MTV Get Off The Air - Dead Kennedys (Frankenchrist, 1985)

So, we've had British punk, New York punk, and Edmonton punk. This is California punk, characterized by being fast, nasty, and oh, so sarcastic! Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra was/is the king of the sarcastic punk sneer. I saw the DK's at Sports World Roller Rink in October, 1984. A mere four years earlier, Sports World was the place we went to every Saturday morning (a walk to the #54 bus, change to the #69 at Southgate Mall) for Roller Disco. Amazing how things change between the ages of 13 and 17. It's hard to properly explain how odd it was to be standing on the roller rink watching Chi Pig (S.N.F.U. opened) and then Jello Biafra do their thing. Media reports of the time don't really do it justice. My most enduring memory of the show is seeing the mosh pit parting like the Red Sea as a - somewhat portly - local punk Kelly Simpson (lead singer of Cadillac of Worms) took his turn to stage dive. Poor Kelly bounced ever so slightly off the plastic floor then slowly took himself off to a quiet corner to lick his not inconsiderable wounds.