” which features footage from their shows.

 

Psycotic Pineapple

Biography

·       Members

Psycotic Pineapple is a new wave/keyboard rock/punk band from L.A. California, who formed in Berkeley in the late 70s. The band was/is fronted by John Seabury, who creates really crazy “pynoman” art with a rockin’ pineapple man. Other members included Henricus Van Hoffman (lead saw, vocals), Alexi Karlinski (organ), and Dave C. Berry (drums). They’ve got his adventures detailed online in comics which probably represent the lifetime of the band. They released their only album “Where’s The Party” in 1980. Visit http://www.pynoman.com/ for more information.

Version 3, edited by gkerby on 4 August 2007, 12:38am

PSYCOTIC PINEAPPLE: Live 1978: CS

Mar 20, 2018

Psycotic Pineapple—a late 1970s garage punk band from the Berkeley area—only recorded one studio album, but memories of the players rotating and switching instruments onstage mid-set lived on with their fans. A series of intricate drawings rendered by bassist John C. Berry (spelled Seabury elsewhere) chronicling the wild antics of a fame-hungry and (dare I say) psychotic pineapple named Pynoman appeared on the band’s show flyers and album artwork. In addition to the core lineup, shows often featured violinists, saxophonists, and other unexpected elements to amass a full, energetic, and innovative sound for its time. Hit up YouTube for a documentary called Where’s the Party?, which depicts footage from a 1979 show intertwined with a 2012 reunion show and interviews with the original members, all grown up. –Michelle Kirk (Burger, burgerrecords@gmail.com, burgerrecords.com)

 

Psychotic Pineapple flyer

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

 

 

Psycotic Pineapple were a hard to define East Bay band that often played the Keystone Berkeley. They blended satirical lyrics with quirky instrumentation to create a fun time. This flyer shows them playing a gig at the club with No Sisters, another band that played new wave and had a sense of humor. The silliness and fun early Bay Area punk bands had was lots of times set it apart from the more serious bands on the East Coast or L.A.

The Rubinoos

Another favorite band of my is the Rubinoos. The lead guitar player is a first grade classmate.

For some reason they have a big following in Spain and in Japan.

I have seen them live several times and have a number of their CD’s.

More info from CO-Pilot, Wiki and elsewhere

The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that formed in 1970 in Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their singles “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1977, a cover of the hit by Tommy James & the Shondells), “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” (1979), and for the theme song to the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds. Although “I Think We’re Alone Now” has been their highest charting hit, reaching No.45 in 1977, the group has a significant enduring cult following among fans of the power pop genre.[1]

History

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1970–1977: Formation and The Rubinoos

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In November 1970, Tommy Dunbar and Jon Rubin formed the Rubinoos to play at a dance for Bay High School in Berkeley, California. Other founding members included Greg ‘Curly’ Keranen, Alex Carlin, Ralph Granich and Danny Wood. Inspired by siblings’ 45s and the Cruisin’ vintage radio recreations LP series, Jon Rubin and the Rubinoos played rock and roll oldies. Songs included covers of Chubby Checker, Bill Haley and the Comets, the Dovells, the Troggs, Little Eva, the Chiffons, and others.

Soon after the performance at Bay High School, where Rubin and Dunbar were enrolled, the original band dissolved. In May 1971, they shortened the name to the Rubinoos and reformed as a quartet with Donn Spindt on drums and Tom Carpender on bass. The group now focused on original material by Dunbar, in association with Rubin and others.

The band’s early development was assisted and inspired by the success of Earth Quake, whose lead guitarist and principal songwriter was Tommy Dunbar’s older brother, Robbie Dunbar. The Rubinoos often appeared as an opening act for Earth Quake in clubs, such as Berkeley’s Longbranch Saloon and the Keystone Berkeley.

After the expiration of their contract with A&M Records, Earth Quake, along with their manager, Matthew King Kaufman, founded Beserkley Records and started recruiting additional talent. This included Greg Kihn, Jonathan Richman and the Rubinoos.

In June 1973, Greg ‘Curly’ Keranen re-joined the group. In September 1974, they recorded a cover of the DeFranco Family‘s “Gorilla”, released as a single and included on the Beserkley Chartbusters compilation album. The group also provided accompaniment for Jonathan Richman on two Chartbuster cuts, “The New Teller” and “Government Center.” Shortly after the release of “Chartbusters” Keranen left the Rubinoos to join Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers. He was replaced by Royse Ader.

