It's hard to know where to begin with a legendary rabble-rouser like Jello Biafra (still rousing the rabble with his new band Guantanamo School of Medicine, whose White People and the Damage Done came out this year - actually, that band name and album title probably tell you a lot more about Jello than I could have come up with). Fortunately the KCMU DJs get pretty detailed in their discussion, so I think I'll leave the background to them. It's great to see an album of intensely political spoken word engender this level of discussion - and even get added to rotation! - at a radio station.
"Strangely enough (as far as I listened) no bad words. Some of this stuff is pretty intense. 'Message from Our Sponsor,' '... Space Shuttle,' 'Urinalysis is Freedom,' 'Mild Kingdom' + 'Names for Bands' are pretty to the point and not too long for airplay. The longer cuts are not to be ignored and could be edited for airplay. Audition first." "Toddcore is right. This recording was made during Jello Biafra's speaking engagements earlier this year/late in '86. I saw Jello at the UW + he was both entertaining + informative. Jello has a knack for finding the hypocrisy in restrictions on our freedoms + in the words of those who would restrict those freedoms. A good part of these performances are pretty funny to boot." "The money from sales of this LP set will be used to offset the expenses incurred by Jello in his recent censorship case." "There are some red dots but you could audition segments of those cuts and then play them safely." "Biafra, by the way, is free. The case ended with a hung jury (one that couldn't decide unanimously) and the LA District Attorney's appeal was dismissed. The DK's album Frankenchrist still contains the H.R. Giger poster that was the center of this controversy." "But don't think the problems are over yet." "I almost don't care after listening to this. Hyperbolic sloganeering has never turned me on. The man lacks imagination, and nothing on this record is as informative or provocative as any issue of R&R Confidential." "This is sad. We can't play 95% of this - and it's what this record is fighting against!" "Would've been nice to get this in rotation a little earlier, like when we welcomed him to town. Better late than never?" "Move this up. C'mon. Thought provoking. I always get encouraging calls." |
Hey, guess who I'm going to see next week in Seattle? Just guess! You'll never - oh, wait, you totally guessed My Bloody Valentine, didn't you? Dang it. Well, it's true. Some might say I'm at least 20 years too late to be seeing this influential, semi-reclusive band for the very first time, but rep…
