Dead Kennedys for Rock Band
The release of the Dead Kennedys pack for Rock Band may lead to my first videogame console purchase since the Atari 5200. Dead Kennedys for Rock Band (Boing Boing Offworld)
The release of the Dead Kennedys pack for Rock Band may lead to my first videogame console purchase since the Atari 5200. Dead Kennedys for Rock Band (Boing Boing Offworld)
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It feels wrong for the Dead Kennedys to be appearing on the game.
No matter how the band members feel about their music today, they deffinately would not have done this back when they were a full band, before they broke up. I think they owe it to their fans to maintain their punk image and not sell the music to Rock Band. But then, we've all seen that both sides of the band (Biafra included) seem to only care about money these days.
California Uber Alles!!!!
California Uber Alles!!!!
Uber Alles California!!!!!
Uber Alles California!!!!!!
They gave Rock Band permission to use their music, and that means they only care about money? Zernhelt, you must have had a major fixation on them.
The only member of this band that is still punk is Jello Biafra, and he is the one who wrote all of these songs. He had the rights to his music stolen from him by his bandmates, and now his work is being raped by corporations like Hot Topic and EA. This is a big time bummer for the Dead Kennedys and although it would be really fun to play, I can't see allowing myself to buy this.
Yes there's the "SELLOUT!" aspect of this, but on the other hand this will expose the Dead Kennedy's to an audience that may have never heard them.
With the bonus of having the lyrics read, sung, and maybe committed to memory.
This wouldn't be a bad thing for other kinds of bands, but considering many of Biafra's lyrics are anti-corporate and pro-DIY, it is a shame to see this happening to his music. Ironic really.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe I've seen people play Guitar Hero to "Holidays in Cambodia" already, so this may not be new news. As excited as I was to see it, I was crushed to discover they edited out the chanting of "Pol Pot."
I mean, c'mon!
I pretty much loathe these games but its nice to see their music catalog getting something worthwhile so that maybe now when I am around people playing I might hear something I actually enjoy (though I suspect the karaoke style mangling will deter my enjoyment greatly)
"Police Truck" has also shown up previous in these games. Heavily edited, though.
I'm pretty sure I've head the DKs as soundtrack in some of the Tony Hawk games.
So, it's a little late to be totally outraged.
Actually, it's a lot late to be totally outraged. If they want to sell their songs, I'm not sure any one here is in a position to judge them.
From Wikipedia entry on Jello Biafra (http://xrl.us/oxq3x):
In October 1998, former members of the Dead Kennedys sued Biafra for nonpayment of royalties. According to Biafra, the suit resulted from his refusal to allow one of the band's most well known singles, "Holiday in Cambodia", to be used in a commercial for Levi's Dockers; Biafra opposes Levi's because he believes that they use unfair business practices and sweatshop labor.The three former members claimed that their motive had nothing to do with advertising, and that they had filed suit because Biafra had denied them royalties and failed to promote their albums. Biafra maintained that he had never denied them royalties, and that he himself had not even received royalties for rereleases of their albums or "posthumous" live albums which had been licensed to other labels by the Decay Music partnership. Decay Music denied this charge and have posted what they say are his cashed royalty checks, although there is no evidence that Biafra ever endorsed and deposited these payments. Biafra also complained about the songwriting credits in new reissues and archival live albums of songs that Biafra claims he composed himself to the entire band. In May 2000, a jury found Biafra liable for fraud and malice and ordered him to pay $200,000, including $20,000 in punitive damages, to the band members. After an appeal by Biafra’s lawyers, in June 2003, the California Court of Appeals unanimously upheld all the conditions of the 2000 verdict against Biafra and Alternative Tentacles.
How long must one stay punk? I mean, is it an identity for life?
@KOSMONAUTBRUCE:
Perhaps it was edited on other platforms, but on the Wii it is still there, and quite obvious, as in the original. In fact, my heart glows warm when my 8 year old is bouncing around, bellowing them.
First John Lydon sells butter. Now this.
This is NOT good news. I'm sure that Jello was not behind this move. IF you read the above post from wiki, you'll see that Biafra did not want his music whored out to big corporations. I am not a fan of this move at all.
I cannot think of two worse games; Guitar Hero and Rock Star...they teach kids very little about actually making music and more about memorizing shortcuts and glitches in the system.
I really feel bad for Biafra after what his ex-bandmates put him through all in the name of the all-mighty dollar. Yes, Biafra probably got more than his share, but his bandmates did nothing with their lives except get addicted to drugs and become derelicts...in the meantime, Biafra never changed and became the spokesman for free speech in this country. When he took Tipper Gore to task on the Oprah Winfrey show, he had me pumping my fists at the television with delight. (I think you can find audio of it on youtube.)