One ‘high point’ of the band’s early career included a performance at Bill Graham’s Winterland Auditorium, September 24, 1974, on a bill with the Jefferson Starship. At this concert, the Rubinoos were joined on stage by Jonathan Richman, who danced to their version of the Archies’ “Sugar, Sugar“. This was greeted with intense booing and a pelting of unripe bananas by members of the audience. Their closer “The Pepsi Generation Theme Song” provoked an even more hostile reaction from the crowd.[2] However, the band was the first mentioned and main focus of all the reviews of the concert.

In 1977, Beserkley released The Rubinoos, the group’s eponymous debut album. It was well-reviewed and New York Rocker called it “The Best Pop Album of the Decade.” The single, a cover of Tommy James’ “I Think We’re Alone Now,” reached No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming Beserkley’s first hit. The group appeared on American Bandstand (live), So It Goes (by video) and Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary television special in which they were cast as a garage band, performed a tribute to the newly deceased Elvis Presley and morphed into claymation figures. Along with these accomplishments, The Rubinoos had a number one single in Modesto, California, for 13 weeks, one of their concerts was raffled off to a high school by Burger King, and they appeared in Tiger Beat and 16 Magazine many times.

1978–2006: Breakup and reformation

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The group’s next album, Back to the Drawing Board (1979), featured the single “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend,” which had been released in 1978 and received heavy airplay in England and Europe. In support of this album, the Rubinoos appeared on Rock Goes To College, The Old Grey Whistle Test, Top Pop and opened 56 shows for Elvis Costello on the U.S. portion of his 1979 Armed Funk tour.

Rubinoos 1978

In 1980 Royse Ader was replaced by Al Chan. The Rubinoos then recorded the demos for a third album which never came to fruition. These demos, released in the 1990s as Basement Tapes, engineered by well known audio guru, Dan Alexander, is still thought to be one of their best efforts. Spindt and Chan left the group in 1982 when Tommy and Jon decided to move to Los Angeles. In 1983, the group, now consisting of just Rubin and Dunbar, signed with Warner Bros. Records and released the Mini LP Party of Two, produced by Todd Rundgren. Party of Two yielded the single and cult classic music video “If I Had You Back,” which received heavy rotation on MTV and VH1. In 1984, they recorded the title song “Revenge of the Nerds” and “Breakdown” for the film Revenge of the Nerds.

The Rubinoos began a long sabbatical in 1985. In 1989, Dunbar, Spindt, Chan, and John Seabury formed the group Vox Pop and recorded an album of material, co produced by Dunbar and Dan Alexander at Alexanders Coast Recorders. Also in 1989, Jon Rubin joined the noted Los Angeles a cappella Doo Wop group the Mighty Echoes. During the 1990s, two compilation CDs, Basement Tapes and Garage Sale, were released. Their success led to the end of the Rubinoos sabbatical and a new album, Paleophonic (1999), produced by Kevin Gilbert. This album did not see the light of day until the Rubinoos’ performance, their first in seven years, at the 1999 International Pop Overthrow Festival in Los Angeles. The lineup at IPO featured Rubin, Dunbar, Chan and Spindt. In 2000 Tommy and Jon were hired to sing the Flo and Eddie parts of Frank Zappa‘s 200 Motels at three concerts with the Netherlands’ Philharmonic. In 2002, the Rubinoos toured Spain and Japan, released the all-covers Crimes Against Music (2002) and recorded the album Live in Japan (2004). In 2005, the group reunited with their original producer, Gary Phillips, to record Twist Pop Sin (2006). In 2007, Castle Communications issued the 63-song retrospective Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Rubinoos. Also in 2007, the Rubinoos toured Japan and released a two CD compilation titled One Two That’s It. In 2009, the band toured Spain and released the compilation CD HodgePodge which featured one newly recorded track, a cover of the Hollies‘ classic, “Bus Stop.”

2007–present: Back to the Basics

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In July 2007, Dunbar and songwriter James Gangwer filed a lawsuit for infringement of copyright against singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne for her 2007 single “Girlfriend“; producer Dr. Luke, RCA Records, and Apple were also named as defendants in the suit.[3] Dunbar and Gangwer alleged that Lavigne plagiarized the Rubinoos’ 1979 single “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”.[4] Lavigne denied these accusations and claimed that she had never even heard of the Rubinoos before.[3] In January 2008, an undisclosed settlement was reached between the two parties.[5] Dunbar and Gangwer later released a statement in which they claimed to “completely exonerate” Lavigne and Dr. Luke from any wrongdoing.[6]

The Rubinoos 1980

Music critic John M. Borack called Paleophonic No. 36 in his list of the best power pop albums of all time, praising its “trademark pitch-perfect harmonies”.[1]

In January 2010, the Rubinoos played their first kids show in support of their first all-ages CD, Biff-Boff-Boing. The CD is a mix of covers and new originals.

