12.29.04
- Jeff Penalty on East Village Radio
Jeff Penalty will be interviewed on
East Village Radio on Monday, January 3rd between
noon and 2pm Eastern time (9am--11am Pacific) on the
"Modern Products" show, hosted by Harris
Smith. Listeners can stream the program live from www.eastvillageradio.com.
Non-listeners can use their imaginations...
12.07.04
- Dead Kennedys Warn of UK Rip-off Artist
Dead Kennedys regretfully have to blow
the whistle on a United Kingdom booking agency that
failed to pay the band as promised for a live show.
The agency that did not honor their contract is Vicious
Promotions, run by Tim Scargill. This announcement
comes after months of requests, phone calls and emails.
Vicious Promotions would always promise to pay by
a certain date, but they never did. One time they
even sent a check and then put a stop payment on it.
They were always coming up with some convenient excuse
- it was classic all talk and no action. The band
hopes that other musicians will be helped by this
warning.
The show was booked by Chris Monk who worked at Vicious
Promotions at the time of the booking, he is now at
Allied Autonomy. Chris Monk took no active measures
to see that the band was paid. Ray Bailey, who is
associated with Tim Scargill, also made promises to
the band to pay them in an email dated January 15,
2004, but he never did. Tim Scargill and Ray Bailey
are part of a charity in the United Kingdom called
Punk Aid.
11.09.04
- Dead Kennedys In The Daily Show's "America"
Dead Kennedys were alerted this week
that they are mentioned in the New York Times #1 best-selling
book, THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART PRESENTS AMERICA
(THE BOOK): A CITIZENS GUIDE TO DEMOCRACY INACTION
written by the writers of The Daily Show and show
host and comedian Jon Stewart. On page 8 in the section
entitled "What type of Government best suits
you?," DKs; and a host of other bands including
Black Flag, The Clash, Sex Pistols and Devo; can be
found in the Favorite Punk Rock Band section if you
were living under a Totalitarian Regime! Maybe the
book is predicting something about the US? Hmmm? Anyway,
we would like to congratulate Stewart on his much-needed
interview on CNN's Crossfire last October. FINALLY,
someone was able to lay into Tucker Carlson who really
needs to stop sucking up to his high-ranking political
guests and start asking the hard questions. Go Jon,
go!
11.04.04
- Bedtime For Democracy? Tune in and find out!
For all you cable junkies out there,
tune in to CNNfn's THE BIZ
(http://money.cnn.com/ontv/thebiz/)
on Friday Nov. 5th to see East Bay Ray and Klaus Flouride
chatting with Ted Turner's finest anchors about politics
and their recently released CD, LIVE FROM THE DEAF
CLUB and the DVD, IN GOD WE TRUST INC. - THE LOST
TAPES. The show airs live at 9:30am Pacific, 12:30pm
Eastern.
08.10.04
- Dead Kennedys Invade Hollywood!
“Kinky Sex Makes The World
Go ‘Round” featured in new version of
the film THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE starring Denzel
Washington and Meryl Streep
In a rather ironic twist of fate, punk rocks most
controversial band Dead Kennedys have been embraced
by Hollywood. Sort of. The track “Kinky Sex
Makes The World Go ‘Round” featured on
GIVE ME CONVENIENCE OR GIVE ME DEATH (Manifesto Records)
is featured in the new Jonatha Demme film, THE MANCHURIAN
CANDIDATE starring Academy Award winners Denzel Washington
and Meryl Streep.
Updating the cold war classic directed by John Frankenheimer,
Demme’s remake is a cautionary tale of devious
corporate and government practices that takes place
in the midst of the Gulf War where soldiers are kidnapped
and brainwashed for sinister purposes. To learn more
about The Manchurian Candidate, click
here.
08.03.04
- Jeff Penalty Live on KUCI and HollywodMusic.tv
Oops...it was reported earlier that Jeff Penalty
would be on the "Shock Rock" show on www.hollywoodmusic.tv
on Saturday night, August 7th, but in fact the show
is scheduled to premiere on Tuesday, August 10th.
Apologies for any inconvenience...but log on on Tuesday
night to see an extended video interview with Jeff
and to hear some great music! The video of the show
will be available for download for the remainder of
the week, for more info check out www.hollywoodmusic.tv.
