Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Studio album by the Dead Kennedys
Released	September 1980
Recorded	Möbius Music, May & June 1980
Genre	Hardcore punk
Length	33:03
Label	IRS, Alternative Tentacles
Producer(s)	Norm, East Bay Ray
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (7/10) link PopMatters (8/10) link Robert Christgau C+ link warr.org link
the Dead Kennedys chronology
	Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980)	In God We Trust, Inc. (1981)

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut album by the Dead Kennedys, released initially on Cherry Red Records in the UK in 1980 and eventually through Faulty Products in the US (later by the DKs' own Alternative Tentacles label). The best selling and generally the most critically acclaimed album by the Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables has become a major staple of American punk, a starting point for political punk. Although musical categories are difficult to define, many music historians also believe this to be the first hardcore punk album. Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables Album Cover Copyright 1980 Alternative Tentacles. ... A Studio Album is an album of regular studio recordings. ... The Dead Kennedys are a hardcore punk band from San Francisco, California. ... A music genre is a category (or genre) of pieces of music that share a certain style or basic musical language (van der Merwe 1989, p. ... Hardcore punk is a subgenre of punk rock which originated in North America in the early 1980s. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... I.R.S. Records was started in the US in 1979 by Miles Copeland (the older brother of Stewart Copeland, drummer of The Police). ... Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the performers, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes . ... Raymond Pepperell, better known as East Bay Ray, is the lead guitarist for the well known West Coast punk band Dead Kennedys. ... The All Music Guide (AMG) is a metadata database about music, owned by All Media Guide. ... Image File history File links 5_stars. ... Pitchfork logo Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork, is a U.S.-based daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. ... PopMatters is an international magazine of cultural criticism. ... Robert Christgau (sometimes abbreviated in print to Xgau), born April 18, 1942, is an American essayist, music journalist, and rock critic. ... Image File history File links 4_stars. ... The Dead Kennedys are a hardcore punk band from San Francisco, California. ... In God We Trust, Inc. ... The Dead Kennedys are a hardcore punk band from San Francisco, California. ... Faulty Products is the holding company which includes the UK record labels of Miles Copeland (the elder brother of Stewart Copeland, drummer of The Police) Includes Illegal Records, Deptford Fun City Records and others. ... Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. ... Hardcore punk is a subgenre of punk rock which originated in North America in the early 1980s. ...

Although the raw production and strident assault have dated slightly, Jello Biafra's strong leftist statements on songs such as "Kill the Poor" and "California Über Alles", launched the Dead Kennedys into the political arena. It has been widely reported that this caused the Christian right and politicians to consider the Dead Kennedys "the most dangerous band in the world". ^{[citation needed]} Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), better known by the stage name Jello Biafra, is an American punk rock musician and political activist best known as the former lead singer and song writer of the Dead Kennedys. ... It has been suggested that Conservative Christianity be merged into this article or section. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics, sometimes this may include political scientists. ...

Musically, Fresh Fruit laid the blueprint for future Kennedy's releases: loud, noisy, fast, but with a sense of dynamics and musical individualism. The surf and rockabilly-inspired riffs owe something to the Ramones' most influential recordings, drawing from early American AM pop and rehashing it in the immediate, aggressive context of punk rock. The lyrics lend a significant bite to the breakthrough of the already strident (yet surprisingly catchy) musical assault. On the original vinyl version Side A was tracks 1-7 and Side B was tracks 8-14.

Release variations

• The original back cover featured a found photograph of an old lounge band called The Sounds Of Sunshine on the back cover, with the DK's logo pasted onto the drum kit and skulls and crossbones spliced onto their instruments. The original photograph, as found by Biafra at a garage sale, had no identifying remarks on it whatsoever, and was used because the band thought it was "hilarious". Somehow Warner Wilder, the former vocalist of the defunct lounge band learned of the photo and threatened to sue the Dead Kennedys.^[1] The back cover was reprinted with the heads of the band members cut off, but this solution was found to be unsatisfactory to the Sounds of Sunshine, forcing an entirely different photo of four old ladies in a living room (with the Alternative Tentacles bat mascot pasted over a picture frame).^[2] When Cleopatra Records reissued Fresh Fruit in 2002 the original, unbeheaded lounge band picture reappeared^[3]. The 25th Anniversary "Deluxe Reissue" co-released by Cherry Red Records and Manifesto Records in 2005 used the old ladies photograph, but with the Dead Kennedys logo substituted for the Alternative Tentacles Bat^[4][5]
• Early IRS pressings included had the cover tinted orange with black lettering. This cover variation was not authorized by the band. According to a late-80's interview with Goldmine magazine, IRS told the band they wanted to make the domestic version different from the Cherry Red import, to which Biafra claimed to have told IRS, "Yeah, inferior to the original - change it back!" ^[2]
• Post-IRS, pre-Alternative Tentacles pressings on IRS's Faulty Products subsidiary added "Police Truck" to the middle of the Side A sequence, between "Let's Lynch The Landlord" and "Drug Me".^[6]
• Some Cherry Red vinyl pressings added "Too Drunk to Fuck" to the end of Side A.^[7]
• Pirate pressings of Fresh Fruit (as well as the next two Dead Kennedys releases, In God We Trust Inc. and Plastic Surgery Disasters) were manufactured in Italy, Spain and Portugal. According to Biafra, these pressings were manufactured by someone who retained the master parts from defunct Italian licensees and put out what Biafra described as "Clorox bottle-quality pressings". These pressings were sold by a cut-out distributor to record stores that, in Biafra's words, "(were) too snooty" to deal with the independent distributors that Alternative Tentacles dealt with. ^[2]
• Some copies of the first American CD pressing of Fresh Fruit by Alternative Tentacles were accidentally mislabeled at the pressing plant with a Christian radio program, a mistake discovered the hard way when some Christian stations played the program without screening it.