In May 2010, to coincide with their Spain/Italy tour, the Rubinoos released their first new original album in five years—Automatic Toaster, produced by Robbie Rist.

In 2015, to celebrate their 45th anniversary the band released the appropriately titled album 45. They continued to tour in Europe and Japan with a few sporadic dates in the US.

In 2018, the group signed with Yep Roc Records, their first exclusive record deal since the 1980s. Long-time fan and noted singer-songwriter Chuck Prophet was tapped to produce. The album, From Home, released in 2019, was recorded with the same technique as their first sessions, playing all at once in the same room, recorded to analog tape. This was done at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco, formerly Wally Heider Studios, where the group made some of its first recordings.

With the onset of the Covid epidemic in 2020, the Rubinoos’ live performing schedule was put on hold for a couple of years. In June 2021, Yep Roc Records released a live to two track recording of the Rubinoos done in 1976 at CBS Folsom Street Studios in San Francisco, entitled The CBS Tapes. The album includes three never released original songs and eight rare covers. This was followed by a re-issue of the group’s eponymous first LP, The Rubinoos, which was a Record Store Day selection. In September 2021, the group scored a placement of their hit version of “I Think We’re Alone Now” on the Season Three premier of the Netflix hit comedy Sex Education.

In 2022, the band had their cult classic “Rock and Roll is Dead” used as end title music for the first episode of the HBO hit Irma Vep. In July, the Rubinoos resumed live performing, starting with a bang up show at the Oakland California Punk/Pop festival Mosswood Meltdown. The surge of Covid at the end of 2022 slowed live performing for a bit longer.

In 2023, Yep Roc Records re-issued the group’s second LP, Back to the Drawing Board, which was also a featured pick at Record Store Day. In October, the Rubinoos set out for Europe to headline the Caravaca Power Pop Festival and tour of Spain.

in 2024 the Rubinoos are scheduled to return to Europe for a multi-country tour and a summer tour of the East Coast of the United States.

Members

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Current lineup

Former touring musicians

Former members

Discography

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Studio albums

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Compilations

[edit]

Live albums

[edit]

.

External links

[edit]

at AllMusic

 

The Rubinoos are an American power pop band that formed in 1970 in Berkeley, California. They are perhaps best known for their singles “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1977, a cover of the hit by Tommy James & the Shondells), “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” (1979), and for the theme song to the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds. Although “I Think We’re Alone Now” has been their highest charting hit, reaching No.45 in 1977, the group has a significant enduring cult following among fans of the power pop genre.[1]

Dead Kennedies are another Bay Area Punk band.

Some of their most popular albums include American Idiot (2004), which was a rock opera that resonated with a younger audience, and 21st Century Breakdown (2009), which achieved their best chart performance. They have won multiple Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 20152.

Before taking its current name in 1989, the band was named Blood Rage, then Sweet Children. They were part of the late 1980s/early 1990s Bay Area punk scene that emerged from the 924 Gilman Street club in Berkeley, California. The band’s early releases were with the independent record label Lookout! Records, including their first album, 39/Smooth (1990). For most of the band’s career, they have been a power trio[3] with Cool, who replaced John Kiffmeyer in 1990 before the recording of the band’s second studio album, Kerplunk (1991). Though the albums Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997) and Warning (2000) did not match the success of Dookie, they were still successful, with Insomniac and Nimrod reaching double platinum status, while


Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978.[1] The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.[2]

Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Flouride, lead vocalist Jello Biafra, drummer Ted and rhythm guitarist 6025, 6025 left in 1979, and Ted left the following year after the band recorded their acclaimed first album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980). The band’s longest-serving drummer was D. H. Peligro, who replaced Ted in 1981 and remained until his death in 2022. Dead Kennedys recorded the EP In God We Trust Inc. (1981), followed by three more studio albums, Plastic Surgery Disasters (1982), Frankenchrist (1985), and Bedtime for Democracy (1986), the latter of which was recorded and released shortly after announcing their breakup in January 1986. Most of the band’s recordings were released on Alternative Tentacles, an independent record label founded by Biafra and East Bay Ray.

