DEAD KENNEDYS – BLEED FOR ME 7″ – Nr MINT UK 1982 PUNK JELLO BIAFRA

Dead Kennedys – Bleed For Me
(Alternative Tentacles/Statik Records  1982  VIRUS23/STAT22)
UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Sleeve & Lyric Insert in Nr MINT condition

Dead Kennedys is an American hardcore punk band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk rock community, and were one of the first American hardcore bands to make a significant impact in the United Kingdom.

While they were one of the earliest, most popular and most influential of the American hardcore bands, their music was distinctive within punk rock in general, influences from of surf music, spaghetti western, psychedelic rock, garage rock and rockabilly. Jello Biafra’s biting lyrics tackled the sociopolitical concerns of the late 1970s and 1980s with a distinct sense of morbid humor and satire, following in the footsteps of such earlier rock satirists as Frank Zappa (particularly his 1960s work with The Mothers of Invention) and non-musical countercultural figures like Abbie Hoffman and Lenny Bruce.

In the mid-1980s, the band was embroiled in an obscenity trial in the United States over the artwork of their album Frankenchrist (1985), which included the explicit titular subject of H. R. Giger’s Penis Landscape. The band was charged with “distribution of harmful matter to minors”, but the trial ended with a hung jury.

Dead Kennedys released five studio albums before disbanding in 1986. In 2001, the band reformed without Biafra, who had been in a legal dispute with the remaining members over royalties.

The band played three performances in October 2010. Since the dissolution of Dead Kennedys, Biafra has continued to collaborate and record with other artists, including Mojo Nixon, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, Nomeansno, and Melvins, and has become a spoken word performer, covering political topics in particular.

Bleed for Me (B-side “Life Sentence”) was the sixth single by punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was released in July 1982 on Alternative Tentacles. The music is cold and intimidating, and the lyrics describe kidnappings and torture carried out by a secret police (presumably the Central Intelligence Agency). There follows a bridge, then the music becomes light and almost cheerful as the lyrics describe US foreign policy as utilizing murderous dictatorships to secure economic concessions that favor American corporations.

“Bleed for Me” also plays in the background of the Dead Kennedys’ song Kinky Sex (Makes the World Go ‘Round), in which an aide for the Reagan White House arranges World War III on the phone with Margaret Thatcher, who moans erotically at every new atrocity; this track may be a reference to the Thatchergate tape. The song was also performed for the film Urgh! A Music War, with a different bridge about Rosalynn Carter. During live performances with the Melvins in the 9/11-Afghanistan-Iraq War era, Jello substituted “Muslims” for “Russians” in the verse “So what’s ten million dead, if it’s keeping out the Russians?”

The song has also been covered by many bands, most notably Pearl Jam who have brought out the song for their most recent tours, substituting the lyric “cowboy Ronnie” for the more time-appropriate “cowboy Georgie”, in reference to the previous president of the United States.

The single version is different from that on Plastic Surgery Disasters.

Tracklist

Dead Kennedys

• Jello Biafra – lead vocals
• East Bay Ray – guitars
• Klaus Flouride – bass, backing vocals
• D. H. Peligro – drums