Dead Kennedys live in Los Angeles, 1984

Dead Kennedys: live at the Olympic Auditorium

(Seconds, May 19, 2011) It was the best show ever. The Dead Kennedys merged revolutionary politics with hardcore punk music and, in the process, became one of the defining hardcore US bands.

Jello Biafra suffers for his art.

Often, they were more notable for their political opinions than their music, but that was part of their great impact. The Dead Kennedys were more inspired by British punk and the fiery, revolutionary politics implicit in the Sex Pistols than the artsier tendencies of New York punks.

Under the direction of lead vocalist Jello Biafra (aka Eric Boucher), the Dead Kennedys became the most political and -- to the eyes of many observers, including fundamentalist Christians and right-wing politicians -- the most dangerous punk band.

By the mid-1980s, the band had become notorious enough to open themselves up to a prosecution for obscenity (concerning a classic art poster inserted into their 1985 Frankenchrist album), and the ensuing court battle sped the band toward a breakup.

"California Uber Alles" EP (DKs)

They left behind a legacy that influenced countless punk bands that followed.

The Dead Kennedys formed in 1978 in San Francisco when vocalist Jello Biafra and bassist Klaus Flouride responded to a magazine ad placed by guitarist East Bay Ray.

Drummer Ted (aka Bruce Slesinger) joined soon after, and the band played locally for the first two years of their career, occasionally venturing outside the Bay Area.

Within a year, the band released their first independent single, "California Über Alles," an attack on hypocritical California Governor Jerry Brown. It was followed shortly by their second single, "Holiday in Cambodia."

Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (DKs)

In 1979, Biafra ran for mayor of San Francisco; he finished fourth. By that time, the band had become popular in the American and British underground. Finally, in 1980, the band released their debut album, Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables, on IRS Records.

After its release, Ted left the band; he was replaced by Black drummer Darren H. Peligro. A year after the release of their first album, the Dead Kennedys formed their own independent record label, Alternative Tentacles (alternativetentacles.com).

The first release on the label was the Dead Kennedys' EP, In God We Trust. That same year, 1981, the single "Too Drunk to F*ck" scraped the bottom of Britain's pop Top 40, despite being banned from airplay.

Plastic Surgery Disasters (DKs)

In 1982, they released their second full-length album, Plastic Surgery Disasters. After its release, the band took a hiatus, during which bandmembers -- most notably Klaus Flouride -- performed with various side projects.

During that time, Alternative Tentacles began to establish itself as a major force in the American underground. The Dead Kennedys returned in 1985 with Frankenchrist, which was the record that earned the band its greatest notoriety.

Frankenchrist (Dead Kennedys)

Included with the album was a poster of the Swiss artist H.R. Giger's Landscape #XX, a garish illustration of penises and anuses.

A year after the release of the album, the Dead Kennedys and Alternative Tentacles were prosecuted under revised Californian anti-obscenity laws for distributing "pornography" by selling records to minors because of the poster in the album.

PMRC Co-founder Second Lady Tipper Gore

For the next two years, the band was embroiled in a bitter legal battle (with prosecutors who admitted the charge was just an excuse to take down the controversial band who opposed Democrat Gov. Brown), during which Jello Biafra emerged as one of the most articulate advocates for free speech and vocal opponents of the PMRC (citizen censors the Parent Music Resource Center).

In the summer of 1987, the case ended with a hung jury and was dismissed. Although the Dead Kennedys emerged victorious from the court battle, they didn't remain a band for much longer.

Bedtime for Democracy (Dead Kennedys)

Just before the prosecution began in 1986, the band released Bedtime for Democracy, which turned out to be their last official album.

After the case was settled, the DKs split, releasing the posthumous compilation Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death in 1987.

Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death

Jello Biafra embarked on a solo career, releasing musical and spoken-word recordings sporadically over the next couple decades. Flouride returned to his fledgling solo career, releasing two albums in the late '80s and early '90s.

The DVD format of DMPO's On Broadway, the Dead Kennedys' June 1984 performance marking the closing of San Francisco's avant-garde theater and nightclub, was released in May 2000.