Dead Kennedy's Lose Singer

Jeff Penalty, the second replacement vocalist for the Dead Kennedys, has parted ways with the band in what he describes as a "not amicable split."

Jeff explained the situation:

"It’s likely that, if asked, the band will attribute my departure to scheduling conflicts brought about by my documentary work, but in reality it’s a tediously long story involving personality conflicts, creative differences, arguments about splitting money equally, arguments about how the band should be run, arguments about the wisdom of hiring a band manager whose other star client was a Christian folk artist, arguments about whether we should or shouldn’t go on MTV, and arguments about many other wretched things.

"I thought about quitting numerous times over the past year, but I officially did so on Thanksgiving when I found out that the band had been recruiting a new singer behind my back and had even played a secret show with one at a bar in my neighborhood.

"It’s a sad turn of events for me because I was really proud of what we were able to accomplish with Dead Kennedys. Despite all the criticism, we took more of a principled stand on certain things than most people will ever know and we brought great music and a great message to a lot of audiences. I was glad that we ruffled a few feathers in the punk scene and I was amazed at the ability of their music and our performances to transcend scene politics and convert scores of non-believers. I will always think of it as an important and timely reunion both for the punk scene and for the world at large, and as a defining period of my life. So it’s upsetting for me personally to see that Ray and Klaus have finally become what they’ve always been accused of. It wasn’t always like this.

"My sincere thanks, and apologies, go out to the fans that supported my participation in the band. And Jello, you’ve been wrong about a lot of stuff, but you were certainly right about not trusting those guys..."

Thanks for the report to Punknews.org.

Comments

[Alex101]

Apparently, I just found out that they had just announced a new singer yesterday. They hired Ron "Skip" Greer, former vocalist of Easy Bay pop punk outfit The Wynona Riders, as their new singer.

Source: http://www.punknews.org/article/28217

[BucketheadRules]

"And Jello... you were certainly right about not trusting those guys"

NO SHIT, JEFF.

[rush4life]

DK just isn't the same without Jello.

[theunilife]

i agree dk = jello

[JL Sevenfold]

indeed

[nebiru]

I thought Jello had died when I saw the title. I kinda shit a little. No other singer can fill his shoes so I don't even consider DK a band anymore.

[GuitaPlaya]

Wow, I used to tend to side with the rest of the band on this issue based on everything I had read. Klaus, Ray, and DH sound like real *******s, I guess all of the Jello worshipers were right.

[Sid McCall]

nebiru wrote:

I thought Jello had died when I saw the title. I kinda shit a little. No other singer can fill his shoes so I don't even consider DK a band anymore.

You stole my response.

[jagstang365]

Sid McCall wrote:

nebiru wrote:

I thought Jello had died when I saw the title. I kinda shit a little. No other singer can fill his shoes so I don't even consider DK a band anymore.
You stole my response.

and you stole my response to that response

[ElThomas]

biafra was dk. his voice is so idiosyncratic. he had an angry sound so hearing him made you feel that he was majorly pissed about the crap he was ripping on

[Punks|Not|Dead]

Nooo! ;[

[Alex101]

rush4life wrote:

DK just isn't the same without Jello.

theunilife wrote:

i agree dk = jello

Yeah, you guys are right. This band is not the same without Jello.

[ratmblink123]

ElThomas wrote:

biafra was dk. his voice is so idiosyncratic. he had an angry sound so hearing him made you feel that he was majorly ed about the crap he was ripping on

Yeah, I wouldn't call DK a band without Jello

[crocoscar]

jagstang365 wrote:

Sid McCall wrote:

nebiru wrote:

I thought Jello had died when I saw the title. I kinda shit a little. No other singer can fill his shoes so I don't even consider DK a band anymore.
You stole my response.

and you stole my response to that response

omg I just got pwned 3 times

[Ba11sINurFAC3]

JELLO 08

Checked.

[Raizer Sabre]

this is definately news to me cuz i didn't know dk were still around lol

[Adam_Harrison9]

He was never a part of the true dead kennedys anyway. there will always be only 1 line-up that's remembered.

[mr freezy]

Jello IS DK. They are nothing without him.

[bwalter32]

i wasn't even aware they were still around.

[break-me-in]

Adam_Harrison9 wrote:

He was never a part of the true dead kennedys anyway. there will always be only 1 line-up that's remembered.

Yeah, I didn't know they ever reunited. You can't have Dead Kennedys without Jello.

[Multiplayerjon]

Nooooo!!!! Jello is The dead kennedys!!!
Did you Know: Jello Ran for Mayor or something for san Fransico... i think... i forgot... look it up

Peace out!

