10 Punk Rock Bands That Never Sold Out
5. Dead Kennedys
After the Clash came up the ranks in the punk underground, the entire concept of the genre seemed to flip overnight. While the Ramones and the Pistols may have had some killer tunes, things were now going to be different, with songs that were meant to have a message and exact some sort of change in the world. That meant a lot more political punk, and the Dead Kennedys were out for blood from their first record onward.
Outside of its classic status, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is still one of the fiercest records in the punk rock community, with Jello Biafra sounding like he's on the edge of sanity more often than not on songs like I Kill Children or California Uber Alles. These guys weren't just concerned with selling out though...they openly seemed to make fun of the music industry whenever they could.
Along with some of the more thoughtful tracks on topics like body image on Halloween, you also have classic photos of them wearing suits with dollar sign logos across the chest and reinterpreting the Knack's My Sharona into "My Payola" during one of their songs. As MTV got on the air though, the tides were shifting and the Kennedys eventually dissolved with the changing times. Given their reputation as one of the most intense political bands of their day, it might have been better to cut and run than to stay around long enough to embarrass yourself.