Following Dead Kennedys’ dissolution, Biafra continued to run Alternative Tentacles, and went on to collaborate and record with other artists, including D.O.A., NoMeansNo and his own bands Lard and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, as well as releasing several spoken word performances. In 2000 (upheld on appeal in 2003), Biafra lost an acrimonious legal case initiated by his former Dead Kennedys bandmates over songwriting credits and unpaid royalties. In 2001, the band reformed without Biafra; various singers have since been recruited for vocal duties. Although Dead Kennedys have continued to perform over the years, they have not released any more studio albums since Bedtime for Democracy.

Dead Kennedys’ lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing political figures and authority in general, as well as popular culture and even the punk movement itself. During their initial incarnation between 1978 and 1986, they attracted considerable controversy for their provocative lyrics and artwork. Several stores refused to stock their recordings, provoking debate about censorship in rock music; in the mid-1980s, vocalist and primary lyricist Jello Biafra became an active campaigner against the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). This culminated in an obscenity trial between 1985 and 1986, which resulted in a hung jury and also hastened the band’s demise.

History

[edit]

Formation of the band (1978–1979)

[edit]

Dead Kennedys were formed in June 1978 in San Francisco, California, when East Bay Ray (Raymond Pepperell) advertised for bandmates in the newspaper The Recycler, after seeing a ska-punk show at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco.[3] The original band lineup consisted of East Bay Ray on lead guitar, Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall) on bass, Jello Biafra (Eric Reed Boucher) on vocals, Ted (Bruce Slesinger) on drums and 6025 (Carlos Cadona) on rhythm guitar. This lineup recorded their first demos. Their first live show was on July 19, 1978 at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California. They were the opening act on a bill that included DV8 and Negative Trend with The Offs headlining.[1]

Dead Kennedys played numerous shows at local venues afterward. Due to the provocative name of the band, they sometimes played under pseudonyms, including “The DK’s”, “The Sharks”, “The Creamsicles” and “The Pink Twinkies”. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote in November 1978, “Just when you think tastelessness has reached its nadir, along comes a punk rock group called ‘The Dead Kennedys’, which will play at Mabuhay Gardens on Nov. 22, the 15th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.” Despite mounting protests, the owner of Mabuhay declared, “I can’t cancel them NOW—there’s a contract. Not, apparently, the kind of contract some people have in mind.”[4] However, despite popular belief, the name was not meant to insult the Kennedy family, but according to Ray, “the assassinations were in much more poor taste than our band. We actually respect the Kennedy family. . . . When JFK was assassinated, when Martin Luther King was assassinated, when RFK was assassinated, the American Dream was assassinated. . . . Our name is actually homage to the American Dream.”[5]

6025 left the band in March 1979 under somewhat unclear circumstances, generally considered to be musical differences. In June, the band released their first single, “California Über Alles“, on Biafra and East Bay Ray’s independent label, Alternative Tentacles. The band followed with a poorly attended East Coast tour, being a new and fairly unknown band at the time, without a full album release.

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980–1981)

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Biafra performing live

In early 1980, they recorded and released the single “Holiday in Cambodia“. In June, the band recorded their debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, released in September of that year on the UK label Cherry Red. The album reached number 33 on the UK Albums Chart. Since its initial release, it has been re-released by several other labels, including IRS, Alternative Tentacles, and Cleopatra. The newest reissue—the special 25th-anniversary edition—features the original artwork and a bonus 55-minute DVD documenting the making of the album as well as the band’s early years.[6]

On March 25, 1980, Dead Kennedys were invited to perform at the Bay Area Music Awards in an effort to give the event some “new wave credibility”, in the words of the organizers. The day of the performance was spent practicing the song they were asked to play, the underground hit “California über alles”. The band became the talking point of the ceremony when after about 15 seconds into the song, Biafra stopped the band—in a manner reminiscent of Elvis Costello’s Saturday Night Live appearance—and said, “Hold it! We’ve gotta prove that we’re adults now. We’re not a punk rock band, we’re a new wave band.” The band, all wearing white shirts with a big, black S painted on the front, pulled black ties from around the backs of their necks to form a dollar sign, then started playing a new song titled “Pull My Strings”, a barbed, satirical attack on the ethics of the mainstream music industry, which contained the lyrics, “Is my cock big enough, is my brain small enough, for you to make me a star?”. The song also referenced The Knack‘s song “My Sharona“. “Pull My Strings” was never recorded for a studio release, though the performance at the Bay Area Music Awards, which was one of only two times that the song was ever performed, was released on the band’s 1987 compilation album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death. In a 2017 interview about the show Klaus stated, “We did one other performance of it at The Mabuhay and that was the only other time we performed it… like within a week of the Bammies”[7] It’s unknown if this performance was ever recorded.

