Night of the Living Rednecks

Night of the Living Rednecks
"Night of the Living Rednecks"
Song by Dead Kennedys
Released 1987
Format CD
Recorded 1979
Genre Spoken word, jazz
Length 5:10
Label Alternative Tentacles
Producer Jello Biafra

Night of the Living Rednecks is a live improvisation by the American hardcore punk band the Dead Kennedys. It features frontman Jello Biafra recounting a story to the audience with a bebop style bass guitar and drum backing, as guitarist East Bay Ray fixes his "broken" guitar.

Plot

The song begins with the end of a live performance of the band's song "Chemical Warfare" at the early show in the Earth Tavern at Portland, Oregon on November 19, 1979. At the end of the song East Bay Ray's guitar cuts out abruptly, and Biafra announces to the audience, "Ray's guitar broke!" The audience then tries to get them to play their version of the theme song to Rawhide, to which Biafra responds "No, he won't play 'Rawhide,' won't play anything." He also humorously invites a member of the audience to be Dinah Shore for a performance of the theme from her show, asking them "whose alter ego is Dinah Shore?" while some members of the audience still try to cajole them into playing "Rawhide". Apparently unsatisfied by the audience's response, he then makes note of a particular fan's lack of enthusiasm for the suggestion ("Oh, his fist didn't go up so quickly this time!"). Drummer Ted then does a quick drum roll, which Biafra appears to find unsatisfactory for the performance, as he then repeats the word "yawn." Klaus Flouride then begins a bebop style bass line while Ted begins drumming again, then Biafra starts telling a story.

The story begins while Biafra was walking the street at 10:30 PM on November 6, 1979, the night before the group performed at Portland's famous rock club The Long Goodbye (recent research confirmed that the band had played a concert at the venue on November 7, 1979, which pinpoints the date of the incident as November 6). While out walking, he was attacked by jocks in a bright blue pick-up truck that Biafra described as looking like a "life size Hot Wheels car" with giant tires and overhead lights. The jocks shouted "hey faggot" at Biafra, and apparently "showered [him] with some water." After the first time this happened, Biafra picked up a rock, expecting them to come back, and kept walking until he came to a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. The jocks did come back a few seconds later, yelling at Biafra "hey, faggot, where's the nearest McDonald's?" and squirting him yet again. Biafra responded by throwing the rock and putting a dent in the truck.

After the jocks realized what Biafra had done, they stopped the truck in a parking lot near a Fred Meyer store (which for some reason elicits a "Fred Meyer!" cheer from one member of the audience) and come charging at Biafra with clubs and threatening to kill him. Biafra decides to hide in a phone booth in front of the Kentucky Fried Chicken while the jocks try to get in. After a few seconds of the jocks trying to get into the booth and a crowd of people saying he was crazy, Biafra, who thought that acting like he was crazy would be his way out of the situation, decided to goad someone into calling the cops, which the jocks did. However, the jocks were sent home by the officer after the incident was reported because one of them could not control his anger. Biafra reflects on the incident, saying "So this is Oregon. Tolerant Oregon," and then hassles East Bay Ray to finish fixing his guitar, because he is out of stories.

Notes

  • According to the liner notes for Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death, the person who recorded the song is unknown, as the track is listed as being recorded by "persons unknown".
  • The original performance of the song is also available on video as part of a 1979 Portland, Oregon concert that is widely circulated as a bootleg.
  • This happened on the corner of W Burnside and NW 21st Avenue. The Kentucky Fried Chicken is now a Taco Bell.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Night of the Living Dead (1990) — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Die Rückkehr der Untoten Originaltitel: Night of the Living Dead Produktionsland: USA Erscheinungsjahr: 1990 Länge: 88 bzw. 92 (Uncut) Minuten Originalsprache …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mutiny on the Bay — Live album by Dead Kennedys Released April 24, 2001 …   Wikipedia

  • Milking the Sacred Cow — Compilation album by Dead Kennedys Released Octob …   Wikipedia

  • Dawn of the Dead — For other uses, see Dawn of the Dead (disambiguation). Dawn of the Dead Theatrical release poster. Directed by George A. Romero …   Wikipedia

  • Dawn of the dead — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Este artículo trata sobre la película de 1978. Para la versión del año 2004, véase Dawn of the dead (película de 2004). Dawn of the Dead Título El amanecer de los muertos El amanecer de los zombies Zombi Ficha… …   Wikipedia Español

  • List of King of the Hill characters — King of the Hill is an American animated series created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.[1][2] The main characters are Hank Hill, Peggy Hill, Bobby Hill, Luanne Platter, Dale Gribble, Bill Dauterive, Jeff Boomhauer, Cotton Hill, Kahn… …   Wikipedia

  • Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death — Infobox Album | Name = Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death Type = Compilation album Artist = the Dead Kennedys |225px|Album cover Released = June 1987 Recorded = 1979 1987 Genre = Hardcore punk Length = 51:26 Label = Alternative Tentacles… …   Wikipedia

  • List of King of the Hill episodes — This is a list of episodes of the Fox animated television series King of the Hill. The series was originally broadcast from January 12, 1997, to May 6, 2010. Contents 1 Seasons 2 Episodes 2.1 Season 1: 1997 …   Wikipedia

  • Jello Biafra — at Fusion Festival 2010 Background information Birth name Eric Reed Boucher …   Wikipedia

  • Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables — Studio album by Dead Kenne …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”