The Dead Kennedys

[biscuit]

The Dead Kennedys were a punk band from the late punk scene of the 80's. They had funny , ironic political lyrics on the Reagen administration that can be applied to our time.
Jello Biafra had a unique, gravely voice that was perfect for the lyrics. He once ran for mayor of SanFrancisco for fun and came in 4th place!

The Dead Kennedys were probably the best American band to come out of the punk scene.

Songs to check out :

Holiday in Cambodia

Viva las Vegas

Nazi Punks Fuck off

Winnebago Warrior

Police Truck

Government Flu

Drug me

Forest Fire

Too Drunk to Fuck

California Uber Allies

Soup is Good Food


If youre into punk and havent heard of the Dead Kennedys , shame on you!

For all the others, you wont be dissapointed.

[YouEnjoyMyself]

DK fucking rocks.

Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill the poor.

[Machavelli]

The Dead Kennedys were a punk band from the late punk scene of the 80's.
no fucking shit

[biscuit]

I didnt want them to be confused with early punk 70's punk that started the whole movement , rather they came later in the scene.

:[



Fuck , I was so close to your god cutoff. :c

[SilentPheonix]

Hell yeah fuckin DK. I'm listening to Forest Fire right now.

[longlaw]

probally the sickest band ever.

[Banzai]

The Dead Kennedys were probably the best American band to come out of the punk scene.

...Ramones?...The Stooges?...

Yeah they're still a great band, that's when punk became more sarcastic and ironic as you said.

[DrProf]

...Ramones?...The Stooges?...

Yeah they're still a great band, that's when punk became more sarcastic and ironic as you said.

i think that was just jello's style.

as far as them being a "was",they still 'are" (minus jello) as much as that all got messed up by the lawsuit deal

[biscuit]

Yea , basically the band sued jello for not selling out. Their basis was that they could be millionaires right now , but jello didnt get their stuff out to the world.

Dont buy any of the albums , youre only giving money to the pricks who caused the mess.

And now the ex members are touring without jello under the same dead kennedys name , and he gets squat. its a a sad situation.

Have any of you been to the new tours?

[SilentPheonix]

Man, Jello knows what the FUCK he is talking about. He knows that if they use Holiday In Cambodia for their fucking Levis commercial (Like they was gonna) it'd be the death of everything he fougth for. FUCK the new band, it's NOT DK, and FUCK the new band, for being money grabbing assfuckers

[13tongimp]

I remember listening to Frankenchrist on my walkman on the bus to school...

That was like in '86

[Mr. Mantits]

A friend of mine first introduced me to DK when I was 13 I think...or maybe it was 12, I don't remember. It took me a little while to get past being annoyed at Jello's voice, but I became completely crazy about them, and bought all their albums, played them all out, and then proceeded every 6 months or so to get into them again, listening to nothing else, and playing them out. A HUGE influence on my songwriting. I still love them, although I don't really ever actively listen to it anymore...I kinda think Bedtime for Democracy was a letdown (sounded like Jello had a cold and was trying to drag out a musical career that was already canned), but yeah, Fresh Fruit is delightfully maniacal, and...yadda yadda yadda. They are wonderful. A quintessential punk band, and my first taste of punk rock. At least the first taste I fell in love with.

[TheCheat]

TAKE THIS JOB AND SHUV IT !!!! awaihwtrawrawk;hwaaw sux there touring without jello biafra :banghead:

[Machavelli]

I think the Circle Jerks were a better 80's punk band but thats only my opinion

[biscuit]

I love the jerks. On audioscribbler they are supposed to be the closest in relation to DK , which is probably why they kick so much ass.

[Milkymilk]

DK is still my favorite punk band.
Jello Biafra had some great lyrics.
He always seemed stand up and very brave.


Forest Fire

In one of my favorite songs by anyone.

DK is almost never mentioned in these let's-look-back-at-the-Punk-Era-type documentaries, yet back in the day.. for me they were the staple punk food group.


I like the circle jerks too though.
I like that song Bad Words a lot.

My favorite band back in the 80's though was the Butthole Surfers, the older Butthole Surfers albums had much more edge then the stuff they played in the 90's. I'm not sure if the Butthole Surfers was considered punk rock then.
The crowd that I saw at their shows were GI's ,Art Students, insane people who liked to break things, and a peppering of a few punk rocker types. I dont think BH surfers considered themselves Punk rock so maybe they were not. I remember they used to play with the Chili Peppers a lot.


I would mention FEAR but they only had one album that was good but it was so damn good. I've proably listened to that FEAR the record more then any album...1000's of times. I spent about 2 years listening and rockin with FEAR the record pretty much non stop. "Let's have a war!".. my all time favorite song :bang: Lee Ving my favorite singer.

[skiier4384]

MTV....Get off the air!!! Some of the best political punk I've ever heard.

[lameassdude]

I think the Circle Jerks were a better 80's punk band but thats only my opinion

I saw the Circle Jerks in concert a month ago. Crazy! Keith must be in his fifties, but he still rocked the house. They ended their set with some Black Flag material and I was a little embarrassed for them because they got more of a rise out of Black Flag songs then they did their own shit.

By the way, thanks for the DK biography we all needed a little punk rock tutoring. :rolleyes:

[Milkymilk]

My wife was telling me when she saw the Dead Kennedys play in North Carolina in the early 80's, all these Skinheads were picking fights with people outide the club, before the show started, and annoying everyone. When they entered the club and started hassling people individually, Jello actually stopped playing, and he told them to go home. Then Jello played Nazi-Punks Fuck off while the skins left with the crowd booing them, then the crowd went crazy.

That was brave of Jello, and admirable. He said what he felt, stood up for his belief.

Sadly I got into punk rock in about 1983 when it was sort of ending. I managed to see some early shows but it seems I missed most of the really good ones.