Jello Biafra Is Angry

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George Chen <press@alternativetentacles.com>
to George

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Mar 13 (15 hours ago)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

GREEDY ex-DKs OK SONG FOR RAPE SCENE IN NEW TARANTINO MOVIE

East Bay Ray and Co. have gone ahead and cleared a cover version of
Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck" for a brutal scene in Grindhouse, a
'double-feature' directed by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.
This is their lowest point since Levi's. I Like some of Tarnatino's
work, another place in the film might have been fine. But this goes
against everything the Dead Kennedys stands for in spades.
The scene is actually in the "Planet Terror" film directed by
Rodriguez. Tarantino himself is pointing a gun at a disabled amputee
woman's head yelling "Dance, Bitch!" as the Nouvelle Vague cover of
"Too Drunk to Fuck" plays from a boombox. The terrified woman later
"wins" by killing Tarantino, but that excuse does not rescue this at
all. I wrote every note of that song and this is not what it was meant
for.
Some people will do anything for money. I can't help but think back to
how prudish Klaus Flouride was when he objected to H.R. Giger's
painting on the "Frankenstien" poster, saying he couldn't bear to show
it to his parents. I'd sure love to be a fly on the wall when he tries
to explain putting a song in a rape scene for money to his teenage
daughter.
The deal was pushed through by a new business manager the other three
hired, Kevin Raleigh of Associated Talent Management in Hollywood
(atmlosangeles.com).
-Jello Biafra

**Please include the original message in your response**

George Chen
Publicity for Alternative Tentacles Records
PO Box 419092, San Francisco, CA 94141-9092
phn: 510.596.8981 fax: 510.596.8982
http://www.alternativetentacles.com
AIM: georgezum

Not sure why I got this, unless someone at Alternative Tentacles happened across my blog, maybe doing a search for Nouvelle Vague (I think I might've mentioned them at some point), but it's interesting nonetheless.

― Telephone thing, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 16:46 (eighteen years ago)

Interesting that Jello has forgotten the title of his own album, especially that one.

― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 16:56 (eighteen years ago)

when people get pissed off, they make typos. its a shame george didnt catch that one before sending it out.

― UncleTomfly, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 17:02 (eighteen years ago)

Kevin Raleigh is ex-Michael Stanley Band -- guess the cover of 'He Can't Love You' with Jello guesting ain't gonna happen.

― Jeff Wright, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 17:29 (eighteen years ago)

This isn't as good as when 'TDTF' was on a 'naughty songs adults only!!' compilation alongside Chubby Brown's version of 'Living Next Door To Alice' and the like

― DJ Mencap, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 17:30 (eighteen years ago)

I missed that typo the first time I read it and I wondered if you all meant it's a a rap scene instead.

― StanM, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 17:34 (eighteen years ago)

roflz at Telephone Thing handle!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 17:51 (eighteen years ago)

And why exactly did Jello lose control of his own material?

― factcheckr, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 18:02 (eighteen years ago)

shouldn't there be a rolling "Jello Biafra Is Angry" thread the same way there's a rolling "Pete Doherty Gets Arrested" thread?

― Alex in Baltimore, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 18:08 (eighteen years ago)

hahaha

I feel sorry for Jello tho. The whole DK dissolution thing is really sad.

I saw him once at 16th and Mission with some goth chick in tow.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 18:13 (eighteen years ago)

And why exactly did Jello lose control of his own material?
The other ex-Dead Kennedys wanted to sell "Holiday in Cambodia" for a Dockers commercial but Jello vetoed. So they successfully sued him him over mismanaging the music and not acting in their best financial interest. Because of typical punk business practices, no agreements were in writing, so they were able to take all the DKs records (except for one or two?) away from Alternative Tentacles and release them on another label.

― Mike Dixn, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 19:49 (eighteen years ago)

yeh they fucked him good

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 19:53 (eighteen years ago)

and don't forget Jello's beating at Gilman around the same time

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 19:53 (eighteen years ago)

i didn't know that "Too Drunk to Fuck" was some sort of righteous political statement that would be totally marred if used ironically in the irony overloaded tarantino/rodriguez joint.

plus it's a COVER.

― circa1916, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 19:55 (eighteen years ago)

"And why exactly did Jello lose control of his own material?
The other ex-Dead Kennedys wanted to sell "Holiday in Cambodia" for a Dockers commercial but Jello vetoed. So they successfully sued him him over mismanaging the music and not acting in their best financial interest. Because of typical punk business practices, no agreements were in writing, so they were able to take all the DKs records (except for one or two?) away from Alternative Tentacles and release them on another label.

