Dead Kennedys

In 1997, an employee at Alternative Tentacles discovered Biafra's bandmates had been underpaid on royalties over the previous ten years, with the musicians owed $76,000. Biafra didn't let his fellow former Kennedys know about the shortfall, and when they learned they were owed money by AT, they attempted to negotiate with Biafra. When that failed, they filed a lawsuit against the label. A jury found Alternative Tentacles guilty of fraudulent conduct, and as a consequence control of the group's recorded catalog and publishing was declared to be shared equally among the four members. With East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride, and D.H. Peligro voting as a block, they struck a new deal with Manifesto Records to distribute the DK's back catalog. Manifesto also released a pair of archival live albums, 2001's Mutiny on the Bay (taken from four shows in San Francisco, recorded between 1982 and 1986) and 2004's Live at the Deaf Club 1979 (capturing a show at the iconic SF punk venue the Deaf Club, which was located at a social hall for the severely hard of hearing). Meanwhile, in 2001, Ray, Flouride, and Peligro reunited the Dead Kennedys for an international concert tour; to the surprise of no one, Biafra refused to participate, and Brandon Cruz, a former child star who sang with the band Dr. Know, came aboard as their new lead singer. Cruz stayed in the lineup until 2003, when Jeff Penalty took over for him on the vocal mike, and Penalty was in turn replaced in 2008 by Ron "Skip" Greer, formerly of the Wynona Riders.

From 🇺🇸 United States