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Ex-Dead Kennedys Guitarist Claims Suit Against Biafra Unavoidable
Members of defunct punk-band are seeking royalties from record sales.
By Randy Reiss
Music News of the World, October 30, 1998
SAN FRANCISCO -- Former Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray
said the last thing he wanted in the negotiations over royalties
with the defunct punk-band's singer, Jello Biafra, and label
Alternative Tentacles was for the matter to end up in court.
Unfortunately, that's where the dispute seems to be headed.
"We've been trying to ask [for our share of royalties] as friends
and partners," Ray (born Ray Pepperell) explained Friday, a day after
the suit was filed in California Superior Court. "So we just went
to Biafra and said, 'We have some questions here. There seems to be
some discrepancies. Can we get an explanation?'
"We didn't get one," Ray continued, "and nothing has happened, so we
had no choice."
Seeing no reasonable end to the talks with Biafra (born Eric Boucher),
Ray and the rest of the Dead Kennedys lineup -- bassist Klaus
Fluoride (born Geoffrey Lyall) and drummer D.H. Peligro
(born Darren Henley) -- filed suit Thursday.
The musicians are seeking damages, access to royalties owed and
a legal recognition of the Sept. 30 decision by Ray, Fluoride and
Peligro to no longer have Alternative Tentacles and Mordam Records
distribute their music. The three former Dead Kennedys members
collectively are partners in Decay Music, the band's business and
administrative entity.
Furthermore, the suit claims that Biafra, as head of the San
Francisco-based Alternative Tentacles, failed to pay the other
bandmembers their full share of royalties; took the money for
himself and the label; promoted his solo efforts much more than
the catalog of his former band; placed money that is acknowledged
to be owed to Ray, Peligro and Fluoride into a trust that could
not be released without Biafra's approval or a court order; would
not let the other parties look at Alternative Tentacles' financial
records; and will not acknowledge the Decay Music decision to shop
the Dead Kennedys catalog to other labels.
The suit specifically asks for a jury trial and seeks "declaratory
and injunctive relief,'' as well as financial damages from Biafra
and Mordam Records on charges of "branch of fiduciary duty,
conversion, breach of oral contract, unjust enrichment and unfair
business practices."
Biafra is currently wrapping up a tour and could not be reached
for comment by press time. A representative for Alternative Tentacles
said the company had not yet been served with papers and therefore
no one could comment.
The Dead Kennedys were formed in San Francisco, Calif., in 1978. The
group became well known for pumping out a grinding, hard-core punk
sound under the shrill, hyper-political vocal stylings of Biafra.
Their songs, including
"Kill The Poor" and "Nazi Punks Fuck Off," marked the Dead Kennedys as precursors to such political-punk groups as Rage Against The Machine and Bikini Kill. Many Kennedys albums, such as Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1980) and Frankenchrist (1985), are considered landmarks of American punk for their creative song structures and biting social commentary.
The band broke up in early 1986 and later that year was embroiled
in an obscenity trial over a controversial poster included with
Frankenchrist. Ray and Fluoride currently perform in the San
Francisco surf-instrumental band Jumbo Shrimp. Peligro also is a
former member of the Los Angeles funk-rock outfit Red Hot Chili
Peppers and currently heads up a band called Peligro.
Meanwhile, Biafra's solo career primarily has concentrated on
spoken-word performances and political activism.
"I've been trying to talk to the label and Biafra and the former
general manager, Greg Werckman, for years," Ray said. "I have gotten
very little response, and I guess you might call it stonewalling."
Ray said that discussions heated up when he, Fluoride and Peligro
decided at the end of last month not to allow Alternative Tentacles
to distribute Dead Kennedys music any longer as a result of the
dispute. The two sides began negotiating but could not reach an
agreement.
In an interview earlier this month, Biafra said the three other
members of the band were paid royalties based on a retail price o
f $10.98 per CD, an arrangement agreed upon by all bandmembers
in 1989. According to Biafra, Ray asked that the rate be raised
to $13.98 last year and claimed that Alternative Tentacles consented
to the increase. Biafra said he never heard back from the rest
of the band to confirm the request.
On Friday, Ray disputed those claims, saying "I never asked for
the rate to be raised to $13.98. He can say what he wants, but
it didn't happen."
Many artists, including '60s-rocker John Fogerty and '80s
funk-hero Prince, have experienced negative associations with
their past work after going through legal hurdles with their record
companies, but Ray said he is still happy with the Dead Kennedys
catalog.
"Biafra's not the easiest person to get along with, but we did
manage to produce a lot of music that we're proud of and a band
that we're all proud of," Ray said. "We always had a difficult
relationship, but I never thought he would act like this.
"We've been with Biafra for 20 years. We had hopes earlier that
he would walk the walk and not just talk the talk. Unfortunately,
he's just talking the talk and not doing it, [and] talk minus
action equals zero."
A court date has not been set and Ray still hasn't ruled out a
settlement.
"It's my understanding that a lot of these things get settled
before they ever get to court," Ray said. "We've got a while
to go on this, so we'll just have to see what happens."
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