Aug 29th, 2022, 10:49 PM
Pull My Strings - Dead Kennedys
So, this song has a story. This song was only performed once by the band, at the Bay Area Music Awards in 1980. See, the band was brought in to give the show some "New Wave credibility" (New Wave being the term used to describe the fragmenting Punk scene, later being co-opted by the Synthpop scene to describe the more DIY and artsy bands). So, they asked the Dead Kennedys to play their smash hit, California Uber Alles, at the show. Why anyone thought a band named "Dead Kennedys" would play nice, or thought a good idea for a song performance was the song about the Governor of California becoming a Hippie Nazi after becoming president, no one knows. It would be like signing a band named "Butthole Surfers" expecting them to print money. ...Wait, what do you mean that actually happened?!
Sadly, this was 1980, so no video recording exists that I know of, but witness testimony and the legendary photo tell the story. They came out in white t-shirts with a big "S" painted on them. Then, after interrupting the beginning of California Uber Alles, they pulled ties from behind them to the front, turning that "S" into a "$", and proceeded into Pull My Strings, which is a song mocking the trend of pop stars seemingly "manufactured" by the music industry (the audience had a few music bigwigs in it). This came to the shock of absolutely no one who actually knew who the Dead Kennedys were. This is the same band who released a song about venturing to Cambodia while the Khmer Rouge were ruling, where he actually says the N word (in his defense -- and I will always defend this context -- he's using it as a mocking quote of the yuppie youth who "idolize" people from downtrodden upbringings. "Bragging that you know how the ******s feel cold and the slums got so much soul")!
Slightly related side note, I'm surprised that during the Black Lives Matter protests, we didn't see a viral surge of people posting Police Truck by Dead Kennedys. That's a song about corrupt cops going around town, performing brutal acts while hiding behind their badge (it was a satirical play on REAL EVENTS, too!). AND THAT'S NOT EVEN THE ONLY SONG ON THAT ALBUM CALLING OUT COPS!
So, this song has a story. This song was only performed once by the band, at the Bay Area Music Awards in 1980. See, the band was brought in to give the show some "New Wave credibility" (New Wave being the term used to describe the fragmenting Punk scene, later being co-opted by the Synthpop scene to describe the more DIY and artsy bands). So, they asked the Dead Kennedys to play their smash hit, California Uber Alles, at the show. Why anyone thought a band named "Dead Kennedys" would play nice, or thought a good idea for a song performance was the song about the Governor of California becoming a Hippie Nazi after becoming president, no one knows. It would be like signing a band named "Butthole Surfers" expecting them to print money. ...Wait, what do you mean that actually happened?!
Sadly, this was 1980, so no video recording exists that I know of, but witness testimony and the legendary photo tell the story. They came out in white t-shirts with a big "S" painted on them. Then, after interrupting the beginning of California Uber Alles, they pulled ties from behind them to the front, turning that "S" into a "$", and proceeded into Pull My Strings, which is a song mocking the trend of pop stars seemingly "manufactured" by the music industry (the audience had a few music bigwigs in it). This came to the shock of absolutely no one who actually knew who the Dead Kennedys were. This is the same band who released a song about venturing to Cambodia while the Khmer Rouge were ruling, where he actually says the N word (in his defense -- and I will always defend this context -- he's using it as a mocking quote of the yuppie youth who "idolize" people from downtrodden upbringings. "Bragging that you know how the ******s feel cold and the slums got so much soul")!
Slightly related side note, I'm surprised that during the Black Lives Matter protests, we didn't see a viral surge of people posting Police Truck by Dead Kennedys. That's a song about corrupt cops going around town, performing brutal acts while hiding behind their badge (it was a satirical play on REAL EVENTS, too!). AND THAT'S NOT EVEN THE ONLY SONG ON THAT ALBUM CALLING OUT COPS!