Jeff Penalty will be sitting in on UC Irvine's "The
Free-For-All" radio show on KUCI 88.9 FM on Wednesday
night, August 4th, from 6pm to 8pm (Pacific Time).
He'll be talking with host The Lil' Heater, playing
music, and taking calls from listeners, who can call
in live by dialing (949) 824-5824. Orange County listeners
can tune into 88.9 on their FM dials, everyone outside
of O.C. can listen in live at www.kuci.org!
07.13.04
- Record Label Drops All Legal Action Against Dead
Kennedys
In the word’s of Roy Orbison, “It’s
over, it’s over, it’s over!” Yes,
Dead Kennedys’ misguided former record label
has thrown in the towel and withdrawn its last lawsuit
(there have been 5!) against the band. Reality has
finally impinged on their nuttiness. The man who said
he was going to fight to the end - didn’t. The
man who said he would prove startling new facts -
didn’t. Yes, the man who made it ugly and recently
said “…it’s far from over, uglier
than ever, with no end in sight” is finally
ending it - the case is over!
By dropping all legal action against Dead Kennedys,
the San Francisco Superior Court’s earlier decision
at a jury trial in May 2000 is now final. The band’s
former record label, Alternative Tentacles Records,
was convicted of knowingly and fraudulently shortchanging
Dead Kennedys; the jury awarded the band compensatory
and punitive damages totaling more than $200,000.
“The record industry has been skimming royalties
owed artists since the beginning,” said Dead
Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray. “This case
is no different from blues musicians being taken advantage
of in the twenties and thirties. Many people doubted
the claims we made against our former record label
back in 1998 but with this announcement there is no
denying we were the victims here. Now maybe it’s
time for Klaus, D.H., Biafra, and myself to move on
with our lives - more music and less lawyers!”
It has been four years since the San Francisco Superior
Court ruling. The California Court of Appeals in June
2003 unanimously upheld all the verdicts against the
former record label and its owner; everything in their
appeal was denied. The record label in its appeal
did not dispute that it acted deceptively. In contrast,
the court did overturn the one verdict against East
Bay Ray. The label had sought to overturn more than
20 years of band history and take sole control of
Dead Kennedys by breaking up the band partnership,
known as Decay Music. The ruling means that all band
members will continue to maintain the band’s
two-decade old partnership with all four members,
including Biafra, sharing equally in ownership and
control of the bands’ creative works.
When the original trial began in 1998, the band’s
motives were questioned by some in the media and the
punk community who had been lured into believing many
fabricated statements made by the band’s former
record label. The tactic used was to turn any statement
of fact into a question of motive. The band was accused
of wanting to profit from a mythical television commercial,
yet they have never allowed their music in a commercial.
The band was accused of greed, yet it was the label
who took money from them. The band was accused of
wanting to sign to a major record label, yet they
signed to independent label Manifesto Records. The
band was accused of wanting to destroy their former
record label, yet the label is still in business.
Lo and behold, all these claims against the band were
false from the beginning.
Since taking control of the Dead Kennedys catalog
following the trial court’s judgment in January
2001, the band has remastered and reissued their entire
back catalog on both CD and vinyl. The band has also
released their first live record, MUTINY ON THE BAY,
a compilation of tracks recorded from 1982-1986 on
Manifesto Records as well as the Target Video, DEAD
KENNEDYS - EARLY YEARS LIVE DVD via Music Video Distributors.
A new DVD, DEAD KENNEDYS, IN GOD WE TRUST, INC. -
THE LOST TAPES and live recording from 1979 entitled
LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUB were released on CD from Manifesto
Records in late 2003/early 2004. Since reissuing the
band’s catalog in 2001 with superior, remastered
sound and original artwork, music fans everywhere
have recognized the improvement and continue to grab
up more Dead Kennedys’ CDs than they ever did
from the band’s previous label.
05.20.04
- Web Update - New Reviews, Pictures and MP3's!
There are some great thing added to
the site today. First off visit the discography section and browse through the album pages to check
out some free MP3's! Yup they are free and yours to
keep! Next up we have some fantastic new show
reviews including one fan
review, so check them out! And last but not least,
visit the pictures section for some great shots of the guys from The
Academy Bristol, UK show that was on April 4, 2004.
Also I would like to remind you that if you would
like to contribute any pictures, photos, reviews etc.
just email me at scott@deadkennedys.com.