Mike Dixn on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:49 PM (6 minutes ago)"

i thought there was a little something about Jello not properly paying the bandmates their royalties? i loved the band and it's a shame what's gone on these past few years, but i'm hesitant to immediately jump behind Jello on this one.

― circa1916, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:02 (eighteen years ago)

Tarantino himself is pointing a gun at a disabled amputee
woman's head yelling "Dance, Bitch!" as the Nouvelle Vague cover of
"Too Drunk to Fuck" plays from a boombox. The terrified woman later
"wins" by killing Tarantino

dude, fuck....Jello, SPOILER WARNINGS DUDE!!!!!

― marmotwolof, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:10 (eighteen years ago)

Tarantino actually being in the movie makes me much less enthusiastic about seeing it.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:13 (eighteen years ago)

as long as he's not in the part he directs it might be ok. Rodriguez always be using Q. for the rapey guy, no surprise there.

― marmotwolof, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:16 (eighteen years ago)

i want him to play a guy who has a foot fetish.

― circa1916, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:17 (eighteen years ago)

"i thought there was a little something about Jello not properly paying the bandmates their royalties?"

There was. And he lost the lawsuit and the appeal so I am inclined to believe that the bandmates (Dockers ad or no) probably had a valid complaint in there somewhere.

― Alex in SF, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:19 (eighteen years ago)

Jello's beating at Gilman was about 7 years before any of this happened.

― Colonel Poo, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:34 (eighteen years ago)

Did Jello really write EVERY note of that song?
I'm pretty sure Klaus penned the F# in the 26th measure.....

― m0stlyClean, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:40 (eighteen years ago)

Jello was also making money off of DK releases and the rest of the band weren't. So ... who cares?

Old guys crying about music they made 20+ years ago bores me. Especially when they made money for most of that time. But then again ... he is one of those guys who think their opinions are so interesting that they need to do "spoken word" "performances."

spoken word = talking
performance = you gotta do something

maybe it'd be a performance if like ... there was a tightrope involved.

― Cameron Octigan, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 20:43 (eighteen years ago)

Sometimes he dresses like a cop.

― Mike Dixn, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 21:46 (eighteen years ago)

I doubt very much that Jello is a rich man

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 21:49 (eighteen years ago)

He's a pretty nice guy

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 21:50 (eighteen years ago)

I became dubious when Jello claimed (in court) to have taught all the DKs their parts for the songs by whistling them - thereby explaining how somebody who doesn't read/write music could have been credited for all of it.

He's still a nice guy though, and most of what he rants about is at least accurate.

― sleeve, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 23:39 (eighteen years ago)

Thanks guys, I just wanted to stir up some shit.

There's a lot of grey area here, and none of us really know WTF is happening between those guys, so I think it's not a good idea to take any of it at face value. No one I know is a saint, after all...

Craig Gray (Negative Trend/Toiling Midgets) always said that Jello turned up in SF and wanted to be in a band but could hardly play the guitar at all. I'm not a DKs fan but I gotta admit that they were really very very good technicians. Maybe not as proficient as the Bad Brains, but certainly had way more chops than most H/C bands. Suffice to say that I doubt he wrote all their music... I could easily be wrong though, after all Van Vliet apparently composed all the parts for the Magic Band...

I always liked Jello BTW, but insisted on calling him Eric, just to see him turn pink. God, is his speaking voice annoying though.

― factcheckr, Thursday, 15 March 2007 00:15 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, I share the general reaction that this is all just sad.

But Jello, time to get a new band, already! Forget about these guys!

― Soukesian, Thursday, 15 March 2007 00:47 (eighteen years ago)

his last album with the melvins was v v good

― chaki, Thursday, 15 March 2007 00:55 (eighteen years ago)

His speaking voice reminds me of Frasier Crane (or Kelsey Grammer, I'm unsure of where one stops and the other begins)

― DJ Mencap, Thursday, 15 March 2007 09:54 (eighteen years ago)

I Like some of Tomatorino's
work, another place in the film might have been fine. But this goes
against everything the Stealer's Wheel stands for in spades.
The scene is actually in the "Reservoir Dogs" film directed by
whoever. Blokey himself is pointing a knife at a tied-up
cop's head yelling "things" as the original of "Stuck in the Middle with You"
plays from a radio. The terrified cop later
"loses" by getting killed by Nice Guy Eddie, but that excuse does not rescue this at
all. I wrote every note of that song and this is not what it was meant
for.
Some people will do anything for money. I can't help but think back to
how prudish Joe Egan (or was it still Billy Connolly then?) was when he objected to etc

Gerry Rafferty, if you could still change posting names...