Lounge music refers to music played in the lounges and bars of hotels and casinos, or at standalone piano bars. ... Alternative Tentacles is a record label based in Emeryville, California. ... Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles based independent record label. ... Original UK 45 rpm single picture cover: The Dead Kennedys - Too Drunk To Fuck Too Drunk To Fuck was the second Dead Kennedys single to enter the UK chart, reaching No. ... In God We Trust, Inc. ... Plastic Surgery Disasters is the second album released by the Dead Kennedys. ... The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is a manufacturer of various food and chemical products based in Oakland, California, which is best known for its bleach product, Clorox. ...

Track listing

All songs written by Jello Biafra except when stated. Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), better known by the stage name Jello Biafra, is an American punk rock musician and political activist best known as the former lead singer and song writer of the Dead Kennedys. ...

1. "Kill the Poor" – 3:07
2. "Forward to Death" – 1:23 (6025)
3. "When Ya Get Drafted" – 1:23
4. "Let's Lynch the Landlord" – 2:13
5. "Drug Me" – 1:56
6. "Your Emotions" – 1:20 (East Bay Ray)
7. "Chemical Warfare" – 2:58
8. "California Über Alles" – 3:03 (Jello Biafra and John Greenway)
9. "I Kill Children" – 2:04
10. "Stealing People's Mail" – 1:34
11. "Funland at the Beach" – 1:49
12. "Ill in the Head" – 2:46 (6025)
13. "Holiday in Cambodia" – 4:37
14. "Viva Las Vegas" – 2:42 (Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman)

Kill the Poor (B-side Insight) is a single by the hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys released in October of 1980. ... Carlos Cadona, better known by his stage name 6025, was the first drummer (from June to July 1978) and later second guitarist (from July 1978 to March 1979) for the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys. ... Raymond Pepperell, better known as East Bay Ray, is the lead guitarist for the well known West Coast punk band Dead Kennedys. ... California Ãœber Alles (B-side The Man with the Dogs) was the first single by the Dead Kennedys. ... John Robert Greenway (born 15 February 1946) is a British politician, and Conservative member of Parliament for Ryedale. ... I Kill Children is the ninth song on the Dead Kennedys album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. ... Original US 45 rpm single picture cover: The Dead Kennedys - Holiday In Cambodia Holiday in Cambodia is a single by the hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys released in May of 1980. ... Viva Las Vegas (1964) is an American romantic musical motion picture starring American singer Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret. ... Doc Pomus (January 27, 1925 - March 14, 1991) was an American blues singer and songwriter, active throughout the 20th century. ... Mort Shuman (November 12, 1936 _ November 2, 1991) was an American singer and songwriter. ...

Credits

• Jello Biafra - lead vocals, artwork
• East Bay Ray - guitar, producer
• Klaus Flouride - bass, backing vocals
• Ted - drums
• 6025 - second guitar on "Ill in the Head"
• Paul Roessler - keyboards
• Ninotchka - keyboards, backing vocals
• Dirk Dirksen - backing vocals
• Bobby Unrest - backing vocals
• Michael Synder - backing vocals
• Bruce Claderwood - backing vocals
• Barbara Hellbent - backing vocals
• HyJean - backing vocals
• Curt - backing vocals
• Chi Chi - backing vocals
• Norm - producer
• Oliver Dicicco - engineer, mixer
• Annie Horwood - artwork
• Winston Smith - artwork

Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), better known by the stage name Jello Biafra, is an American punk rock musician and political activist best known as the former lead singer and song writer of the Dead Kennedys. ... Raymond Pepperell, better known as East Bay Ray, is the lead guitarist for the well known West Coast punk band Dead Kennedys. ... Geoffrey Lyall, better known as Klaus Flouride, was best known as the bassist for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys from the groups inception in June 1978 until the bands breakup in December 1986, although he also produced four solo albums during the 1980s and 1990s. ... Bruce Slesinger, better known by his stage name Ted, was the original drummer for the Dead Kennedys, from June 1978 to February 1981. ... Carlos Cadona, better known by his stage name 6025, was the first drummer (from June to July 1978) and later second guitarist (from July 1978 to March 1979) for the American hardcore punk band Dead Kennedys. ... Winston Smith (born 1952) is an artist and anarchist who primarily uses the medium of collage. ...

References and footnotes

Goldmine, established in 1974, is an American magazine that focuses on the collectors market for records, tapes CDs, and music-related memorabilia. ...

External links

• IRS Dead Kennedys page