Home - Dead Kennedys (original) (raw)

Dead Kennedys’ inflammatory name and provocative behavior attracted the attention of several far-right politico-religious groups. The band’s problems with these self-appointed moral guardians were compounded by a confrontational relationship with US authorities, ensuring an aggressive police presence at most of their gigs.

However, the band continued to expand their audience by playing at a mix of underground venues in different corners of the USA and Canada. They did their first British tour in late 1980, which established the band there as a figurehead for an audience long deprived of the Sex Pistols. Dead Kennedys went on to tour worldwide, covering the continents of North America, Europe, and Australia.

The eight-track EP, IN GOD WE TRUST, INC. (1981), took things further, boasting a speed and power that left most reviewers nonplussed and contemporaries trailing. The EP included “Nazi Punks, Fuck Off,” an anti-violence paean. The band then changed musical gears again when the PLASTIC SURGERY DISASTERS appeared in late 1982. Possibly their best album, this fine collection of songs retained the trademark savagery and satire, but the musical content had diversified, even including such unexpected moments as Klaus Flouride playing the clarinet.

After two years of touring, where they performed all over North America, Europe and Australia, the more melodic FRANKENCHRIST (1985) appeared, marked by a frantic sense of desperation that reflected America’s increasingly right-wing political landscape and with songs like “MTV Get Off the Air.” As ever, the group ran into controversy, this time with the LP’s accompanying poster, “Penis Landscape,” by Swiss artist H. R. Giger. The poster provoked a legal offensive against the band beginning in April 1986. Biafra was charged with “distributing harmful matter to minors,” a charge which he repulsed based on the First Amendment right to free speech and which was dismissed the following year.