― Mark G, Thursday, 15 March 2007 10:04 (eighteen years ago)

am i misreading this? it's a COVER of the song, right? do you even have a say over covers of your songs being used?

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 10:09 (eighteen years ago)

also i heard "holiday in cambodia" in a red robin restaurant a week or two ago. weird.

― GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ, Thursday, 15 March 2007 10:10 (eighteen years ago)

― Alex in Baltimore, Thursday, 15 March 2007 12:53 (eighteen years ago)

and don't forget Jello's beating at Gilman around the same time

What was that about?

― libcrypt, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:04 (eighteen years ago)

He was badly beaten up by skinheads/crusty punks for being a "sell-out rock star" at a Fixtures gig around 93/94. Got both his legs broken I think.

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:22 (eighteen years ago)

yeah I'm pretty sure songwriters (or at least the owners of the copyrights, a la Michael Jackson putting Beatles songs in ads) have the final say or at least a say in the use of a cover song in a movie or whatever, not just the performer.

you can cover a song without permission, and even put it out on a record (as long as you pay the mechanical royalties to the rights holders). but if you want to include the song in a movie (even a cover), they are called "dramatic rights" and the songwriter/composer can deny you permission.

I think the dk's last legal judgment on rights was that jello can't kibosh any licensing deal if it would be in the partnership's best financial interest? so it's kind of sad that he's effectively lost control of where his work gets used, especially when he's highly sensitive to this stuff, then again the dk story seems like wrongs on all sides...

― Edward III, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:07 (eighteen years ago)

for a long time I've thought that plastic surgery disasters would be an incredible instrumental record. if you listen to it and imagine jello's voice gone, it's like a great lost surf-punk album. agree those guys had mad chops. they release an instumental version to make me happy and piss jello off.

― Edward III, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

"they should release an instrumental version", dur

― Edward III, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:11 (eighteen years ago)

I think Jello rocks and it saddens me to see Dead Kennedy tours without him however in my opinion based on what I do know, Jello brought this all upon himself by being inflexible with regard to the other band members very legitimate concerns.

It's one thing for somkeone to donate all of their money to charity. When they start donating YOUR money to charity - especially causes you don't necessarily agree with - I think you have a right to get a bit uppity.

― NYCNative, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:19 (eighteen years ago)

There were some pretty iffy rulings in the court case I seem to recall - something about Jello not promoting the back catalogue properly by not advertising it and selling the albums at a lower price than current releases - that seemed really strange - doesn't it mean that any artist whose catalogue is out of print or mid price could sue their label for lack of promotion?

― Colonel Poo, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:22 (eighteen years ago)

re: promotion; in and of itself not a big deal but it was probably a contributing factor to the larger argument that jello was not representing the group's best interests. plus courts tend to look at things through lenses of monetary gain = good, pricing your stuff below market value might be interpreted as the act of a madman.

sometimes when I read back my own posts I get the impression that english is my second language. me write good.

― Edward III, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:27 (eighteen years ago)

[Removed Illegal Link]

― NYCNative, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:32 (eighteen years ago)

Sigh...

http://www.phillaw.com/html/dkappeal.html

― NYCNative, Thursday, 15 March 2007 16:33 (eighteen years ago)

Dead Kennedys respond to Jello Biafra's claims regarding the use of their
song "Too Drunk to Fuck" in the Quentin Tarantino movie “Grind House"

Another year, another misleading public claim by the ever striving for
attention Jello Biafra. While we would have preferred not to jump back into the
fray, we felt it was warranted to make a public response due to
Jello publicly giving away key scene points and false information for a
movie that Tarantino’s fans are eagerly awaiting.

In his statement, he included mention of the preteen daughter of one of the other band members. His
public comments show that he is more interested in casting himself as
a martyr rather than having any regard for women's or children's rights.
It also shows that he has no regard for the safety of a child. As usual, it's all about Jello.

Contrary to Jello claiming all the writing credit for himself, East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro also contributed to this song. Jello did not write “every note of that song," that was proven in a court of law, when he was found guilty of fraud, and strains credibility. http://www.phillaw.com/html/dkappeal.html <http://www.phillaw.com/html/dkappeal.html>

On a final note, JELLO is getting paid EXTREMELY WELL, and we challenge him
to put his money where his mouth is and donate his share to a woman's
cause, if he is truly concerned with the issue.

