“Pull My Strings” -The Dead Kennedys
This is the coolest live track you will ever hear. Well, it will be once you know the story behind it.
In 1980, the Dead Kennedys were invited to play at the Bay Area Music Awards to play their popular hit “California Uber Alles” to give the show some “new wave credibility.” Fifteen seconds into the song, Jello Biafra, the band’s frontman, suddenly shouts out, “Hold it! We’ve gotta prove we’re adults now. We’re not a punk rock band; we’re a new wave band.” At that point, the band began playing a song written just for the occasion. That song, recorded at the show, made it’s way onto the 1987 album “Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death.”
Even cooler is the fact that all the band members came onstage wearing white shirts with a black “S” on the front. When the songs changed, they all pulled black ties from behind their backs, turning the ‘S’ into a ‘$’.
