Part of an irregular series of bite-sized posts about 7″ singles I own – shameless nostalgia from the days of vinyl. (Search ‘Backtracking’ to collect the set!)
DEAD KENNEDYS – California Über Alles b/w The Man With The Dogs (Fast, 1979)
I vividly remember the night I thought I had witnessed the death of Jello Biafra. Thanks to the miracles of the internet I can say for sure that the date was 8th October 1980 and the venue was the Music Machine in Camden Town, London (now the Koko). The net even tells me what the setlist was (the relatively lacklustre B-side was apparently the first song they played that night).
What I remember most about the concert was the moment that Biafra dove recklessly into the mosh pit and seemed as if he was not going to emerge. The docile bouncers eventually prized him free but for a moment it looked as if he was going to suffer a similar fate to Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in Patrick Süskind’s novel Perfume (i.e. torn limb from limb). Continue reading
