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Dead Kennedys Remastered, Reissued And Recorded Live

Concert disc Mutiny on the Bay will accompany new pressing of four studio LPs.

Though it sounds like an oxymoron, live Dead Kennedys is exactly what fans are going to get this fall when the band issues Mutiny on the Bay, its first official live album.

Hitting store shelves alongside the concert disc on September 11 will be reissues of the DK discs Plastic Surgery Disasters, Frankenchrist, Bedtime for Democracy and Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.

The four albums — which constitute the bulk of the San Francisco Bay Area punk band's catalog — have been out of print for nearly a year due to a legal dispute between singer Jello Biafra and his ex-bandmates East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D.H. Peligro. A December ruling held that Biafra must share control of the group's catalog with his former bandmates (see [article id="1437977"]"Ruling Resurrects Dead Kennedys Rarities"[/article]).

"All the back catalog's been remastered from the original analog tapes, and in particular Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death just sounds 10,000 times better," guitarist East Bay Ray said Thursday (July 12), referring to the Kennedys' 1987 collection of classics, B-sides, rarities and compilation tracks. "The quality is just vastly superior."

Mutiny on the Bay, which Manifesto Records will release along with the remastered studio albums, compiles material from shows in the Dead Kennedys' home turf. The bulk of it comes from two concerts in 1986, but three or four tracks are from 1982, Ray said. "It's way better than all the bootlegs I have."

Mutiny includes such DK classics as "Holiday in Cambodia," "Kill the Poor," "Too Drunk to F---" and "MTV — Get Off the Air."

"I have multi-tracks of some live shows, and over the last few years I've been listening to them and picking out the best performances," Ray said. "It's been ready for about two years, but Biafra was being difficult."

Following December's ruling, which paved the way for the reissues and the live disc, Biafra filed a motion for a new trial and said he will file an appeal.

In a statement issued via his Alternative Tentacles record label, Biafra said he opposes the release of "a subpar live album and the rest of the DK back catalog behind his back and without his permission."

"I have now had to ask them to please remove my name and likeness from all their releases and promotional material," the statement read. "Don't get me wrong, I'm as proud as ever of the Dead Kennedys and grateful for how much we mean to people, but I'm totally embarrassed by what they're trying to do."

The reissues, originally released between 1981-87 on Alternative Tentacles, were digitally remastered by John Cuniberti, who was the recording engineer for many of the Dead Kennedys' studio sessions. The remastered version of 1982's Plastic Surgery Disasters will include material from the 1981 EP In God We Trust, Inc.

Flouride has transferred 60 hours of live video material to VHS, and the strongest footage will be compiled for a video release, Ray said.

The ex-bandmates also hope to put out an album titled Live at the Death Club, featuring the Dead Kennedys' original five-piece lineup, sometime next year.

"Klaus, D.H. and I are disappointed that Jello wants to continue dragging this through the courts," Ray said. "It's time to move on to more music and less lawyers."

Mutiny on the Bay's track listing:

  • "Police Truck"

  • "Kill the Poor"
  • "Holiday in Cambodia"
  • "Moon Over Marin"
  • "California Uber Alles"
  • "MTV — Get Off the Air"
  • "Too Drunk to F---"
  • "Goons of Hazard"
  • "This Could Be Anywhere"
  • "Forward to Death"
  • "I Am the Owl"
  • "Hellnation"
  • "Riot"
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