[DouglasDisaster]

Jello Biafra was the voice of DK's. No one can ever replace him in that role. I find it ironic that the debate of going on MTV, or hiring a manager that deals with Christian artists even came up. What happened to "MTV get off the air", or "In God we trust Inc."? I still love the way Klaus plays bass, but if they are playing the old songs, they should keep the same integrity. Bands recruit new member behind other members backs all the time. No one should be surprised at that, Jeff is just crying because he got the boot. The Melvins with Jello are far superior to the new DK's.

[slayer_rule_\m/]

[quote=Multiplayerjon ]Nooooo!!!! Jello is The dead kennedys!!!
Did you Know: Jello Ran for Mayor or something for san Fransico... i think... i forgot... look it up

Peace out![/quote]
yep i think we all know that
i heard on one of his spoken word thingies that he was thinking of running for president i think in the green party or something, but i think he said he chickened out, dont blame him, being president is very hard

checked.

[freshtunes]

I was expecting someone to have bitten the dust.

[metallicaPOOS]

coolbud

[ebbbaaa]

Jello Biafra's spoken word stuff is pretty cool...

DK sucks without him.

[Shaned]

yeah i thought he died too :P

man dk are amazing w/ him

[thedarkblues06]

crocoscar wrote:

jagstang365 wrote:

Sid McCall wrote:

nebiru wrote:

I thought Jello had died when I saw the title. I kinda shit a little. No other singer can fill his shoes so I don't even consider DK a band anymore.
You stole my response.

and you stole my response to that response

omg I just got pwned 3 times

I just got subpwned. No Jello...no party...no DK, imo.

[gopherthegreat]

mr freezy wrote:

Jello IS DK. They are nothing without him.

+1

[droog4life]

so... this neo-dead kennedys... what have they actually accomplished? i mean i was aware of them being around without jello and touring and stuff, but i didn't think they had put out any new cds (or in true punk fashion vinyls). So what does he mean by "taking a principled stand" on all this new stuff?

[glowskulls]

Jello +900000

[AngryGoldfish]

Crazy how such a repected band can have such silly issues, issues that I had with my band of 16 year olds. Its kinda comforting to know that everyone is in the same boat, and the more experienced bands still suffer with similar, and sometimes more potent, problems.

[grimevil]

They're still a friggin band?!

[jambajews]

good i would too if i was in that old punk crap

[TheIceCreamMan]

They've become everything the band was against. Releasing a ****ing greatest hits album...seriously...Give it a rest and start a new band, write new songs, and bask in corporate glory instead of pissing on the corpse of a once amazing punk band.

[The Frayed Ends]

JELLO BIAFRA FOR PRESIDENT

[Mikekmk420]

i stoppped listening to them after jello left . ive always been more of a Lard fan

[bludwolfrocks]

i like the way he put this...
he should've left earlier....

[Leonheart]

Alex101 wrote:

Apparently, I just found out that they had just announced a new singer yesterday. They hired Ron "Skip" Greer, former vocalist of Easy Bay pop punk outfit The Wynona Riders, as their new singer.

Source: http://www.punknews.org/article/28217

Best first post ever.

And this guy seems pretty good. I love the old DK but never checked them out since I believed what Jello said about his old bandmates. :/

Checked.

[filthandfury]

To be fair, they shouldn't still be around, they should've stopped after Jello left.

[kyleblackflag]

Alex101 wrote:

Apparently, I just found out that they had just announced a new singer yesterday. They hired Ron "Skip" Greer, former vocalist of Easy Bay pop punk outfit The Wynona Riders, as their new singer.

Source: http://www.punknews.org/article/28217

who cares?
they should appoligize to jello and just get him back if they are gonna continue

[kyleblackflag]

filthandfury wrote:

To be fair, they shouldn't still be around, they should've stopped after Jello left.

you mean they should have never sued jello,
sold their catalog to rip jello off,
regrouped to piss him off,
got some child star of a sitcom in the 80's to replace him,
etc. etc.

[acerst]

Lol

GuitaPlaya :
... I guess all of the Jello worshipers were right.

[RachelRC]

droog4life wrote:

so... this neo-dead kennedys... what have they actually accomplished? i mean i was aware of them being around without jello and touring and stuff, but i didn't think they had put out any new cds (or in true punk fashion vinyls). So what does he mean by "taking a principled stand" on all this new stuff?

I agree. They haven't even done anything except play some shows and for what?

Jello IS the DK and you can't replace him, sometimes you can replace guitar players, bassist, drummers, but when you try to replace such a definitive guy like Jello, it's pointless.

[Joshtyrrell]

The "New Dk's" In the words of Jello are just a cover band