Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables explained

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Type:	studio
Artist:	Dead Kennedys
Cover:	Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables cover.jpg
Alt:	A black-and-white photograph of a burning car outdoors at night. In the upper-left corner are the words "Dead Kennedys" in Gothic script.
Recorded:	May–June 1980
Studio:	Möbius Music in San Francisco
Length:	33:03
Label:	Cherry Red, Alternative Tentacles, Faulty Products, Manifesto
Producer:	Norm and East Bay Ray
Next Title:	In God We Trust, Inc.
Next Year:	1981

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was first released on September 2, 1980, through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom, and I.R.S. Records in the United States. It was later issued by Jello Biafra's own Alternative Tentacles label in the United States. It is the only Dead Kennedys studio album to feature drummer Bruce Slesinger and (on one track) guitarist Carlo Cadona.

Recording and release

The photo on the front cover, showing several police cars on fire, was taken during the White Night riots of May 21, 1979, that resulted from the light sentence given to former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White for the murder of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. When Biafra ran for mayor, one of his policies had been for a statue to be erected to Dan White, and for eggs, tomatoes and stones to be available nearby for pelting it.^[1] In addition, the band's version of "I Fought the Law" has rewritten lyrics making reference to the incident.

Reception

Among contemporary reviews, Jon Young of Trouser Press found that the style and content of the album derived from the Sex Pistols and "will sound dated to the trend-conscious", but concluded that the album "may be the only legitimate companion piece to the Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks."^[2] Young concluded that the album "works largely because of Jello Biafra, a distinctive and remarkable singer" who "thrives on extreme attitudes." Andy Gill of NME compared the album to music by the British punk group U.K. Subs, writing that Dead Kennedys "hardly come across as anything but smarter, both musically and intellectually ... Despite [the Dead Kennedys'] grasp of dynamics and their highly-ordered arrangements, there's really only one track here which makes effective use of their mannerisms and devices, and that's 'Holiday in Cambodia', already available in single form, and probably the biggest (musical) reason for this album's presence in the charts."^[3] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice stated that he found Biafra poor as a vocalist, likening his singing to Tiny Tim's.

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.^[4] In 2013, NME ranked it at number 365 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[5]

Release variations

• The original back cover featured a found photograph of an old lounge band called Sounds of Sunshine, with Dead Kennedys' logo pasted onto the drum kit and skulls and crossbones spliced onto their instruments. The original photograph, as found by Flouride at a garage sale,^[6] had no identifying remarks on it whatsoever, and was used because the band thought it was "hilarious". Somehow, Warner Wilder, the former vocalist of the defunct lounge band, learned of the photo and threatened to sue Dead Kennedys.^[7] The back cover was reprinted with the heads of the band members cut off, but this solution was found to be unsatisfactory to Sounds of Sunshine, forcing an entirely different photo of four old people in a living room (with the Alternative Tentacles bat mascot pasted over a picture frame).^[8] When Cleopatra Records reissued Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables in 2002, the original unbeheaded lounge band picture reappeared.^[9] The 25th Anniversary "Deluxe Reissue" co-released by Cherry Red Records and Manifesto Records in 2005 used the old people photograph, but with Dead Kennedys' logo substituted for the Alternative Tentacles Bat.^{[10] [11]}
• Early I.R.S. pressings featured the cover tinted orange with black lettering.^[12] This cover variation was not authorized by the band. According to a late '80s interview Biafra did with Goldmine magazine, I.R.S. told the band they wanted to make the domestic version different from the Cherry Red import, to which Biafra claimed to have told I.R.S., "Yeah, inferior to the original — change it back!" During a 1981 performance at the in Washington, D.C., Biafra mentions, "Some of you stooped so low as to buy our wonderful album, even with the shitty Disneyland orange cover which was not our idea."
• Post-I.R.S., pre-Alternative Tentacles pressings on I.R.S.'s Faulty Products subsidiary added "Police Truck" to the middle of the Side A sequence, between "Let's Lynch the Landlord" and "Drug Me".^[13]
• Some Cherry Red vinyl pressings added "Too Drunk to Fuck" to the end of Side A.^[14]
• Pirate pressings of Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (as well as the next two Dead Kennedys releases, In God We Trust Inc. and Plastic Surgery Disasters) were manufactured in Italy, Spain and Portugal. According to Biafra, these pressings were manufactured by someone who retained the master parts from defunct Italian licensees and put out what Biafra described as "Clorox bottle-quality pressings". These pressings were sold by a cut-out distributor to record stores that were, in Biafra's words, "too snooty" to deal with the independent distributors that Alternative Tentacles dealt with.
• The run-out groove of the early Alternative Tentacles pressings as well as early Cherry Red pressings includes the text "Well?? Who are the Brain Police???"—a reference to the song "Who Are the Brain Police?" by the Mothers of Invention.
• Manifesto Records released a fully remixed version of Fresh Fruit in September of 2022, remixed by Chris Lord-Alge. The release, instigated by the band member partnership's manager (who had personal ties with Lord-Alge) and approved by band members Ray Pepperell, Klaus Flouride and Darren Henley (the latter of whom was not a member of the band at the time), was criticized by Biafra in a July 2022 press release.^[15] Biafra also noted that, while respecting Lord-Alge's track record, did not feel Lord-Alge was the right person to remix any Dead Kennedys material.

