It's not Punk Rock Tuesday until you take a 'Holiday In Cambodia'.
Posted over 4 years ago
Manifesto Records notes that Holiday in Cambodia, released in 1980, "is perhaps the band's definitive moment - a perfect mix of hilarious yuppie-baiting lyrics and evil-sounding music. Almost as essential were "Kill The Poor" (1980) and "Too Drunk To Fuck" (remarkably, a British Top 40 single in 1981), and the debut LP, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980). That LP went on to be awarded a Gold Record in Britain". Manifesto Records (the L.A. based independent label) released the entire Dead Kennedy's catalogue in 2001:http://www.manifesto.com/dead_kennedys.htm?v=glance&s=musicOfficial site:http://www.deadkennedys.com/index.htm
Cody B says
I used to work for Manifesto's distributor. Fresh Fruit actually went Gold in the uS this year,too. Taking 27 years to go Gold is Punk Rock!
ciphermedia says
I remember this album coming out in my last year at high school. After we finished our exams, a group of about eight or ten of us rented a house down the coast. We surfed lots, drank lots of beer, smoked too many joints and jumped around the house to the tune of this album, which was on constant rotation all week. Didn't really follow the DKs after that, but this one has a firm place in my memory.
Girlcrawl says
ciphermedia - what exultant fun; glad your mind could so firmly wrap around the experience!
Jonh - will not reveal your DK soft spot to another living soul, and yes 'hammer a riff' and 'swing' they do; cheers!
soulrocket says
DK is an evergreen. every generation of punk rockers embrace their albums as if it was the holy bible. the stuff mr. biafra made in the 90’s was fun too. i cant help to feel all righteous when I listen to any of their tracks. Good post, girlcrawl.
Marigold says
I am going to say that not only is the song bitchin. How bout that cover? Is that not the coolest record cover? It is so punk rock. I wish I could relate to everyones love of DK. This was a little before my time and I just never got around to them. Of coarse I am generally familiar with em and respect their legacy. Leave it to Girlcrawl to give us traditional blues one day and then DK the next....you are such a music hussy! :P
Girlcrawl says
soulrocket - Amen, and I'll toss in a Hail Mary to boot (thought those LP's were holy relics) - Jello did continue with some great output; cheers!
Marigold - coming back to you - did you just call me a hussy:)?
doombilly - always wondered how many punksters really discerned what POL POT referred to or the backstory/statement if you will; cheers!
And now to clarify kiddies (history lesson ensues): "Having been directly and indirectly responsible for the physical elimination of about one-third of the Cambodian population during his stay in power, Pol Pot is today regarded as one of the five worst mass-murderers of modern history, along with Belgium's King Leopold II, Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, and Mao Zedong." - courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot
I am - glad you likey!! Cheers mate.
TheManglnBlack - Mine too, and thanks for dropping in and listening/commenting!
Girlcrawl says
Ah Marigold - you are fab, and I shall wear my 'Hussy' musical badge with honour!! Thank you for always leaving such generous comments; it's ever a delight to read because I never know what the hell you are going to say (type). And yes, that cover is very 'punk rock' - see, told you I had more for you. Cheers mate!
Marigold says
You should wear that badge with pride. The way you shamelessly jump from music genre to genre. Don't get down on yourself.....I am a music pimp pedling my goods to whoever wants em. It is a dirrrty (shameless Christina Agiulara reference) job but someone has to do it. Hey! Maybe you could be my music hussy? oh wait, you have shown me such wonderous music, maybe I have it backwards? You are my music pimp and I am the hussy? Or maybe we are both both. We are music hussypimps. Or should we be pimphussys? What a dilema.
...waiting for further instruction.
....see what you get for encouraging me? oye.
Mike the Knife says
Woo! What a track! What an anthem! BTW, I ran into Biafra his own self last night in San Fran. He's still feisty after all those years. It was at the first of two concerts in Dirk Fest, memorializing the late producer of the legendary Mabuhay Gardens punk shows in S.F. I will try to post a bit about the event as soon as I can.
Girlcrawl says
oceanrain - you're swell; thanks so much!
I am - Love 'maverick musical curator'; it's rather stylishly classic - I probably would not make an appropriate hussy or pimp actually. Cheers, and I have a new badge.
Mike the Knife - please do; that should be great material for a post. Hope you had a splendidly boisterous evening! Cheers, and glad you dropped over.
Comments (23)