Jello Biafra
- jamesgeraghty
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
The news came through a few weeks back, that San Francisco punk firebrand and vociferous political activist, Jello Biafra, had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. Fortunately, he seems to be on the mend and starting to regain the use of his always active vocal chords.
Since he fronted what was probably the most globally renowned and infamous of the west coast punk bands, Dead Kennedys, we will celebrate the start of his recovery by having him lead off our occasional musical meandering on the pathway to (roughly) Six Degrees of Kevin Shields.
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Jello Biafra, born Eric Boucher in Boulder, Colorado in 1958, was the lead singer and main songwriter of San Francisco punk band, Dead Kennedys from 1979 to their demise in 1986. He was known for his uniquely pitched voice and unapologetically vitriolic, socially conscious lyrics that helped deliver some of the finest moments from the west coast punk scene. He founded Alternative Tentacles records with bandmate East Bay Ray (Ray Pepperell), but ultimately fell out with his former band in the late 80s following various accusations of fraud and breach of contract.
He was never afraid to put himself in the political firing line either, running for Mayor of San Francisco in 1979 (finishing fourth out of ten candidates) - and then for the Green Party presidential nomination in 2000, which he lost by quite a margin to Ralph Nader. He has also, since the end of Dead Kennedys, worked with a wide and varied range of musicians. There was Lard with Al Jourgensen and Paul Barker of Ministry, an album with Canadian punks Nomeansno, Washington's sludge rock pioneers The Melvins, and even an electronic collaboration called the Witch Trials, with Morgan Fisher, once of Mott The Hoople.
Jello Biafra: Moon Over Marin (decent fan video of Jello joining Ryan Adams onstage in San Francisco, 2015)
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Morgan Fisher played organ with a number of bands in the late 60s, including Love Affair, with their number one hit, Everlasting Love (recorded while he was still at school). He left to finish school, and then returned to the band until 1971, when he joined a prog rock band called Morgan, with Tim Staffell, who had been the lead singer of Smile (which would become Queen). He then joined Mott The Hoople, best known for their hit version of Bowie’s All The Young Dudes.
Mott The Hoople: All The Young Dudes (original CBS music video)
He would actually join Queen, as touring keyboardist, for their 1982 European tour. Then, he moved to Japan, where he made ambient music and also tracks for TV commercials. He has also managed a secondary career as a photographer, influenced by people like Man Ray, in abstract works he calls Light Art.
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Also in Mott The Hoople, was lead singer Ian Hunter. He was a founder member of the band when it started in Herefordshire, and stayed with them until 1974, best known for singing on monster hit Dudes. He would return for a few reunion stints, in 2009, 2013 and 2019. His solo work is less well known, although a couple of tracks became more successful under new ownership; Once Bitten, Twice Shy was a hit for L.A. hard rockers, Great White, and England Rocks was tweaked to Cleveland Rocks, by The Presidents of the United States of America, and became the theme tune for The Drew Carey Show.
Ian Hunter: England Rocks (audio only)
He had an interesting and varied line of work outside of music. Prior to any musical success, Hunter had been an apprentice with Rolls Royce, and before joining Mott The Hoople, he had some work as a songwriter, as a journalist for a local paper, and doing road digging for a local council. His solo work has seen him collaborate with the likes of John Cale (Velvet Underground), Roy Bittan, Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg (all E-Street Band), and most frequently with Mick Ronson (Bowie’s most celebrated sideman). 1981’s Short Back n Sides LP was a joint production with Ronson and Mick Jones of The Clash.
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Short Back n Sides, as well as being co-produced by Mick Jones, also includes a decent array of other musicians. Tommy Mandel (Bryan Adams) played keyboards, Todd Rundgren added bass to one song, while drums were mostly provided by Jones’s Clash bandmate, Topper Headon.
Mick Jones though, is of course best known for his time with legendary punks The Clash. He continued to find more success when, having been fired by Joe Strummer in 1983, he formed Big Audio Dynamite with Don Letts. He was then in Carbon/Silicon with Generation Z stalwart Tony James, which Creation Records founder Alan McGee described as “the Stones jamming with a laptop”. There have been many other collaborations (Gorillaz, Pete Wylie, Primal Scream and more), and the occasional venture into production. As well as the Ian Hunter record, he has produced albums for Theatre of Hate, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, and the debut for the Libertines.
Carbon/Silicon: The News version 1 (official promo video)
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As referenced above, Up The Bracket, the debut release by London indie troublemakers, the Libertines, was produced by Mick Jones in 2002 at ARK Studios. The song and album title come from a phrase used by 60s British comedian, Tony Hancock, of whom the band's Pete Doherty was a massive fan. It apparently relates to slang for a punch to the throat!
Pete Doherty is of course, as famous for his off-stage antics, his tumultuous relationship with Kate Moss and a wide range of narcotics, not to mention, frequent run-ins with the police (drunk driving, theft, blackmail). Meanwhile, there was slightly more stability provided by the other band leader, Carl Barât, who met Doherty through Doherty’s sister, Amy-Jo.
The Libertines: Up The Bracket (official music video)
After the Libertines first fell apart in 2005, Barât formed Dirty Pretty Things with former bandmates Gary Powell and Anthony Rossomando, along with Didz Hammond (Cooper Temple Clause). Waterloo to Anywhere, their debut LP, followed in 2006, being produced by Dave Sardy and reaching UK number 3. Subsequent album, Romance at Short Notice, failed to chart in 2008, and they disbanded later that same year.
Dirty Pretty Things: Bang Bang You're Dead (official music video)
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Dave Sardy is an American producer who has worked with many big names from the metal and indie world over the years. He started out as a musician, in the noise rock band Barkmarket in the late 80s, before moving into production. His work has won plaudits around the world; working with Aussie band Jet garnered him six ARIA Awards, and another three for work with Wolfmother; then there are five Grammys (Toots & The Maytals, Rodrigo y Gabriela, OK Go, Wolfmother and Marilyn Manson); and a number of Brit Awards for work with Oasis and others. He has also produced music for commercials including for three iPod campaigns.
As well as producing Waterloo to Anywhere for Dirty Pretty Things in 2006, he also mixed the garage blues album Riot City Blues that same year for Scots, Primal Scream (produced by Youth of Killing Joke). The record included guest appearances by Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Will Sergeant (The Bunnymen) and Warren Ellis (The Bad Seeds).
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The previous Primal Scream studio album to Riot City Blues was Evil Heat, released in 2002. This one was more psychedelic in tone and included an interesting cover of Lee Hazlewood’s Some Velvet Morning (with Kate Moss stepping into the Nancy Sinatra role), and more notable guest appearances; Jim Reid (Jesus & Mary Chain) sang on Detroit, rock god Robert Plant added harmonica to one track, and guitar effects on City, as well as co-production credits for the album, were provided by none other than KEVIN SHIELDS.
Primal Scream: Some Velvet Morning (official music video)
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