04.05.04
- An open letter to DK fans
An open letter to DK fans:
A couple of weeks ago, there was a nutty posting on
the Internet concerning Dead Kennedys' new "Live
at The Deaf Club" CD. Let's just say: We had
to laugh like hell. The posting was rife with inaccuracies
and embraced immoral smear tactics in a pathetic "I
am not a crook" attempt to influence public opinion.
If it hasn't been said enough: don't believe everything
you read...especially on the Internet.
The self proclaimed "whistleblower" derides
the packaging and quality of the "Deaf Club"
CD, and claims he was never consulted during the process
of it's creation. Again: We had to laugh like hell.
After all, how did he know he didn't like the artwork
if he was never contacted about it? And for the record,
there are copies of faxes, Fed-ex receipts, etc. up
the wazoo to confirm he was kept informed about the
project all along. Moreover, his lawyer was recently
sent a fax asking them to take down these absurd comments.
He was well aware of the CD but in fact chose not
to participate in its production. Decay music is a
democracy, not a dictatorship.
And let us not forget the non-existent Levi's ad (more
appropriately termed the never-anywhere-never-happened
Levi's ad!) and claims of an ongoing lawsuit that
is only ongoing due to the efforts of our beloved
"whistleblower" and his law firm. By our
count he's lost 8 out of 8 cases in court. This is
where our "whistleblower" starts sounding
more like a "mad conspiracy theorist who gets
too little sleep" and spends too much time thinking
up "what ifs" rather than what IS.
He went on to warn the poor, unenlightened public
about the "mentality" behind the making
of a 22 minute DVD, referring to "In God We Trust,
Inc. - The Lost Tapes", whose actual running
time is 55 minutes, and then asked about "where
the money is really going" from the aforementioned
CD and DVD. We looked at his cashed
royalty checks and thought to ourselves, "Mystery
solved!"
And then, again, we had to laugh like hell.
For the record:
*Anyone concerned with the quality of the new "Live
At The Deaf Club" CD can read unbiased reviews
at www.allmusic.com, in the March 2004 Mean Street
magazine, and in the May 2004 Guitar World.
*Anyone concerned with the fair distribution of royalties
should be aware that Dead Kennedys and Decay Music
are a partnership with each band member sharing equally.
Additionally, all band members are paid on a regular
basis on their music publishing based on the songwriting
credit on each song. Thank you for listening.
-Dead Kennedys
03.08.04
- Dead Kennedys Release Archival Recording "Live at
the Deaf Club"
Previously Unreleased Live Concert from 1979
Features a Never-Before Released Track “Gaslight,”
a Disco Version of “Kill The Poor,” Two
Unconventional Covers, an Early Version of “When
You Get Drafted” and is the Bands Final Performance
as a Five-Piece
Los Angeles, Calif., & San Francisco, Calif.,
(March 8, 2004) – The Dead Kennedys announced
today they will be releasing a new, previously unreleased
concert from 1979 entitled, LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUB
on March 9th, 2004 from Manifesto Records.
Recorded live in its entirety on March 3rd, 1979,
LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUB features rare, unheard music
from the bands last show in its early five-piece line-up.
The 14 track CD features the never before released
song, “Gaslight,” an early version of
“When You Get Drafted” entitled “Back
in Rhodesia” and several oddities including
a disco version of “Kill The Poor,” covers
of The Beatles (“Back in the USSR”) and
The Honeycombs (“Have I The Right”). The
3-panel digipak includes artwork from the original
flyer for the Deaf Club show and participation from
longtime band associates artist Eric Goodfield and
was mastered by John Cuniberti. Band members include
Klaus Flouride (Bass), Jello Biafra (vocals), East
Bay Ray (Guitar), 6025 (Guitar) and Ted (Drums).
"LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUB from 1979, is an excellent
document of the Bay Area punk rock scene at its very
beginning,” said East Bay Ray, guitarist of
Dead Kennedys. “When the band regained control
of our master tapes from our previous label in 2001,
we wanted to give our fans the opportunity to hear
the band as very few ever had before. This is a great
document of the band at its very beginning with all
the immediacy, importance and humor. We spent the
better part of a year working on the artwork, packaging,
mastering, and production of this CD and it shows.”
