Dead Kennedys: compie 40 anni “Too Drunk To Fuck”

Went to a party
I danced all night
I drank sixteen beers
And I started up a fight

But now I am jaded 
You’re out of luck
I’m rolling down the stairs
Too drunk to fuck

di Skatèna

Il 29 maggio 1980 i Dead Kennedys pubblicavano il singolo Too Drunk To Fuck (B-side The Prey), successivamente incluso nell’album raccolta Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death del 1987.

Il brano, caratterizzato dal possente riff in stile surf/garage rock del chitarrista East Bay Ray, e terminante con il “rumore” di un uomo che vomita, raggiunse la posizione numero 36 nella Official Singles Chart britannica, nonostante alcuni negozi avessero deciso di non esporre il 45 giri a causa del titolo ritenuto volgare.

Fu anche messo al bando dalla BBC Radio 1 che si rifiutò di trasmetterlo.

Dead Kennedys’ convulsions of indignation and hysterical ravings assaulted the ears with the authority of a wrecking ball on a building.

Their album covers, posters and lyrics vomited up images of contemporary America with nauseous glee: worthless consumer goods, drugs, mass murderers, politicians, the neutron bomb, etc. all got a mention to make the U.S squirm. When the DKs said everything stinks, they meant everything.

This was roaring orthodox punk, minimum chords and maximum speed, with a frontman who was a distinctive and remarkable singer. Like Johnny Rotten, Jello Biafra thrived on extreme attitudes. Where Rotten’s snarl was more self-conscious than threatening, though, Biafra’s helium-voiced yelp sounded like a man about to explode from fright.

The video here is TOO DRUNK TO F UCK, Biafra taking a break from ripping apart the Reagan Administration and the Christian Right to sing about being too drunk to have sex.

Hysterical fun delivered at a blistering speed and, remarkably, a British Top 40 single in May 1981 despite receiving virtually no airplay.