",,,and have you noticed, the french fries that the A $ W,,,Taste a little strange."
Sounds like fun, but I am still a little sore at Jello for shafting the rest of the band for music rights.
When I saw Jello Biafra do his spoken word thing, he described how his former bandmates had fucked him out of his rights to the material over the Levi's commercial (pretty much as described in the Wiki Mark quoted above) and urged people to NOT buy DK albums or see their concerts in which they played without him, as he wasn't getting a dime in royalties. In an homage to Abbie Hoffman he urged the audience to shoplift the albums, if they needed to still get their DK on.
So Zernhelt, citation please!
Oh yeah, and here's the obligatory classic photo (albeit small).
I have never understood the idea that to be a punk tyou must die in penury.
In the late 70s early 80s DKs released soem brilliant records that mapped a world of social injustice and stupifying suburban culture.
ANYONE who thought for a minute that they were in any way capable of changing the world through the medium of punk rock...is frankly mental.
When you are getting sued to death sometimes you have no choice, hell when you are just damn poor you have no choice.
One you sign over Guitar Hero rights to your back catalogue the other you get a stupid job that you hate with a hat a hair net and a name badge.
Sometimes you just have to, got to eat.
As for John Lydon sellign butter on ads in the UK....Lydon never said he was opposed to money, he worked his bollox off and saw bugger all in return.
If 30 years later he does a silly advert or a crap reality show , fine.
He was johnny rotten, who were you?
@ nuorder: "Biafra never changed"
au contraire
http://z.about.com/d/punkmusic/1/0/C/4/-/-/jello.jpg
His bandmates may all be republican drug addicts, but they played on the albums. They should see royalties.
Doran@13: Don't forget that the Pistols sold Anarchy In The UK to Guitar Hero too.
@# 18 HILLX075
Royalties sure for performance, but not for writng stuff they didn't.
What a sellout. People should absolutely not be able to enjoy playing DK songs the that they like in a videogame. Having fun is SO not punk rock.
Hah...some genius bringing the Sex Pistols into this? They were ALL ABOUT fashion and money! The only reason they might not get as much dosh from the past as they'd like is that the music isn't good enough. In other words, there's no evidence that they wouldn't sell out as much as possible if given the chance.
@PHIKUS Yeah, the Sex Pistols got back together to record Anarchy in the UK (because no one had the original recording so they could split the instrument tracks), but, that was the entire band (well, what's left of them).
As everyone above is guessing, I'm going to guess as well that Jello had no say in this and that's just not right and extremely against everything DK stood for.
I cannot think of two worse games; Guitar Hero and Rock Star...they teach kids very little about actually making music and more about memorizing shortcuts and glitches in the system.
You've never actually played either of these games, have you? And considering they're designed as games and not teaching tools, criticizing them for not doing enough of the latter is pretty silly.
In any case, what's more punk than exploiting shortcuts and glitches in any system?
This might have the opposite effect. I tried listening to the Dead Kennedys again a while back and was confused as to why I had ever liked them in the first place.
Biafra's vocals are pretty terrible, the surfy-punk riffs wear out fast, and with hindsight, the band screams "punk rock starter kit" (see also: the Misfits). There were a couple of good songs, but they never seemed to churn out a whole album full of winners.
How can they be accused of selling out when they still piss people off so effectively?
The Wii version of GHIII has the "pol pot" chant at the end. Don't know about the others. A dude I went to college with (back in the early 90s) was really into DK, so I knew about them very peripherally, but playing GHIII was the first time I really paid attention -- and that whole Pol Pot thing really cracked me up.
@25: "Frankenchrist" is a totally solid album.
In a prior band-life, we played a mix of Dead Kennedys and k.d. lang tracks, so this is unusually appealing.
Anyone have an actual word from Jello on his take?
The release of the Dead Kennedys pack for Rock Band may lead to my first videogame console purchase since the Atari 5200.
Might I take that a step further and say that playing Rockband may lead me to start a band for the first time in 10 years...
The supposed "guitar" controllers/interface take all the fun out of it by being so clunky and unmusical.
As for DK being on rock band, whatever. Once something is a big enough cultural hit, its almost impossible for it not to become a comodity. Crass said it best in 1977 with "Punk is Dead".
The game really needed some better music anyway.
Watch this clip of Biafra being interviewed by Jools Holland. Around the 4:50 minute mark he's asked by Holland what he think of his critics and he responds, "I'm glad we're getting under their skin. We're not safe family entertainment in any way. It'll be interesting to see what takes our place as we do become that as everything does sooner or later."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVrTW7AUkoM&feature=related
So what will take their place? The GG Allin pack for Rock Band?
PS - obviously Biafra has no connection with DK anymore.
@EH: Thanks. Mom always said I was smart.
