Dead Kennedys

Original Photo: Montecruz Foto

40 years since they formed, and 35 years since they first toured Australia, Dead Kennedys remain an over-the-top live act guaranteed to cause chaos at every show. Back in the beginning, they were the first West Coast American Punk act to make an international impression, and the only one to impact in the UK, where they hit the Top 40.

They were hugely influential on the broader Australian alternative scene at the start of the ‘80s, with their early single “Holiday In Cambodia” and first album “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables“ selling by the truckload, and the subsequent single “Too Drunk To F***” becoming news when it was banned. Dead Kennedys prompted police raids here and a level of outrage that surpassed even that aimed at the Sex Pistols half a decade earlier.

NOVEMBER 2018