In January 1981, Ted announced that he wanted to leave to pursue a career in architecture and would help look for a replacement. He played his last concert in February 1981. His replacement was D. H. Peligro (Darren Henley). Around the same time, East Bay Ray had tried to pressure the rest of the band to sign to the major record label Polydor Records; Biafra stated that he was prepared to leave the group if the rest of the band wanted to sign to the label,[8] though East Bay Ray asserts that he recommended against signing with Polydor. Polydor decided not to sign the band after they learned that Dead Kennedys’ next single was to be entitled “Too Drunk to Fuck“.

When “Too Drunk to Fuck” came out in May 1981 it caused controversy in the UK, as the BBC feared the single would reach the Top 30, which would necessitate its title being mentioned on Top of the Pops. It was never played, although it was simply called “‘Too Drunk’ by the Kennedys” by presenter Tony Blackburn.

In God We Trust, Inc., Plastic Surgery Disasters and Alternative Tentacles Records (1981–1985)

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Dead Kennedys in 1983. From left: Klaus Flouride, Jello Biafra, D.H. Peligro, and East Bay Ray

After Peligro joined the band, the extended play In God We Trust, Inc. (1981) saw them move toward a more aggressive hardcore/thrash sound. In addition to the EP’s controversial artwork depicting a gold Christ figure on a cross of dollar bills, the lyrics contained Biafra’s most biting social and political commentary yet, and songs such as “Moral Majority“, “Nazi Punks Fuck Off!” and “We’ve Got a Bigger Problem Now” placed Dead Kennedys as the spokesmen of social protest, while “Dog Bite”, a cover version of Rawhide and various joke introductions showed a much more whimsical side. In 1982, they released their second studio album, Plastic Surgery Disasters. The album’s cover features a withered starving African child’s hand being held and dwarfed by a white man’s hand, a picture that had won the World Press Photo award in 1980, taken in Karamoja district in Uganda by Mike Wells.

The band’s music had evolved considerably in a short time, moving away from hardcore formulae toward a more innovative jazz-informed style, featuring musicianship and dynamics far beyond other bands in the genre (thus effectively removing the music from that genre). By now the group had become a de facto political force, pitting itself against rising elements of American social and political life such as the religious right, Ronald Reagan and the idle rich. The band continued touring all over the United States, as well as Europe and Australia, and gained a large underground following. While they continued to play live shows during 1983 and 1984, they took a break from releasing new records to concentrate on the Alternative Tentacles record label, which would become synonymous with DIY alternative culture. The band continued to write and perform new material during this time, which would appear on their next album (some of these early performances can be seen in the DMPO’s on Broadway video, originally released by Dirk Dirksen and later reissued on Rhino).

Frankenchrist and obscenity trial (1985–1986)

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The release of the album Frankenchrist in 1985 showed the band had grown in musical proficiency and lyrical maturity. While there were still a number of loud/fast songs, much of the music featured an eclectic mix of instruments including trumpets and synthesizers. Around this time Klaus Flouride released the similarly experimental solo EP Cha Cha Cha With Mr. Flouride. Lyrically, the band continued their trademark social commentary, with songs such as “MTV Get Off The Air” and “Jock-O-Rama (Invasion of the Beef Patrol)” poking fun at mainstream America.

However, the controversy that erupted over H.R. Giger‘s Penis Landscape, included as an insert with the album, dwarfed the notoriety of its music. The artwork caused a furor with the newly formed Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). In December 1985 a teenage girl purchased the album at the Wherehouse Records store in Los Angeles County.[9] The girl’s mother wrote letters of complaint to the California Attorney General and to Los Angeles prosecutors.[9] In June 1986, members of the band, along with other parties involved in the distribution of Frankenchrist, were charged criminally with distribution of harmful matter to minors. The store where the teen actually purchased the album was never named in the lawsuit.[9] The criminal charges focused on an illustration by H.R. Giger, titled “Work 219: Landscape XX” (also known as Penis Landscape). Included as a poster with the album, Penis Landscape depicts nine copulating penises and vaginas.[10]