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Eyeballs

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Eyeballs is the accompanying 55-minute documentary, directed by Eric S. Goodfield, that is included with the Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables 25th Anniversary Edition.^[16] It features a brief history of Dead Kennedys' early years up to their first UK tour, never before seen live performances, interviews with Klaus Flouride and East Bay Ray, comments by music journalists, and insights from the key people involved with the recording of Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables. The video omits references to the origins of songs that would include a mention of Jello Biafra, although his 1979 run for mayor is highlighted.

Personnel

Dead Kennedys

• Jello Biafra – lead vocals
• East Bay Ray – lead guitar
• Klaus Flouride – bass, backing vocals
• Ted – drums

Additional performers

• 6025 – rhythm guitar on "Ill in the Head"
• Paul Roessler – keyboards on "Drug Me" and "Stealing People's Mail"
• Ninotchka (Therese Soder) – keyboards on "Drug Me", backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• Dirk Dirksen – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• Bobby Unrest – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• Michael Synder – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• Bruce Calderwood (Bruce Loose) – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• Barbara Hellbent – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• HyJean – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• Curt – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"
• Chi Chi – backing vocals on "Chemical Warfare"

Production

• Norm – production
• East Bay Ray - production
• Oliver DiCicco and John Cuniberti – engineering, mixing
• Kevin Metcalfe; Paul Stubblebine - mastering
• Judith Calson – front cover photography
• Winston Smith – artwork
• Annie Horwood – artwork
• Jello Biafra - artwork

Charts

Chart (1980)! scope="col"

Peak position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)^[17]	98
UK Indie Chart^[18]	2

Sales

In 2010, it was certified diamond by the Independent Music Companies Association which indicated sales of at least 250,000 copies throughout Europe.^[19]

Further reading

• Book: Draper, Jason. A Brief History of Album Covers. Flame Tree Publishing. London. 2008. 218–219. 9781847862112. 227198538.

External links

• Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)

Notes and References

1. News: Silvers . Emma . November 4, 2014 . 35 Years Ago Today, Jello Biafra Came In Fourth In the S.F. Mayoral Race . . USA . August 5, 2017 . August 5, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170805180837/https://archives.sfweekly.com/shookdown/2014/11/04/35-years-ago-today-jello-biafra-came-in-fourth-in-the-sf-mayoral-race . dead .
2. Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (IRS SP70014) . . June 1981 . November 1, 2016 . Young . Jon . subscription . Rock's Backpages.
3. Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables; UK Subs: Crash Course . . September 27, 1980 . November 1, 2016 . Gill . Andy . subscription . Rock's Backpages.
4. Book: Robert Dimery. Michael Lydon. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. March 23, 2010. Universe. 978-0-7893-2074-2.
5. http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/nme_500_greatest_albums_2013.htm Rocklist.net NME: The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time : October 2013
6. Ogg, Alex. (2014). Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables: The Early Years. p. 119. .
7. George Gimarc, Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970–1982. San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005.
8. Jello Biafra interview with Goldmine magazine, February 1989, reproduced at AlternativeTentacles.com
9. Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, Los Angeles/San Francisco/London: Cleopatra Records/Decay Music/Cherry Red Records, 2002
10. Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables: 25th Anniversary Edition Los Angeles: Manifesto Records, 2005.
11. Neither the 2002 nor the 2005 editions of Fresh Fruit ... were done with the consent or participation of Jello Biafra; various interviews and press releases issued by Biafra stated that the singer/songwriter did not receive royalties from the 2002 edition, possibly due to the legal battle between Biafra and the rest of the band.
12. Ep023: Dead Kennedys Klaus Flouride Interview & The Story of the "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables" LP. The Vinyl Guide. Nate Goyer. March 14, 2016. 16:06. October 7, 2020.
13. Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, Los Angeles: Faulty Products, 1982.
14. Dead Kennedys, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, London: Cherry Red Records, ca. 1981–82.
15. News: Jello Says "Buyer Beware" On DKs Fresh Fruit Remix Album. Alternative Tentcles Records. Jello Biafra. July 12, 2022. October 27, 2022.
16. Web site: Schiller . Mike . Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (Special 25th Anniversary Edition) . PopMatters . November 29, 2005 . October 7, 2020.
17. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 85.
18. Book: Lazell, Barry . Indie Hits 1980–1989 . Cherry Red Books . 1997 . September 5, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110605132747/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/d.htm . June 5, 2011.
19. Web site: Color. impalamusic.org. December 15, 2017. August 14, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170814015751/http://www.impalamusic.org/arc_static/docum/04-press/2009/PR%20-%2020100127.htm. dead.