I'm not saying these things are good or bad, expected or unexpected, only a sign of the times. Just like Iggy Pop songs being used to sell cars.
There is at least one thing awesome about this. My 8 year old nephew will now be listening to the DKs.
Ah whatever... I'm listening to Fresh Fruit now, and I'm solidly reminded of listening to it on a shoddy cassette deck with bad headphones in my bedroom aged 12 and being slightly scared by Jello's warbling - and later listening to Bedtime for Democracy on a walkman whilst working minimum wage on a building site in Manchester, England.
Time don't change that, but your perception that the attitude that all of them should remain with the same ideals after 30 years is as redundant as the cold war.
Get over it. Do you want them living in penury, or recieving a late pension plan?
Royalty arguments aside of course...
Yeah. Some time ago somebody bought a Black Flag song from "Damaged" to sell a snowboarding video. There's a Minutemen riff on a (I think) BMW commercial from a few years back. This is a joke, no matter how ironically you want to slice it. Sex Pistols you can have-as previously mentioned they made no claims other than selling out. Some could argue that what they did was a more elegant way to point out big business than what DK did. I do still love PIL so go figure.
I miss the old "us versus them" days.
hey! even jello's kids need to eat! if they are all getting their cut, then there is no one here who can cast judgement. if not, then a lawsuit is in order. punk rock has pretty much been dead for almost 20 years so i dont see what the big deal is, anyway. when avril levigne was touted as "punks next great thing", i knew the dream was over. and don't even get me started on the whiny "blink 182" band and clones.
Why is everyone such a purist? This is so very unlike Devo singing a hit and changing the lyrics for a swiffer commercial. All this does is open up the music to a whole new group of fans. Bands need to realize that the bottom line, if you make recording, it's pretty much a business deal. You're selling CD's to make MONEY. You're playing shows with cover charges to make MONEY. And most the time bands break up over creative differences but then fight about the MONEY. I loved the Dead Kennedy's and they're still on regular rotation in my car's CD player. I'm 37 years old and Punk has been dead in my eyes since the 80's but where does it say in the official rulebook that a song in it's original form can't be used in context in a game??? I thought selling out was some how related to going against the integrity of the band for money and radio play. How is using music that is 25 years old in a game about music selling out? Did David Bowie sell out? Did the Who, or Bon Jovi, or Sousie and the Banchees, or the Grateful Dead or anyone else that is featured in the games? Is having your music on this game instantly a sell out??? Punk rock was anti establishment. But in the world of shooters and platforms, Rock Band and Guitar Hero are games that were nothing like the norm. Quite punk in their own right.
So for all the musical purists- Get over yourselves!
Rock Band is a fun game. IT'S A GAME (for those of you bitching about how it doesn't teach kids real music).
The Dead Kennedy's have been dead since 1987. Let them eat Jellybeans!
Hey Mintphresh,
This won't stop me from putting on "Plastic Surgery Disasters" from time to time, and still loving it. The wife has it on vinyl.
As for the rest, if you want me to buy into the idea of a fucking video game as having a punk ethic, versus aesthetic, you are in for a hard sell.
video killed the radio star
This Ain't No Picnic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzyzVZZfUfM
It's cold outside and my hands are dry
Skin is cracked and I realize
That I hate the sound of guitars
A thousand grudging young millionaires
Forcing silence sucking sound
Forced into this conversation
So i say shine let their planets collide
This is the darkening down of my mind
We could be making it oiling like crime
We could be making it staking last dimes
If you want to sieze the sound you don't need a reservation
The torch is pased it's yours to return
Lay at their feet now use it to burn
For marketing the use of the word generation
A false alliance of money persuading
Forcing silence sound sucking
Forced into this conversation
Now if you want to sieze the sound you don't need a reservation
So open so young so target I can smell your heart you're a target
Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but these songs aren't that hard to play on a REAL guitar. Why not pick one up and try it? In 6 months you could be playing any DK song you want, and it would be much more satisfying.
I am so... conflicted. More DK to the world is *a good thing*. But I learned my politics from Jello when I was 13 and since then I've struggled more and more with the inevitable pillaging and commoditization of the underground. Is it a good thing that these messages reach a broader audience? Or is their anti-establishment anti-conformist essence stripped when re-packaged and tied to this or that corporate interest? I don't know. The punk in me says "Triumph of the swill!" but the adult in me sees a space left behind for the next alternative heroes.
The Dead Kennedys were established as a democratic entity with each member getting a vote. Jello got out voted 3 to 1. Also, Jello did not write the Dead Kennedy songs by himself. He can't play an instrument.
As someone who actually grew up in the SF underground scene, I'm comfortable in saying Jello was always a putz and a pompous ass. A spoilt rich kid who was attempting, from the very beginning, to be in the world'$ biggi$t punk band.
