Bedtime for Democracy

Bedtime for Democracy
Studio album by the Dead Kennedys
Released	November 1986
Recorded	City Sound Recording and Hyde St. Studios, April and July 1986
Genre	Hardcore punk
Length	48:40
Label	Alternative Tentacles
Producer	Jello Biafra
the Dead Kennedys chronology
Frankenchrist (1985)Frankenchrist1985 Bedtime for Democracy (1986) Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death (1987)Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death1987

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Don Ignacio	(8.1/10)
NME

Bedtime for Democracy is the fourth and final studio album released by Dead Kennedys. Songs on this album cover such common punk subjects as conformity, Reaganomics, the military, and even criticizing aspects of their own punk movement. The title of the album is a reference to the 1951 comedy film, Bedtime for Bonzo starring Ronald Reagan, and perhaps also reflects the weary band's bitterness in the aftermath of the financially and emotionally draining trial they were being subjected to at the time over the controversial art included with their previous album. In fact, by the time recording began, they had already played what would be their last live concert with Jello Biafra and announced their breakup immediately after the record's release. There is a typing error on the Manifesto CDs so that the time length for Gone with My Wind is printed ":43" when it should read "1:43". On the original vinyl version, Side A was tracks 1-11 and Side B was tracks 12-21. It also came with a mock periodical in the form of a thin newspaper made up of collage art, called "Fuck Facts."

The East Bay punk band Isocracy parodied the name in their 1988 EP, Bedtime for Isocracy. The cover art depicted the band together in a bed, accompanied by Jello Biafra.

Track listing

• All songs written by Jello Biafra except when stated.

1. "Take This Job and Shove It" (David Allan Coe) – 1:25
2. "Hop with the Jet Set" – 2:07
3. "Dear Abby" – 1:09
4. "Rambozo the Clown" – 2:25
5. "Fleshdunce" – 1:29
6. "The Great Wall" – 1:32
7. "Shrink" – 1:44
8. "Triumph of the Swill" – 2:17
9. "Macho Insecurity" – 1:30
10. "I Spy" (D.H. Peligro) – 2:30
11. "Cesspools in Eden" – 5:56
12. "One-Way Ticket to Pluto" – 1:38
13. "Do the Slag" (East Bay Ray) – 1:36
14. "A Commercial" – 1:33
15. "Gone with My Wind" – 1:43
16. "Anarchy for Sale" – 1:18
17. "Chickenshit Conformist" – 5:58
18. "Where Do Ya Draw the Line" – 2:39
19. "Potshot Heard 'Round the World" (East Bay Ray, Jello Biafra) – 2:10
20. "D.M.S.O." – 2:09
21. "Lie Detector" (East Bay Ray, Jello Biafra) – 3:43

Credits

• Jello Biafra - lead vocals, producer, mixer
• East Bay Ray - guitar
• Klaus Flouride - bass, backing vocals
• D.H. Peligro - drums, backing vocals
• Tim Jones - synthesizer on "One-Way Ticket to Pluto"
• Jayed Scotti - timbales on "Dear Abby"
• Cal - backing vocals
• Andrew - backing vocals
• Blaze - backing vocals
• P. O'Pillage - backing vocals, artwork
• John Cuniberti - engineer, mixer
• Winston Smith - artwork

Charts

Chart (1986)	Peak position
UK Indie Chart	1