Jello Biafra

created by biafra

(person) by Quizro (20.1 hr) (print) ? (I like it!) 1 C! Tue Apr 04 2000 at 1:02:33

Real name: Eric Boucher. As of this date, he is currently (and much to his surprise) the Green Party candidate for President of the United States. This is not the first time he's sought public office - he once ran for mayor of San Francisco on a platform that included requiring businessmen to wear clown suits to work.

His life was pretty much torn apart when he was put on trial for peddling obscene materials to minors, when the political ascendancy of Tipper Gore's PMRC met the release of the Dead Kennedys album Frankenchrist, which contained a fold-out poster of H. R. Giger's painting Penis Landscape. Biafra was eventually found not guilty, but in the meantime he lost his band, his wife, and most of his money. Details may be heard on his spoken word album High Priest of Harmful Matter.

(person) by Jet-Poop (6.3 hr) (print) ? (I like it!) 2 C!s Mon May 08 2000 at 4:40:03

Lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, political activist, and spoken-word artist. Born in 1959 as Eric Boucher in Boulder, Colorado, he moved to San Francisco and changed his name to Jello Biafra because he liked the way the names of the gelatin dessert and the war-torn African nation sounded together.

He formed the Dead Kennedys in 1978 and, the band's highly political lyrics, as well as Biafra's extremely recognizable and not-entirely-tuneful nasal voice, helped win the group a record contract. Based on the difficulties the band had distributing their debut album ("Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables"), Biafra formed his own label, Alternative Tentacles, to handle the band's releases.

Prior to the release of "Fresh Fruit", Biafra ran for mayor of San Francisco in 1979 on a platform calling for the formation of a Board of Bribery to handle liquor licenses and building codes and auctions to be held for high-ranking city government positions. He also called for a ban on cars within the city limits and for the homeless to be allowed to live for free in deserted buildings. He finished fourth out of ten candidates.

The Kennedys' 1985 album "Frankenchrist" included a poster of surrealist H.R. Giger's painting "Landscape #20 (Penis Landscape)", and at the height of the Parents Music Resource Center's power, the band was prosecuted for obscenity. The trial lasted for over a year and according to Biafra, focused mainly on the lyrics of the band's songs. In the end, charges were dropped because the jury couldn't agree on a verdict, but the financial and emotional drain of the trial led to the Kennedys' break-up soon afterwards.

Biafra rebounded by hitting the college lecture circuit talking about the trial, politics, and free speech. He released several angry but very funny spoken word albums based on his lectures, including "No More Cocoons", "High Priest of Harmful Matter: Tales from the Trial", "I Blow Minds for a Living", and "Beyond the Valley of the Gift Police".

Biafra has also collaborated with other artists, including Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen (their band, Lard, released "The Power of Lard", "The Last Temptation of Reid", and "Pure Chewing Satisfaction"), D.O.A ("Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors"), and Mojo Nixon ("Prairie Home Invasion" and "Will the Fetus Be Aborted").

Jello was attacked by angry skinheads in 1994 at a club in Berkeley. He was hospitalized for two broken legs (both his own). Apparently, the skinheads were under the impression that Jello had sold out for fame and money...

In 1998, Jello was sued by his former DK bandmates when he nixed the use of the band's "Holiday in Cambodia" for a Levi's commercial. The judge found that he had not been promoting the band's back catalog properly and had mismanaged the band's royalties, causing his bandmates to lose money.

In recent years, Jello has started to irritate me quite a bit. He tells kids that it's wrong for them to plan a career and that they should all be artists--which is fine for a guy who's been able to make scads of cash playing in punk rock bands, but just isn't practical for every damn kid in the world. Most of his political statements are designed solely to shock and agitate, with no serious thought behind them. And the way he's treated the other members of the Dead Kennedys--none of whom have made much money in the post-DK days--has been an embarrassment. I suspect if Jello had any money problems, he'd be hawking the DK's musical catalog to every ad agency in the country...

Addendum: mat catastrophe sez: "You've negelected to mention Senor Jello's contribution to the Tumor Circus release... Tumor Circus was a '91 Biafra thing with Steel Pole Bathtub and guitarist Charles Tolnay. It's noisy, slow and grind-y. It's worth a listen, but only once a year or so." Consider it mentioned--I haven't heard that one yet, but my brother seems to have every Biafra release ever, so I'll check with him...

(person) by Tlachtga (3.6 d) (print) ? (I like it!) 1 C! Wed Feb 21 2001 at 15:59:43

This is a quasi-metanode dedicated to your favorite revolutionary songwriter and mine, Eric Boucher.

Jello Biafra
Jello Biafra on Hacking
Jello Biafra's Speech to the Green Party, Election Year 2000
Jello Biafra's Platform for Year 2000 Green Party
Jello Biafra Quotes
Alternative Tentacles

Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
The Dead Kennedys
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
In God We Trust, Inc
Plastic Surgery Disasters
Frankenchrist
Bedtime for Democracy
Give Me Convenience or Give me Death

Selected Songs (many can be found at the album nodes)
Holiday in Cambodia
California �ber Alles
We've Got a Bigger Problem Now
Nazi Punks Fuck Off
MTV Get Off the Air
Full Metal Jackoff

Films
Terminal City Ricochet
Tapeheads

Miscellaneous
Lard
Pigface
The No WTO Combo
Names for Bands
Twinkie Defense
rob now, pay later
Texas Uber Alles
Prairie Home Invasion
Love Me, I'm a Liberal
The Plaster Casters of Chicago
harder core than thou
Don't create - be sedate!
New Feudalism
Words to live by

and just for the hell of it, Jell-O.

printable version
chaos

Penis Landscape	Jello Biafra's Platform for Year 2000 Green Party	Dead Kennedys	Holiday in Cambodia
PMRC	Noam Chomsky	California �ber Alles	trustafarian
spoken word	Intellectually drop dead gorgeous	Mojo Nixon	John Stadtmiller
Alternative Tentacles	Biafra	Frankenchrist	H.R. Giger
Why I'm glad the space shuttle blew up	Words to live by	Prairie Home Invasion	No More Cocoons
Al Jourgensen	Harder core than thou	wife	Ministry

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