He preached to the proletariat while cruising around in his sports car and hitting on large brested women (his predilection at the time).
To have more money than anyone else in your band, and then to rip them off... it just ain't, well, punk (or maybe it is, since punk isn't supposed to be respectable. Maybe by being a thieving, hypocritical weasel, Jello's being the ultimate punk).
If the band wants to make some money off their back catalog, good for them. It ain't fucking Mozart- it's just noise with a beat.
I do feel sorry for the kids who bought the game, though- actually learning the songs isn't much harder than playing the game.
This seems appropriate somehow :
"Anarchy for sale !
I nicked the design, never asked the band
I never listen to them either"
If 'the kids' get some subversive, anti-consumerist message by playing video games, then we've let Jello win. I thought that was a good thing... would you rather it was another Avril Lavigne track?
@error404
"ANYONE who thought for a minute that they were in any way capable of changing the world through the medium of punk rock...is frankly mental."
*giggle* A minute? I don't think punk rock thought they could change the world for even half a second. That's the point. They just wanted to tell the world to go fuck themselves.
enormo! TOTAL WIN!
I'm gettin' tired of being legendary and broke
And I'm too damn weird to hold no straight job
My checkbook's feelin' unfulfilled
Being an old underground die-hard
Won't pay the kids' dental bills
My dad sez I gotta learn to compromise
So I figure now's about that time
Now that I've run out of things to say
That alone will make my music pay
Buy my snakeoil
I used to be so angry
I ain't gettin' any younger
Now I'm eager to please
C'mon and buy my snake oil
Til my well runs stinking dry
I'll be your Rondo Hatton
I'll be your Dwight Frye
Get mighty jealous watchin'
My old roomates gettin' signed
The world owes me a living
I want my taste of the pie
Woh-oh oh-oh
Buy my snake oil
Meet my new band: Tits, Ass and Money
The most deliberately watered down meaningless music I have ever made
Sing about myself 'stead of what's goin' on
Company tells me how my records should sound
Do what my manager tells me to
Every inch a rockin' dude
Random shuffling, same old cards
Bring on the night, she done me wrong
I love my weenie and I love my car
Man it's such hell being a star
I'll tour til you wish I'd go home
Moan about my life on the road
200 overdubs to sound sincere
From now on every album sleeve's just a great big picture of me
Buy my snake oil
Critics cheer how I've matured
Got top management behind me, man
Phone rings like never before
I grew up on your stuff, man
It means so much to me
I can hear it jinglin' now
In commercials sellin' beer
I got wiggle girl videos in heavy rotation
If I dye my skin white enough I'll buy me the Elephant Man
Woh-oh oh-oh
Buy my snake oil
And remember you got what you pay for
And if that doesn't work
I got another idea
Now that I've signed on the bottom line
I'll call my music "Alternative"
Same word those lovely people used
To hype the Knack in 1980s
Join the college dollar emo-jangle
Spoiled white music for spoiled white people
Pat those slackers on the head
To stroke and profit off their fears
"Yeh, man, it's OK
Feel sorry for yourself all day
Life sucks 'cos it ain't easy
Happiness should be handed to me..."
Buy my snake oil
Cleansed of vision and sense
I'll bet your bottom dollar
You'll let me get away with this
I'll be your pregnant junkie
Help you sell cigarettes
Or a lonely tortured muscle hunk
That no one understands
Punk without rebellion
We'll call it Grunge for you
I'll dress just like Don Henley
And sing just like him too
Boo hoo-oo hoo hoo-oo-hoo
Boo hoo-oo hoo hoo-oo-hoo
Boo hoo-oo hoo hoo-oo-hoo
Boo hoo-oo hoo hoo-oo-hoo
Down by the stream
Where my babe left me
I stand in my flannel shirt
Looking confused
A voice in the bushes says
"You got that look...
I'm from Geffen Records
How'd you like a million bucks..?!?"
Oh woh woh poor pitiful me
Born white in the world's richest country
I can't have my way, life is so depressing
Nothing's as important as me
And "my" girl
And if that still doesn't work
I got another idea
Give in
Ride the punk nostalgia wave
For all it's worth
Recycle the name of my old band
For a big reunion tour
Sing all those "hits' from the good old days
'Bout how bad the good old days were
And the orthodox
Fundamentalism faction of the crowd
Will say, "Hurray!"
How politically correct
He's quit trying different ideas at last
Obeying the same kind of stodgy rules
Punk used to rebel against
Buy my snake oil
This is all I've got to say
Bought it once, now buy it twice
Repackaged on CD
Yeah, keep on buying my snake oil
Til my well runs stinking dry
I'll be your institution
Until the day I die
Who cares if inspiration's gone
It's safe in this here stall
I'll give the fans just what they want
And nothing else at all
Woh-oh oh-oh oh
Buy my snake oil
Woh-oh oh-oh oh
Buy buy buy b-b-b-buy buy
My snake oil
And remember
I did it all for the scene
For #30 posted by catorahorse
Is there going to be a Turkey Baster for "Rock Band"? Family tested, G.G. Allen approved.
so what. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZWp5F4IRpw
Is my c@ck big enough
my brain, small enough
for you to make me a star?
