
Time to punk out a bit (punkin time & all). There are so many versions of this album, you can never get enough. Being the rotten vegetarian that I am, I need my constant supply of fresh fruit.
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut album by Dead Kennedys, released initially on Cherry Red Records in the UK in 1980, eventually through IRS/Faulty Products in the US, & later by the DK's own Alternative Tentacles label.
The photo on the front cover, showing several police cars on fire, was taken during the so-called ‘White Night Riots’ of May 21,1979 that resulted from the light sentence given to former San Francisco City Supervisor Dan White for the murder of Mayor George Moscone & Supervisor Harvey Milk. The copy I own is an early IRS pressings with the cover tinted orange with black lettering. This cover variation was not authorized by the DKs.

It also features the original back cover with a found photograph of an old lounge band called The Sounds Of Sunshine, with the DK's logo pasted onto the drum kit, with skulls & crossbones on their instruments. The original photograph, as found by Biafra at a garage sale, had no identifying remarks on it whatsoever. It was used because the band thought it was ‘hilarious’. Somehow Warner Wilder, the former vocalist of the defunct lounge band learned of the photo & threatened to sue the Dead Kennedys, so the back cover was reprinted with the heads of the band members cut off. This solution was also deemed unsatisfactory to the Sounds of Sunshine, forcing an entirely different photo of four old ladies in a living room with the Alternative Tentacles bat mascot pasted over a picture frame.
On the original vinyl version Side 1 & Side 2 each contained seven songs. This post-IRS, pre-Alternative Tentacles pressing on IRS's Faulty Products subsidiary adds "Police Truck" to the middle of Side 1 between "Let's Lynch the Landlord" & "Drug Me".
Year of Release: 1981
Label: IRS Records SP 70014
Genre: Punk
Tracklist:
Side 1 -
Kill the Poor
Forward to Death
When Ya Get Drafted
Let’s Lynch the Landlord
Police Truck
Drug Me
Your Emotions
Chemical Warfare
Side 2 -
California Uber Alles
I Kill Children
Stealing People’s Mail
Funland at the Beach
Ill in the Head
Holiday in Cambodia
Viva las Vegas
UPDATE: I would like to thank the anonymous commenter who called my attention to a major snafu on this download. Blame it on the late hour or the over-consumption of distilled beverage, but I messed up when splitting the ripped tracks. I would also like to apologize to the more than 150 people who dl'd this selection. The problem is fixed. I have re-upped the entire album as of today (11-23-09) & also provided a download link for just the tracks that were messed up (three tracks). If the anonymous commenter drops me a line at my email address (alwaysmad@Rebels.com) with DK mess-up in the subject line, I will send her or him a free cd (of my choosing).
Download: Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Download: Fresh Fruit repair - 3 tracks (12.24MB)
Download Size: 78.8MB (ripped from surprisingly crisp sounding vinyl at 320 Kbps)

