We hope that everyone goes out and sees “Grind House” and supports indie film
makers and musicians everywhere!

― covert pr, Monday, 19 March 2007 04:58 (eighteen years ago)

lol @ grindhouse being called "indie"

― latebloomer, Monday, 19 March 2007 05:01 (eighteen years ago)

Indie is as indie does! Er...

― marmotwolof, Monday, 19 March 2007 05:32 (eighteen years ago)

dude needs to do a concept album with roger waters, or something. it would be so PERFECT (and probably unlistenable).

― Eisbaer, Monday, 19 March 2007 05:42 (eighteen years ago)

haha, i think a TS: Roger Waters v. Jello Biafra (or even a TS: David Gilmour v. East Bay Ray) might not be a bad idea.

― Eisbaer, Monday, 19 March 2007 05:45 (eighteen years ago)

that press release from covert pr reads like it was written by a fox news intern.

First off, Biafra was not "found guilty of Fraud"
It was a lawsuit that he lost, not a criminal trial.

Secondly, Biafra only brought up Flouride's kid to prove how Flouride's mores change when $$$ is involved -- and nothing in the rebuttal refutes that.

Pathetic. Dear DK Scabs, Yes - you were a good band, and if I could have ignored the clown you had singing for you from courtship of eddie's father onstage - I'd agree that you put on a decent facismile of a DK show. But stop kidding yourselves. The only reason ANYONE EVER CARED ABOUT YOU is BIAFRA. He and he alone provided the star power that gets covers of your shit in Tarantino movies. So stop acting put upon. It's fucking old.

― UncleTomfly, Monday, 19 March 2007 19:23 (eighteen years ago)

the only reason ANYONE EVER CARED ABOUT YOU is BIAFRA.

klaus guitar > jello voice

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Monday, 19 March 2007 19:33 (eighteen years ago)

klaus played bass. you might have meant that, though.

― sleeve, Monday, 19 March 2007 19:49 (eighteen years ago)

errr did he?

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Monday, 19 March 2007 20:03 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, also clarinet on Plastic Surgery.

― sleeve, Monday, 19 March 2007 20:05 (eighteen years ago)

"that press release from covert pr reads like it was written by a fox news intern."

Your response reads more Fox News-y to me, frankly.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 19 March 2007 20:26 (eighteen years ago)

jon, you thinkin of east bay ray

― marmotwolof, Monday, 19 March 2007 20:47 (eighteen years ago)

yes

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude ‫茄蕃‪, Monday, 19 March 2007 20:53 (eighteen years ago)

KURT RUSSELL IS DEATH PROOF

― sexyDancer, Monday, 19 March 2007 21:01 (eighteen years ago)

"scene points"

― 31g, Monday, 19 March 2007 21:17 (eighteen years ago)

The whole typo/botched album name ref in that "publicity release" is LOLZ.

― Steve Shasta, Monday, 19 March 2007 21:51 (eighteen years ago)

Alex,
waldorf and statler demand a royalty.

― UncleTomfly, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 00:43 (eighteen years ago)

We hope that everyone goes out and sees “Grind House” and supports indie film
makers and musicians everywhere!

Oh, we'll be there... in Dockers!

― naus, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 03:42 (eighteen years ago)

Klaus Flouride

― Bimble, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 03:57 (eighteen years ago)

Solo albums I mean...anyone got anything to say about that?

― Bimble, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 03:58 (eighteen years ago)

lol @ "Eric"

― am0n, Tuesday, 20 March 2007 04:26 (eighteen years ago)

two years pass...

http://blog.albumartexchange.com/assets_c/2009/09/jellob-audaci-thumb-400x400-1713.jpg

― Your Favorite Saturday Night Thing (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 21 October 2009 01:06 (sixteen years ago)

i saw him a couple weeks ago at a show - he was eating nachos and seemed content.

― sarahel, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 01:24 (sixteen years ago)

For a second I thought you were describing the show: "Jello Biafra, Eating Nachos."

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 01:25 (sixteen years ago)

so you don't have to...

― Mark G, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 01:33 (sixteen years ago)

The new stuff sounds great, and I was sorry to miss him when he toured the UK. Good to see him back doing what he does best.

― Soukesian, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 11:36 (sixteen years ago)

eating nachos?

― Zeno, Wednesday, 21 October 2009 11:39 (sixteen years ago)

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