Give me a toot
I'll sell you my soul.
Pull my strings
and I'll go far...
(First MTV music video awards)
I saw Jello on his speaking tour a couple years ago. After 4(!) hours of the same rant cycled three times, the room of 100-200 had thinned to under 30 and I gave up. I sympathize with his ideas, but sneering and yapping only go so far.
Cheapo Marx
Bullocks! East Bay Ray is a very talented musician. There were many noise with a beat punk bands, but the DK's were not one of them. Fear is another band with some great musicianship. Lee Ving is still telling the world to fuck off! This whole FTW (For the Win) thing has me confused, FTW will always mean Fuck the World (cause it's fukin' me).
Since everyone is referencing California Uber Alles, try this, East Bay Ray's guitar work here is great.
Phikus, I too saw Jello's spoken word performance and your right, he said the same thing then. Only saw the DK's once and latter when I met him after one of the spoken word performances he said it was one of the worst shows he had ever had. There were many Skins in attendance, and when he dove into the audience they roughed him up a bit, slashing him with spikes. Then they threw full cans of beer at the band, which the band promptly returned. East Bay Ray got hit particularly hard one time and the show stopped not too much later. Must say, Jello's reaction to the Skins was a little wussy, which surprised me. Don't really know what he expected, he was telling them to fuck off. Seems many of us were in the same place at the same time.
I torn about this... I'm happy that the "message" will be spread through the lyrics perhaps to a few people...
But then again, I knew an oil company asshole that used to love Rage Against the Machine because he didn't understand what any of the lyrics meant...
I found Jello's spoken word thing to be compelling. He had a lot of great things to say. He sold out a medium sized music venue in Austin and everyone was enthralled with him until he finished. Recounting his showdown with Tipper Gore over the PMRC was priceless, while holding up a real DNC prop sign that read: "Tipper rocks!"
Jello's explanation sounded genuine to me. You can hear in any recordings made of their creative process that he was one of the primary arrangers of the music, which was shaped around his lyrical ideas, even though he couldn't read music. At any rate, Jello shouldn't have been completely cut out of their collective legacy.
Easy Bay Ray is indeed one of the finest guitarists in the genre EVER.
Jello often railed against the skinheads, as he saw them as embracing the fascism he was steadfastly though sometimes expressing ironically his dissent against.
I like how he predicts their eventually being embraced as family entertainment at the end of that interview clip. No illusions.
@ #46 Enormo
I can't quite understand your post....you seem to be sneering at me whilst agreeing with my very point.
I said anyone who thinks it was going to change the world was mental, it is just music and as you say a big fuck you to the status quo.
But there have always been the purist fools who decry people as being sell outs for not dying of hunger or getting paid...the horror.
These were usually the people who did nothing themselves but held others up to unreal standards.
Anyway I don't quite see why you sneer while essentially agreeing with me.
Just seems odd, very internetty, but still odd.
I gather Biafra lost all rights to the band name, so I'm guessing he won't see a dime out of this. Royalty disputes are one thing, but the attempt to rewrite history by changing the songwriting credits on the reissues is galling.
It's a safe bet that Jello wrote most of the DK songs, simply because those lyrics are consistent with stuff Jello has written since, with collaborators or alone. The rest of the band were and still are damn good musicians, but aside from an album by East Bay Ray and one by Klaus Fluoride, their lyrical efforts are lost to history.
If you want the original music, properly credited, you can't get it in stores, online or off. It's old vinyl, torrents or nothing. Another unintended victory for illegal downloading!
@#56 Error404
Yes. I am punk. Go *#$%&! yourself.
Anthony: Regarding the Minutemen in a commercial, it was actually Volvo. More importantly, the reason that Mike Watt allowed the song to be used was only to provide the money to Boon's father for medical care. If you watch We Jam Econo, Watt explains that he felt it was important for Boon to be able to do something for his father even after Boon himself had died.
As for this Rock Band 2 package, I know it's controversial for a variety of reasons, but I bought it and the Mission of Burma one too.
Spkng f P, hv rl trbl blvng bngbng r th rgntng blg gt d Clvr t sgn ff n tht s f hs pht. spclly wtht vn gvng hm crdt. Shm n y.
Mintphresh and others on the punk is dead trip...
Jesus, y'all are a bunch a jaded...