Members of the band and others in the chain of distribution were charged with violating the California Penal Code[11] on a misdemeanor charge carrying a maximum penalty of up to a year in county jail and a base fine of up to $2,000. Biafra says that during this time government agents invaded and searched his home. The prosecution tried to present the poster to the jury in isolation for consideration as obscene material, but Judge Susan Isacoff ruled that the poster must be considered along with the music and lyrics.[12] The charges against three of the original defendants, Ruth Schwartz (owner of Mordam Records), Steve Boudreau (a distributor involved in supplying Frankenchrist to the Los Angeles Wherehouse store), and Salvatore Alberti (owner of the factory where the record was pressed), were dismissed for lack of evidence.[9]

In August 1987, the case went to the jury with two remaining defendants: Jello Biafra and Michael Bonanno (former Alternative Tentacles label manager).[9] However, the criminal trial ended with a hung jury, split 7 to 5 in favor of acquittal. District Attorneys Michael Guarino and Ira Riener made a motion for a retrial which was denied by Judge Isacoff, Superior Court Judge for the County of Los Angeles.[13] The album, however, was banned from many record stores nationwide.

After the break up of the band, Jello Biafra brought up the court case on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Biafra was on the show with Tipper Gore as part of a panel discussion on the issues of “controversial music lyrics” and censorship.[14]

Bedtime for Democracy and break-up (1986)

[edit]

In addition to the obscenity lawsuit, the band became increasingly disillusioned with the underground scene as well. The hardcore scene, which had been a haven for free-thinking intellectuals and downtrodden nonconformists, was attracting a more violent audience that imposed an increasing level of brutality on other concertgoers and began to alienate many of the bands and individuals who had helped pioneer the movement in the early 1980s. In earlier years the band had criticized neo-Nazi skinheads for trying to ruin the punk scene, but just as big a problem was the popularity of increasingly macho hardcore bands, which brought the group (and their genre) an audience that had little to do with the ideas/ideals they stood for. Biafra penned new songs such as “Chickenshit Conformist” and “Anarchy for Sale” that articulated the band’s feelings about the “dumbing down” of punk rock. During the summer they recorded these for their final album, Bedtime for Democracy, which was released in November. The artwork, depicting a defaced Statue of Liberty overrun with Nazis, media, opportunists, Klan members, corrupt government officials, and religious zombies, echoed the idea that neither America itself or the punk scene were safe havens any more for “your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. The album contains a number of fast/short songs interspersed with jazz (“D.M.S.O.”), spoken word (“A Commercial”) and psychedelia (“Cesspools In Eden”).[citation needed]

The band decided to split up in January 1986, prior to the recording and release of Bedtime for Democracy, and played their last live show with the original lineup on 21 February.[15][16] Biafra went on to speak about his political beliefs on numerous television shows and he released a number of spoken-word albums. Ray, Flouride, and Peligro also went on to solo careers.

Reforming of new band line-up and death of Peligro (2001–present)

[edit]

In 2001, Ray, Peligro, and Flouride reformed the Dead Kennedys, with former Dr. Know singer Brandon Cruz replacing Biafra on vocals. The band played under the name “DK Kennedys” for a few concerts, but later reverted to “Dead Kennedys” permanently. They played across the continental United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and Russia. Brandon Cruz left the band in May 2003 and was replaced by Jeff Penalty. The band has released two live albums of archival performances on Manifesto Records: Mutiny on the Bay, compiled from various live shows including a recording from their last show with Biafra in 1986, and Live at the Deaf Club, a recording of a 1979 performance at the Deaf Club in San Francisco which was greeted with more enthusiasm.

On October 9, 2007, a best of album titled Milking the Sacred Cow was released. It includes two previously unreleased live versions of “Soup Is Good Food” and “Jock-O-Rama”, originally found on Frankenchrist.

Jeff Penalty left the band in March 2008 in what he describes as a “not amicable split.”[17] In a statement released, Jeff said that, following a series of disputes, the band had secretly recruited a new singer and played a gig in his neighbourhood, although he also stated he was “really proud of what we were able to accomplish with Dead Kennedys”.[17] He was replaced by former Wynona Riders singer Ron “Skip” Greer. D. H. Peligro also left the band to “take some personal time off”. He was replaced for a tour by Translator drummer Dave Scheff.[18]

On August 21, 2008, the band announced an extended break from touring due to the health-related issues of Flouride and Peligro. They stated their plans to collaborate on new projects. The band performed a gig in Santa Rosa, California in June 2009, with Peligro returning to the drum kit.[19]

In August 2010, Dead Kennedys announced plans for a short East Coast tour. The lineup assembled for this tour contained East Bay Ray, Peligro, Greer, and bassist Greg Reeves replacing Flouride, who was taking “personal time off” from the band.[20][21] The tour dates included performances in Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland, Maine and Hawaii.[22] The band has played a reworked version of their song “MTV Get Off the Air”, re-titled “MP3 Get Off the Web”, with lyrics criticizing music piracy during their October 16, 2010, concert at the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C.[23]

Dead Kennedys had world tours in 2013 and in 2014, the latter mostly in North American cities. In 2015 and 2016 they toured again, including South America, where they had not played since 2001.

