Dear Friends,
I’m here today to share that it’s relaxing day. I’ve got a few chores I need to do, but for the most part, I’m just going to enjoy the hours dripping by. It will culminate in seeing my old buddy Bobby R. doing his thing. I’m looking forward to it.
I met Bobby in high school and briefly dated his sister my senior year. Bobby and I were not super close, but we were friends, and I always enjoyed his company. It’s crazy to think of it being almost 40 years of knowing each other. Time is a good thing.
Prior to that, though, I think Sky and I might go see a movie or something. I really want to see Deadpool/Wolverine, but that’s not a good movie for a 5th grader. We’ll figure something out, though.
*****
Yesterday was a long day. I was super tired during the day, but it was actually a really good day with my students. We are building a nice atmosphere in the classroom, and I think our year might be really special. Now I have to convince them that they like hard work.
We did do the first day of our writing project and they really seemed to dig it. I’m having them write the story of the 4th grade year a little bit at a time. At the end of the year, they will have quite a nice book about their experience. I’m going to spend the time writing, too. They seemed to like that a lot.
More to come on that front.
*****
No one ever forgets their first.
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables was my first Dead Kennedy’s record. As far as listening to the DKs goes, it’s the best place to start and I’m glad it’s where I started. From the outset of “Kill The Poor,” which features the instantly recognizable quaver in Jello Biafra’s voice, to the last notes of their excellent cover of “Viva Las Vegas,” this is one of the best half hours in punk rock history.
Sure, DH Peligro is not on drums here. The album would have been even better if he had already joined the band, but East Bay Ray (guitar) and Klaus Flouride (bass) join Biafra in being completely stellar on the DK’s debut. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is a tour de force and a force to be reckoned with, as well.
Over the years, I’ve had several favorite tracks here. I mean, “Holiday In Cambodia” kind of sits on a perch high above most punk rock songs by any band, but “Stealing People’s Mail” was a fave and so was the aforementioned “Kill the Poor.” Then, “Let’s Lynch the Landlord” was my jam for a while.
Hell, “Drug Me” and the whole first side just rules. “When Ya Get Drafted” is a scorcher and so is “Chemical Warfare.” What I know, though, is that whole record is great and I don’t listen to it enough. I got myself wrapped up in a few other DK records over the years that made me overlook my first one.
And here is my confession:
I had a blue vinyl copy of this record that I bought in 1985. It was another of the used records I bought at Zia, but this one was $4.99. I was so stoked on it. Then, in 1988, when I needed some money for trip to Rocky Point, I sold it back to Zia for $5.
I am an idiot.
Out of the vinyl that I sold to finance trips to Mexico, it ranks right up there with the ones that haunt me occasionally. When I bought it again years later, I could barely play the vinyl without feeling a terrible pang of regret. It is a sickness, I know, but record collectors will understand.
What makes the DKs special to me is the combination of talent they possessed. Biafra wrote amazing lyrics for the band and his delivery was perfect. I never got to see them live, but I kind of feel like I did and I have more regret about the record I sold than not getting to see them. They were done by the time I started going to shows, so it’s not like I passed up on them on purpose.
I can live with that.
East Bay Ray and Klaus Flouride are also amazing in my book. The bass lines on Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables make my spine tingle and the way E.B.R. blended punk rock and surf guitar still makes me smile to this day. The wildest thing, though, is that Biafra wrote almost all the songs. I’ve always been curious about how that works when his now former bandmates were such talented musicians. To be a fly on the wall of how they created those songs would have been amazing.
“Your emotions make you a monster.”
*****
See you tomorrow.
AI + DK is weird.
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