If you think punk is dead, then I guess it's dead for you, but it isn't dead for the thousands of independant labels, zines, bands and people around the world that still give a shit about doing it themselves. For those who say it died "20 years" ago, that's right about when I got into the local scene and have been a supporter ever since.
I'm really tired of this line that once people "grow up" they should let go of their ideals. It is possible, to paraphrase Jello, to own the car and the house and to have the 2.5 children, but to still a give a shit.
As for the DKs music and Rock Band, it'll be pretty hilarious if Triumph of the Swill is used. There's some conflicting messages if I've ever seen/heard 'em.
Folks need to take a look at Henry Rollins take on "selling out."
He gets flak for doing blockbuster movies (Heat, Bad Boys 2), but he tries to roll his payment into doing something artistic and worthwhile. One in particular I can think of is the re-release of the "Gang of Four" catalog.
Selling out isn't the end of the world. Selling out to get a house on "cribs", fifteen cars, and an empty life is.
WWJD? Can you hear Jello screaming? I sure can...
@ stupidjerk - is your name in reference to Angry Samoans?
I'm sure that Jello Biafra was expecting his music to be bastardized by some mainstream video game when he wrote it. Just like I'm sure Dee Snider expected "We're Not Gonna Take It" to one day be played in the background of a birth control commercial, haha. The two musicians are hardly comparable, but c'mon, cash rules everything, even for jaded anarcho-punks.
Hey Grimshaw, did you catch DKs at Le Rendezvous with the Cro-Mags? Kind of late in the day (what was it, '85?), but a good show nonetheless. I think I permanently damaged my right ear though.
Howdy, Flying Orca - sadly, no - first show was SNFU, Crown of Thorns, and Honest John at Le Rendezvous in '89. I've heard many stories of the Cro-mags laying waste to Wellingtons when they played there in '86 or so. Were you around in the Personality Crisis / Stretch Marks days? Did you hear that a local label, War on Music, re-issued Creatures for a While?!
#11 one does not "stay punk". It's a philosophy, not an identity.
how long will you "stay into" boingboing?
Iggy Pop didn't hear punk was dead, still diving in after 61 years.
The Dead Kennedys recordings are hardly the first music that started out as a call to revolution and wound up being used as an innocuous background track. It won't be the last, either, so get used to it. All the rocks get tumbled together and their rough edges smoothed away by successive waves hitting the beach.
Roger Krueger @60, that photo was reproduced without permission by almost every venue that reviewed Live on Broadway 1984, and was likewise reproduced without permission by other venues that published articles about the Dead Kennedys. Book jackets and album covers work that way. Cropping the image in order to reproduce a smaller portion of it is within the rules.
Do you mean to go after the (at least three) sites that offer it as downloadable wallpaper?
Foetusnail: Thanks for that. We're lucky he still wants to be our dog. =D
Waterlillygirl has it right. Guitar Hero and Rock Band are both just distribution channels for music. Why wouldn't you want your fans to play along, or for new people to be exposed to your work? The royalties thing thing is shitty, but god knows it wouldn't be the first time in music, or even punk rock that someone has screwed someone else over money. Whether or not a song is released through a game is not going to change that.
Now where are my Black Flag, Minor Threat and Cro Mags expansion packs?
"The Dead Kennedys recordings are hardly the first music that started out as a call to revolution and wound up being used as an innocuous background track."
Theresa, that may be true but it's still aggravating. We can get used to it, but there's also nothing wrong with being irked by it and saying so when it happens. I don't think I will get used to it, actually, cause the next step I fear would be not caring about it anymore.
grimshaw, i was a punk in '78 when i first saw iggy and the stooges w/ the new york dolls when i was 17, and i still carry the ethos. however, punk as a musical movement died when it hit the mainsteam, nearly 20 years ago. i didn't say that those musicians don't turn out good rockin shit. just that most have moved on to other things. and the crap that gets called 'punk rock' these days, ain't. i still listen to most of the bands i listened to then: the ramones, replacements,the damned, ch.3, mission of burma, pere ubu, iggy, dks, even anti nowhere league, and black flag et al. i even go see them when their aging asses come to town ( except i went to jello's spoken word as opposed to the most recent incarnation of dks). so i guess what i'm trying to say here is :" fuck you." in the nicest way possible.
Minty- that is hilarious.
BobaFett- if they would do a rockband for Wesley Willis I would totally get the system.
I have not played a video game in over 20 years, but the music ones actually look pretty fun and I might try to hook that up.
Mintphresh - in terms of the stuff that gets called "punk rock" if you're talking about the shit we see on MTV and major labels then I'd have to agree with you. That said, there are tonnes of punk kids and punk grown ups alike out there making punk music with a punk ethos - some good rockin' shit to boot. What I was trying to say is that even though punk died for you at some point, it's still alive and evolving for someone else. Cheers.
grimshaw, cheers ! gimme some band names, and i will check them out. FTW!