In 2017, East Bay Ray revealed that the band and Jello Biafra had been approached by the Punk-oriented music festival Riot Fest about a potential reunion. While Ray and the rest of the band expressed interest in the concept, Biafra refused.[24]

On April 26, 2019, the group released DK40, a live compilation album celebrating 40 years since the band formed.[25]

On October 28, 2022, D.H. Peligro died from an overdose of heroin and fentanyl, although it was initially believed to have been from possible head trauma from a fall at his home that day.[26][27] Since Peligro’s death, the band has performed in the UK with Santi Guardiola and the United States with Steve Wilson (who had played in D.H.Peligro’s band Peligro before) filling in on drums.

Conflicts between members

[edit]

Royalties lawsuit

[edit]

In the late 1990s, former band members discovered they were being underpaid in terms of royalties from Alternative Tentacles. East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride, and D. H. Peligro claimed that Jello Biafra had conspired to pay them lower royalty rates and then attempted to disguise the precise nature of the money owed. Biafra claimed that the failure to pay these royalties was an accounting mistake.[28][29]

In 1998, the other three members of the band sued Biafra over these allegedly unpaid royalties. A jury ruled in their favor in May 2000, finding Biafra and Alternative Tentacles “guilty of malice, oppression and fraud“.[30] Malice was defined for the jury as “conduct which is intended to cause injury or despicable conduct which is carried with a willful and conscious disregard for the rights of others”.[31] Biafra’s appeal was denied in June 2003; he had to pay the outstanding royalties as well as punitive damages,[32] and was forced to hand over the rights to the majority of Dead Kennedys’ back catalogue to the Decay Music partnership.[32][33]

This dispute caused minor waves within punk circles. Biafra claims that East Bay Ray had long expressed displeasure with Alternative Tentacles and with the amount of money he received from them, thus the original incentive for the discovery of the back payments. It was found out that Alternative Tentacles was paying Dead Kennedys less per CD than all the other bands, including Biafra himself, and not informing his other bandmates, which was the fraud. Biafra accused the band of wanting to license the famous Dead Kennedys song “Holiday in Cambodia” for use in a Levi’s jeans commercial, which the band denied.[34] However, an instrumental loop from “Holiday in Cambodia” was part of the 1981 black comedy feature film Neighbors, though it was not included on the soundtrack. The band maintains that the Levi’s story was completely fictitious and invented by Biafra to discredit them.[33]

Disputes over new commercial activities

[edit]

Matters were stirred up even further when the three bandmates invited Jello Biafra to “bury the hatchet” in the form of a band reunion. Jello Biafra felt it was unprofessional because no one contacted him directly. In addition, Biafra was disdainful of the reunion, and having long expressed his disdain for nostalgia and rock reunion/oldies tours in particular, argued that the whole affair was motivated by greed.[34]

Several DVDs, re-issues, and live albums have been released since the departure of Biafra most recently on Manifesto Records. According to Biafra, the live albums are “cash-ins” on Dead Kennedys’ name and his music. Biafra also accused the releases of the new live material of having poor sound quality. Furthermore, he has stated he is not receiving any royalties from the sale of any Manifesto Records releases. Consequently, he has discouraged fans from buying any Dead Kennedy reissues. The other band members denied Biafra’s accusations regarding the live releases, and have defended the mixes as an effort of hard work. Biafra dismissed the new group as “the world’s greediest karaoke band.” Nevertheless, in 2003, Klaus Flouride said of performances without the band’s former frontman: “There hasn’t been a show yet that people didn’t really like.”[35]

Biafra further criticized them for advertising shows using his own image taken from the original 1980s incarnation of the band, which he labeled as false advertising. He attacked the reformed Dead Kennedys in a song called “Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything)“, which appears on his second collaboration with sludge metal band the Melvins, Sieg Howdy!

