How Jello changed my world

First, apologies for not posting more often. Things at TuneCore have gotten incredibly busy due to the overwhelming response. I eat, drink, breathe and sleep TuneCore, and I love it!

That being said, there is little to no time to do anything else and everything from reading to blog postings to having a life has suffered.

But, things are getting a bit too stale on the blog ( someone emailed us and asked if we were still in business as we had not done a blog posting since June); it's time put up new postings.

And there are some very cool things to talk about....

In my high school days I became a fan of the punk band Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles, Holiday In Cambodia and Nazi Punks Fuck Off ended up on countless mix tapes. I was fascinated by two of the band members' names - Jello Biafra (lead singer ) and Klaus Flouride (bass player). It might sound a bit nuts, but due to Jello's name I learned about the world. I had no idea what Biafra meant, or what it was, but I assumed it meant something so I looked it up.

Low and behold, Biafra was not just a word to follow the name Jello, it was ( and yes I am now copying from Wikipedia) "...a short-lived secessionist state in southeastern Nigeria. It existed from May 30, 1967 to January 15, 1970. The military's Chief of Staff formally announced capitulation on January 12. The country was named after the Bight of Biafra, the bay of the Atlantic to its south. "

The history of Biafra is a brutal and terrible one. A lot of death, war, destruction and inhumanity.

This was a bit of an epiphany for me - for the first time it really clicked with me that there was a "rest of the world" out there and it was vastly different then the United States. And as horrible as my high school angst was, and as much as I tried to look like Robert Smith and be cool, there were so many other important issues going on - like civil war, real death, torture, brutal dictators, US foreign piolicy, dead and starving people/children and other governments that were not the then Soviet Union being incredibly oppressive.

Jump ahead to my freshman year of College, and Jello once again impacted my take on the world. There I was singing Holiday In Cambodia when my friend turned to me in disbelief and said "what do you think those lyrics are?" And I said "Cold, Hot, Cold, Hot". Ted started to crack up. "No you idiot, he's saying 'Pol Pot'".

I had no idea who Pol Pot was but learned very quickly about the Killing Fields in Cambodia ( a holocaust that had the Khmer Rouge kill over 2,000,000 Cambodians). I was stunned at the slaughter and once again my vision of our world was expanded and my personal and political outlook was impacted.

Add to this Jello educating me - via his spoke word albums - about the PMRC. No clue what it is? In a nut shell, Tipper Gore ( Al Gore's wife) and a few other self described "Washington Wives" started an organization that claimed that ( Wikipedia again) "...popular music, especially rock music, was partially responsible for the (at the time) recent increase in rape, teenage pregnancy, and teen suicide. The PMRC's mission was "to educate and inform parents" about "the growing trend in music towards lyrics that are sexually explicit, excessively violent, or glorify the use of drugs and alcohol", and to seek the censorship and rating of music. "

Te PMRC had some scary bedfellow and associates including people like Phyllis Schlafly ( right wing activist that is part of the conservative religious organization the Eagle Forum) and more.

I used to play clips of Jello's spoken word albums on my college radio show discussing the impact the PMRC had not only on the Dead Kennedys but also on countless other bands. In effect, by demanding that "offensive" albums be stickered with warning labels, many nationally chain record stores stopped carrying albums someone arbitrarily deemed dangerous. And once they stopped carrying the albums, the albums could not sell. And when they could not sell, the band could not make money.

I was also astounded to learn that the Dead Kennedys, and their self run label Alternative Tentacles, were charged with peddling harmful matter to minors as their album "Frankenchrist" contained a poster by the artist Geiger that some deemed pornographic. The police actually raided Jello's house, took his stuff and he was dragged to criminal court. This went down circa 1985. I had no idea things like this actually happened in the United States.

Some years later Jello came up on my radar again when he ran for the Green Party's nomination for the President Of The USA. Nader won, but I still thought that was cool.

Segue to two weeks ago I received an email from the founder of the South Park Music Fetival & Retreat - a music conference where I am appearing on a few panels - stating Jello Biafra was also attending and appearing on a panel. I asked if I could sit on the same panel as Jello. And now I am.

I am psyched!

Here's the panel....if you come, please say "Hi"!

WHAT’S NEXT --
THE CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE OF
INDEPENDENT MUSIC?
12:15pm – 1:15pm ~ Room A

Comments

[Michael]

Incidentally, concerning war zones, I've had the opportunity to work with a number of labels in Ivory Coast (civil war for a few years already) and Lebanon (bombed to bits only a few months ago). One thing that struck me was the huge determination they still have to record and sell music in the middle og mayhem. It's a humbling experience when we complain about buses being late, the shrink-wrap being too tight or a bad review in a fanzine. It certainly gives you a bit of perspective!

[Jeff Price]

Wow - how cool is this, my father is commenting on my blog posting about the Dead Kennedys. There are so many things right about that last sentence.

No dad, we never discussed your opinion of Tipper Gore. But hey, we got this nifty blog going if you would like to educate me :)

And Mark Ray, very cool to know I was not the only one impacted by the DKs music / message. The panel was a good one, and I sat next to Jello. Man can he just draw every eyeball to him.

And Sam, things are scary. I agree with you. The most frutrating part is the "Left" allows the "Right" to exist ( for example, the ACLU will fight to the death to allow for citizens to be able to express their opinions not matter what they may be) however the "Right" has no room for the "Left". It's frustrating when you are told by a segment of the population that what you believe is wrong and then there is an attempt to have laws passed to force you to conform to what someone else's definition of "right" is.

[steph]

thanks for the reminder that the scary right have been at it for a long time. It's easy to forget that we owe todays legitimization of fundementalist belief in part to a Ronnie's admin. Sure, as he gave the fundementalists the nod way back when he may have been throwing a wink to the rest of us just to assure us he didn't really mean it. And a generation we have things like "intelligent design" actually being seriously debated... Anyway a glimmer of hope are these recently published books:

Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design - Michael Shermer;

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason - Sam Harris;

The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins


Letter to a Christian Nation - Sam Harris;

[Marky Ray]

I love the site guys, Please keep up the good work. I have been telling all my musician friends about the site, I have uploaded 10 albums and have more in the pipeline.
Jello, actually changed a lot of our worlds, their first album was a watershed moment for me as well. I was attending a small boarding school when their first album came out (I was 14 at the time) and my eyes were opened both globally and musically to what was happening around me at the time. The DK's were almost like the listening to the news or attending school. So much to learn. I am teaching College now and Punk, Jello and the DKs fit well in my lesson plans. I teach "kids" all about the Touring Production Management aspect of the rock and roll touring industry (Concert Technical Production at TRI-C in Cleveland, OH). I throw in every aspect of the DIY lessons that came out of the whole punk, college rock and indie movements of the late 1970's and 80's ( and a lot of music history as well). Here's to learning! Once again Keep up the Good Work, Peace, Sincerely,

Zenmaster Marky Ray

[Dad]

Jeff,
too bad I didn't know about your interest in the Dead Kennedys. I despised their name (for reasons that you know), but I did know their message. As for their trial, they were the Alan Ginsberg of their time.

And not for once did I agree with Tipper. Did we ever discuss it?

dad