Minty: I'd add to that list the Pistols, PIL, Gang Of Four, The Fall, Flipper, Chrome, Television, The VU, Bauhaus, Joy Division, The Clash, X, etc. -All still in my eclectic current rotation but sadly haven't made any new music in any reincarnation that doesn't pale in comparison in the last 20 years.
Bauhaus and The Stooges get pretty high marks for trying though. Gang Of Four played an awesome show when they reformed, albeit with all the old faves.
There is always an exception though. Fishbone are still kickin' it pretty punk rock after all these years. "Bubble Punk", however, ain't a genre, it's a contradiction of terms.
Grimshaw: Bring it. Please point to anyone who's been breaking any new ground in the genre in the last two decades and not just re-hashing old glory or going for screamer shock value.
I think Wesley Willis tracks would actually be pretty easy in Rock Band- step one: program casio beat. That being said, I'd love to belt out a version of Cut the Mullet with my friends.
Take your ass to the barber shop! Tell the barber that you are sick of looking like an asshole!
For those of you lamenting the death of punk rock, there are still good bands out there, probably even in your neighborhood, but you won't see them on TV or hear them on the radio. In Toronto there's a band called Fucked Up that is actually starting to get some attention nationally and in the US. The shows of theirs that I've been to have been some of the most punishing punk shows I've seen in years. If they come to your town, either go see them or flee the area.
Hey Mintphresh - here's a quick list of some current (and some recently disbanded) punk bands that I personally dig:
Regulations: http://www.havocrex.com/store/customer/search.php?substring=regulations
The Briefs (and the more recent power pop band, Cute lepers):
http://www.byorecords.com/index.php?page=one_band&aid=20&albumid=100092
Fucked Up
http://www.jadetree.com/bands/artist/fucked_
The Buff Medways
http://www.theebillychildish.com/buffmedway.htm
A couple good labels to check out are Grave Mistake and No Way Records (lots of bands with an early/mid-eighties U.S. hard core sound). That's just a few off the top of my head. take care, maybe something there you'll dig!
Correction: you may actually see Fucked Up on TV. Here's a clip they shot in the men's room of MTV Canada:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqsdSti02gQ
Grimshaw, don't worry too much, some other pissed off obnoxious kids will come along and start the whole thing over. Many were not fond of the Le Spectre Paganini's fans, Frankie's bobby soxers, and they thought even less of Elvis's fans, the Beatles, etc... all threats to civilization.
Another recommendation (although I think they may have broken up):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCsOgVPpfpY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UFqg7sijto
The Tyrades, "Chicago's first and only punk band"
These days I only really get into a punk band if they have a good live show.
Boba Fett Diop - Yes! - Fucked Up are raging.
Phikus - Yowch. I think that's the first time I've been asked for it to be brought. But anyhow, check them out (Fucked Up), they're pretty cool.
NoMeansNo's records have consistently pushed the boundaries of punk over the last 30 or so years that they've been playing.
Likewise for the Dutch group The Ex - 30+ years and still pretty musically challenging.
Sometimes re-hashing shit is okay if your hearts in it. You might not like it though - I can't help that.
Also, the last couple of Mission of Burma's sure held up to their early records.
Grimshaw: Well, you know, you bring it, Minty brings it, I bring some of it. Then we all enjoy it and have a party with it. =D
I look forward to checking out your recommendations (but then again I'm also looking forward to death.) Like I said, there are always exceptions. Thanks!
Phikus - Speaking of Forward to Death, NoMeansNo do an incredible (imo) accapella version of it on the Alternative Tentacles 100th release compilation album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSezVb2tQug
Cheers!
phikus, lol! the band i was in in college used to do covers of flipper( sex bomb), bauhaus( bela lagosi), x( blue spark), joy division(sister ray, transmission), VU( femme fatale, sweet jane), PIL(fff), and the clash( brand new cadillac)! along with some alex chilton( no sex, teenaneenanoo), brian eno( babies on fire), the replacements( skyway, the regular, run it) and a special version of neil young's 'hurricane'. along with our own crappy stuff. grimshaw, the last M.O.B. disc i heard was "onoffon", and it was good, but i don't think it even came close to their early e.p. and 1st album. nomeansno and the ex are great bands, but i don't really consider them "punk" although u r right about me being old and jaded. will have to check out "fucked up' and "the buff medways", and will letchas know what i think. not that anyone gives a rat's ass.
Hey, Klaus Fluoride looks like he's playing a Traynor Monoblock head.
Sorry Canadian Gear nerd over here.
Grimshaw: That's a mighty fine acapella cover! Reminds me of a punk acapella version of the Hawaii-Five-0 theme I used to have on a mix tape a friend gave me. I can't remember who did it (anyone out there recall?)
