Film Band: Dead Kennedys - Urgh! A Music War Fan Site

The Dead Kennedys: Formed in June 1978, after guitarist East Bay Ray (real name Ray Pepperell) advertised for band mates. The original DK lineup consisted of Jello Biafra (real name Eric Boucher) on vocals, East Bay Ray on lead guitar, 6025 (real name Carlos Cadona) on rhythm guitar, Klaus Flouride (real name Geoffrey Lyall) on bass, and Ted (real name Bruce Slesinger) on drums. Their first concert was on July 19, 1978, at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco. They played numerous shows at local venues afterwards. Because of the band's provocative name, they sometimes played under pseudonyms, including "The Sharks", "The Creamsicles", and "The Pink Twinkies". 6025 quit in March of 1979 due to musical differences, and being diagnosed with schizophrenia. In June of 1979, the band released their first single, "California Über Alles", on Alternative Tentacles. They followed with a well received east-coast tour.

On March 25, 1980, the DKs were invited to perform at the Bay Area Music Awards in front of music industry big-wigs to give the event some "new wave credibility" in the words of the organizers. The day of the show was spent practicing the song they were asked to play, the underground hit "California Über Alles". In typically subversive, perverse style, the band became the talking point of the ceremony when after about 15 seconds into the song, Biafra 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, who all wore 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 tore into the previously unheard "Pull My Strings", a barbed, satirical attack on the ethics of the mainstream music industry. As well as containing the lyrics "Is my cock big enough, is my brain small enough, for you to make me a star", the song also sent-up The Knack's biggest new wave hit, "My Sharona". The song was never recorded in the studio but this performance, the first and only time the song was ever performed, was released on the posthumous compilation album Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death... and the band was never invited to play the awards show again

THE DEAD KENNEDYS