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1981- The Dead Kennedy's Are Killing Record Industry Profits


danswift

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In 1981 the war between the major record labels and the manufacturer's of cassette tape decks was in full swing.

The record labels were 100 % steadfastly against the sale and use of any equipment that could duplicate the pre-recorded music from vinyl, other cassettes and the radio.

This logo started to appear on the inner sleeves of many albums during this period.

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Around December of 81, I went and bought The Dead Kennedy's just released In God We Trust Inc. lp in both vinyl and tape formats.(A record so good that every home should have a copy of it)

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The tape version of the record along with the classic hardcore tracks 'Nazi Punks Fuck Off ' 'Moral Majority' & 'Religious Vomit' had a very interesting feature on the B side.

The B side has been deliberately left blank for obvious home taping.

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An interesting little bit of Punk Rock history for you there and a real sign of the times back then and in my opinion nothing much has changed,theres still a war going on between the major record labels and their customers.

 

It's a shame that the record labels these days don't put this logo on the inside covers of all the new releases.

 

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On a similar tip, The Grateful Dead used to reserve a space in front of the front row seats at some of their gigs for 'home tapers'!

Yeah, true that.

 

There's a series of albums by The Dead called 'Dicks Picks' which are all taken from various fan's bootleg recordings made at their concerts.

 

I've never heard them myself mind you..The Gratefull Dead are boring as fuck in my opinion.

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Not my favourites, but I like few songs. TBH it depends what era of the band, there's a yawning chasm between where they started and where they ended up.

 

Also, music aside, they were interesting people. Wether that's terrorising record execs with acid or using their money to set up thing like the REX Foundation.

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Grateful Dead's Blues For Allah lp has a couple of good things on there but they're totally ruined by Jerry Garcia's rubbish singing which seems to come out of one of his nostrils and is as flat as a pancake.

 

They were bloody good musicians though,I will give them that.I always liked the band Hot Tuna with Jack Cassidy on the bass when it comes to listening to that sort of stuff tbh though.

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Fun fact: I've been to 5 Dead shows, but never inside. I would just lurk in the parking lot with paper on my tongue, skate around and do maneuvers, telling people to give me their money while holding a plastic knife.

 

Thanks for the info Dan on DK.

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1981..You can forget all about Charles and Diana and the royal wedding,this was the year of the blank b-side cassette tape.


It was a small but significant victory in the days of the Punk Rock wars.

Plus,we had much better and cooler haircuts than that DJ A-Trak fella, which is a triumph within itself.

 

 

Anyone who's looking for a good compilation of 80's American hardcore Punk should definitely check this lp out.

 

It's filled with great tracks by the likes of Bad Brains,Flipper, Black Flag, D.O.A. and Half Japanese etc and makes those bands like Green Day, Blink 182 and the rest of them look like a proper bunch of pussies.

 

Buy it and sniff some glue.

 

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I mostly can't get into the Dead either but the concept and their imagery is great. That said, their album Live Dead is pretty great. You really get a feel for the energy they had preforming. Their cover of Turn On Your Love Light in particular is great.

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