The Deaf Club, as the San Francisco Club of the Deaf,
Inc. was affectionately known, was an underground
hall in San Francisco's Mission District where bands
performed in late 1978 and throughout the year of
1979. This Dead Kennedys' recording is a document
of their entire show, which also featured the Germs
from Los Angeles on the bill. In 1980, a compilation
of live recordings made at different shows at the
Deaf Club was released called, CAN YOU HEAR ME? MUSIC
FROM THE DEAF CLUB. The limited run vinyl LP featured
only a few songs each from the Mutants, K.G.B., the
Offs, Pink Section, Tuxedo Moon and Dead Kennedys.
03.05.04
- Dead Kennedys Announce Nine Date UK Tour
Band Will Play England and Scotland in March
and April 2004 in Support of Soon-to-be-Released Archival
Recording LIVE AT THE DEAF CLUB
Los Angeles, Calif., & San Francisco, Calif.,
(March 5, 2004) – The Dead Kennedys announced
today that they are touring the United Kingdom in
March and April 2004.
The nine-date UK tour will begin March 25th, 2004
and coincides with the release of an archival DKs
live recording from San Francisco in 1979 entitled
LIVE FROM THE DEAF CLUB. The CD will be available
in the US on Manifesto Records March 9th and in Europe
from Plastic Head Distribution on March 22nd, 2004.
Tour dates on this extensive UK tour are listed here.
"Dead Kennedys have always wanted to do a comprehensive
tour of the UK since we reformed in 2001," said
Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray. "We have
been to the UK twice in the last few years for select
shows and while we have nothing but positive response
from our fans, I don’t anticipate we will be
back for quite some time. So expect these shows will
be very special."
• View upcoming show dates
by clicking here.
01.22.04
- Update on Lawsuits Against DK
Following a California Appellate Court’s verdict
last June, two of the three active lawsuits filed
against the Dead Kennedys by their former record company,
Alternative Tentacles Records (A.T.R.), have been
dropped. A Federal Court action and an Alameda County
Superior Court action filed against the band by the
company were officially withdrawn in October of last
year. These lawsuits were in addition to the label’s
California Appellate Court case against the band.
Unfortunately, A.T.R. is continuing its legal action
against Dead Kennedys with papers filed in San Francisco
Superior Court in November 2003. Each lawsuit by the
record company has been an attempt to destroy the
band's equal partnership of more than twenty years,
Decay Music. Decay is a joint partnership between
Jello Biafra, East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H.
Peligro.
Both Decay Music and Dead Kennedys have been tied
down in court by the record company for more than
five years now. In September 1998, the band decided
to leave the label after it was discovered that A.T.R.
was deliberately being dishonest with the band about
royalties owed and wrongly profiting for over 10 years
on the band’s share of the income.
Dead Kennedys won a jury trial in San Francisco Superior
Court in May 2000 as well as the appeal filed against
them by A.T.R. in the California State Appellate Court
in June 2003. In that case, the three Appellate Court
Justices unanimously upheld the earlier Superior Court’s
decision that Alternative Tentacles Records was guilty
of knowingly and deliberately defrauding Dead Kennedys
members, East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D. H. Peligro,
out of royalties owed them as members of Dead Kennedys
and that the record company had issued the DK’s
catalog without their permission. The Appellate Court
also found that, despite wild accusations by the company,
the band members had done absolutely nothing wrong
and were entitled to their equal voice. In the court
of public relations, however, the company has persisted
in a cynical “blame-the-victim” campaign
against the band. The company’s false attacks
against the band have fallen on deaf ears. The band
did not and has not signed to a major label, nor have
they ever allowed their music to be used in any TV
commercial.
As A.T.R.’s actions were being brought to light,
other bands have left the record company and have
not been taken to court for doing so. D.O.A., Neurosis,
No Means No, Zen Guerilla and others have all left
the label without being sued nor were subjected to
a media name-calling campaign such as the one directed
at Dead Kennedys.
Said the L.A. Weekly in August 2003, "…[though]
a legal victory held Jello Biafra responsible for
withholding tens of thousand of DK dollars due his
cohorts, the band couldn't even get booked in Frisco
until recently—the work of a weird moral majority,
made stranger by the fact that all the band members
sought was to be recognized as equal partners."
A lot of negativity and name calling has been heaped
upon Dead Kennedys but one has to wonder why the finger
has not been pointed in such other directions as A.T.R.’s
lawyers and their failed strategy? Instead of simply
acknowledging the label’s wrongful actions and
correcting them, the lawyers have cost ATR several
$100,000’s of dollars in legal fees.
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