Minty: That sounds like fun! First band I ever played in was Three Day Stubble out of Houston, originally.
Btw, Sister Ray is actually a VU tune. JD covered it pretty well though.
Grimshaw: The Regulations: Not bad. I could listen to them regularly. ;D
The Briefs: The brief bits of their stuff I heard did not impress me. Now I need to be de-briefed.
Your link to Fucked Up is fucked up.
Boba: I've gotta say I'm diggin' those Tyrades links. Wasn't too impressed by Fucked Up though. It's gotta do more than simply have attitude for me, so after the fact.
Austin's had it's share of post-punk glory too. On July 4th, '86 I played with a band called Rint Zykle & The Speed Queens that opened for The Butthole Surfers, The Dicks, and The Big Boys at the historic Ritz Theater. I still have the scars. =D
Oh, and Grimshaw, have you got a direct link to any Buff Medways' music to be heard? Thanks.
Phikus - The Big Boys and The Dicks!! That must have been some show. Did you ever catch a band from thereabouts (but earlier) called The Huns? I have a live album of theirs, pretty awesome stuff.
Phikus,
When 350+ pounds of Pink Eyes comes flying at you through the pit and you don't even care because you're already losing your mind, you'll get a better feel for Fucked Up (see them live!). Apparently they caused a near-riot at SXSW last year. They have a reputation and it is deserved.
Aubin-Thanks. I have seen "We Jam Econo", and I enjoyed it very much. I must have missed the part you mentioned, but it does cast the situation in a new light for me.
Boba Fett Diop- What about the Effigies and Naked Raygun for Chicago punk? Articles of Faith?
I'm enjoying this conversation, but I can admit I'm too old for a mosh pit. Los Crudos had a reunion not long ago, I hear.
Grimshaw: Indeed it was an experience. (R.I.P Biscuit.) I remember the Huns but never caught them live. I'll see if I can find any of their stuff.
Boba: If I do, I'll make sure not to stand beneath the crumbling ceiling tiles! I'm allergic to those things. ;D
Anthony - I caught Los Crudos in Minot, South Dakota once. Drove about 5 hours and crossed international borders to see them. The singer Martin's later band Limp Wrist were good on vinyl too - did you happen to see them ever? I love Articles of Faith, oh man...they played here in Winnipeg in the early eighties when I was in elementary school...wish I'd seen them.
Minot, North Dakota, is what I meant to say (doh)!
I saw Los Crudos at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago in the mid-Nineties, and I was one of the old dudes there. They really were great and passionate and political. I listened to AOF in high school but never saw them. While we are digging out old flyers, I did see Big Black way back in 87.
Anthony,
Naked Raygun and the Effigies were excellent! Screeching Weasel and the Methadones too, although they were a little more pop than I like. Actually, the Tyrades called themselves "Chicago's first and only punk band" mostly to piss off Naked Raygun fans. I miss the Fireside Bowl...and Cal's Liquors.
Phikus - Sorry, missed your request: Here's some Buff Medways (and other Billy Childish projects) live and on record:
http://damagedgoods.greedbag.com/buy/medway-wheelers-1/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDtYFVXYXNo&feature=related
http://damagedgoods.co.uk/videos/367/wild-billy-childish-the-mbes-joe-strummers-grave-damgood-281
Fucked Up on record are really good too though - that's where the more groundbreaking aspects come through. There album Hidden World is really really good. Really.
Grimshaw: That's more like it. I like these Buff Medways. More mod than punk, but that's alright. Kinda like early Kinks or Who meet Jon Spencer Blues Explosion.
Now that I've checked your Joe Strummer's Grave video link I see they rip some Kinks riffs directly. Might as well. They weren't using them. Thanks for turning us on. =D
I may just have to look into your Fucked Up Hidden World.
#58 posted by Enormo
Yes. I am punk. Go *#$%&! yourself.
@#68 mcgringostarr:
"one does not "stay punk". It's a philosophy, not an identity."
Okay. What is its philosophy? I thought it was a rock 'n roll variant. I had no idea you guys had a philosophy, I mean other than yelling "Fuck you" a lot. But a philosophy? Wow, that's impressive.
how long will you "stay into" boingboing?
About ten more minutes. yawn. It's bedtime.
all I understood about punk is it came from people who were told they couldn't afford a life and decided to have one anyway.
Ah, kind of like the Beats. We too were told there was only one game and one set of rules, so we created our own. We also seem to have the same all-purpose motto: *#$%&!
the beats and the punks had much in common. youth fed up with the status quo. kinda like dada for music.
Yeah, I keep waiting for the next generation to come up with something new and radical to make their parents ears bleed and all I keep hearing is more corporatized materialistic bullshit.