Biafra told an audience at a speaking gig in Trenton, New Jersey, that the remaining Dead Kennedys have licensed their single “Too Drunk to Fuck” to be used in a rape scene in a Robert Rodriguez movie. The reference is to a lounge cover of the song, recorded by the band Nouvelle Vague, played during a scene in the Planet Terror segment of Grindhouse, although no rape takes place, and in fact the would-be rapist is killed by the would-be victim. The scene in Planet Terror has would-be rapist, “Rapist No. 1” (Quentin Tarantino) order one-legged stripper “Cherry Darlin” (Rose McGowan) to get up off the floor and dance. At this point Tarantino hits play on a cassette recorder and Nouvelle Vague’s cover of “Too Drunk To Fuck” plays. Biafra, disapproving of the situation, later wrote, “This is their lowest point since Levi’s… This goes against everything the Dead Kennedys stands for in spades… The terrified woman later ‘wins’ by killing Tarantino, but that excuse does not rescue this at all. I wrote every note of that song and this is not what it was meant for…. Some people will do anything for money. I can’t help but think back to how prudish Klaus Flouride was when he objected to H. R. Giger’s painting on the “Frankenchrist” (sic) poster, saying he couldn’t bear to show it to his parents. I’d sure love to be a fly on the wall when he tries to explain putting a song in a rape scene for money to his teenage daughter… The deal was pushed through by a new business manager the other three hired.”[36]

The reformed Dead Kennedys followed their court victory by releasing reissues of all Dead Kennedys albums (except Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, to which they did not have the rights until 2005), releasing several new archival concert DVDs, and licensing several songs to The Manchurian Candidate remake and the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game. East Bay Ray claims he received a fax from Alternative Tentacles purporting Biafra approved the licensing for the game.[37]

The band claims on their website that they still pay close attention to an anti-corporate ideology, despite performing on September 5, 2003, at a festival in Turkey that was sponsored by Coca-Cola, noting that they have since pulled out of a show in Los Angeles when they found that it was being sponsored by Coors. However, Biafra claims the previous licensing deals prove otherwise.[38]

Artistry

[edit]

Music and lyrics

[edit]

Dead Kennedys have been described as one of the first hardcore punk bands.[39] They were noted for the harshness of their lyrics, which generally combined biting social satire while expressing a staunchly left-wing view of contemporary America.[40] Unlike other leftist punk bands who use more direct sloganeering, Dead Kennedys’ lyrics were often snide. For example, “Holiday in Cambodia” is a multi-layered satire targeting both yuppies and Cambodia’s recently deposed Khmer Rouge regime. Or, on “Jock-O-Rama”, featured on Frankenchrist, they mock southern small towns whose residents’ lives revolve around high school football.

Logo

[edit]

“DK” logo

The original logo was created by Winston Smith. He later contributed artwork for the covers of In God We Trust, Inc., Plastic Surgery Disasters, Frankenchrist, Bedtime for Democracy, Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, the back cover of the “Kill the Poor” single and the Alternative Tentacles logo. When asked about the “DK” logo in an interview, Jello Biafra explained, “…I wanted to make sure it was something simple and easy to spray-paint so people would graffiti it all over the place, and then I showed it to Winston Smith. He played around with it, came back with a bunch of designs that had the circle and slightly 3-D looking letters and he had ones with different patterns behind it. I liked the one with bricks, but ultimately I thought simple red behind it was the boldest and the best.”[41]

Influence

[edit]

Dead Kennedys have influenced multiple acts such as System of a Down, Green Day, Faith No More, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Descendents, Bad Religion, Slayer, X, Minutemen, The Hives, Saves the Day and Screeching Weasel among others.[42][43]

Members

[edit]

Current members

·       East Bay Ray (Raymond Pepperell) – guitars (1978–1986, 2001–present)

·       Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall) – bass, backing vocals (1978–1986, 2001–2010, 2011–present)

·       Ron “Skip” Greer – lead vocals (2008–present)

·       Steve Wilson – drums (2023–present)

 Former members

·       Jello Biafra (Eric Boucher) – lead vocals (1978–1986)

·       6025 (Carlo Cadona) – rhythm guitar (1978–1979)

·       Ted (Bruce Slesinger) – drums (1978–1981)

·       D.H. Peligro (Darren Henley) – drums, backing vocals (1981–1986, 2001–2008, 2009–2022; his death)

·       Brandon Cruz – lead vocals (2001–2003)

·       Jeff Penalty (Jeff Alulis) – lead vocals (2003–2008)

·       Dave Scheff – drums (2008)

·       Greg Reeves – bass (2010–2011)

·       Santi Guardiola – drums (2023)

Timeline

[edit]

Discography

[edit]

Main article: Dead Kennedys discography

Videography

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Substack

Medium

wattpad

Spotify

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