Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by male musicians who wore flamboyant and feminine clothing, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter, and female musicians who wore masculine clothing. Glam artists drew on diverse sources across music and throwaway pop culture, ranging from bubblegum pop and 1950s rock and roll to cabaret, science fiction, and complex art rock. The flamboyant clothing and visual styles of performers were often camp or androgynous, and have been described as playing with other gender roles. Glitter rock was a more extreme version of glam rock.
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, they released records for other bands as well. Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray and vocalist Jello Biafra formed Alternative Tentacles, but Biafra became the sole owner in the mid-1980s. Alternative Tentacles no longer owns the rights to Dead Kennedys recordings after a 2000 lawsuit.
Bruce Wayne Campbell, known by his stage name Jobriath, was an American rock musician and actor. He was the first openly gay rock musician to be signed to a major record label and one of the first internationally famous musicians to die of AIDS.
Dramarama is an American, New Jersey–based alternative rock/power pop band, who later moved to Los Angeles. The band was formed in New Jersey in 1982 and disbanded in 1994. The band formally reunited in 2003 following an appearance on VH1's Bands Reunited.
The Quick were a mid-1970s power pop band based in Los Angeles. The Quick were influenced by 1960s British Invasion bands and 1970s British glam bands, as well as by fellow Angelenos Sparks.
Flipside, known as Los Angeles Flipside Fanzine, was a punk zine published in Whittier and Pasadena, California, from 1977 to 2002. The magazine was associated with its own record label, Flipside Records, releasing vinyl records and compact discs beginning in 1978.
Sarge was an indie rock band from Champaign, Illinois, in the United States. They released three albums on Mud Records.
The Spoilers were a Southern California punk rock/new wave band formed in 1978.
Undercover Slut, also known as UCS and stylised as VNDERCOVER SLVT, is a French-American shock rock and glam punk group, based in Paris. Throughout the history of the band, there have been multiple line-up changes and nearly thirty people have been involved with the band; while certain musicians contribute to music, vocals and lyrics, 'O' remains the only constant member.
Chris Paul Carter is an American disc jockey and music/film producer based in Los Angeles.
Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda County, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Oakland and Berkeley areas.
The Hollywood Squares were an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1977. They are probably best known for their song "Hillside Strangler". Released in a very limited edition on the trio's own Square Records label, the issue quickly sold out and has since become a highly sought-after collectible. The single has reappeared in various bootleg incarnations over the years including the 1989 compilation album Killed By Death #1. The original master tapes were used on the LP and CD Hillside Strangler: Restrangled, released in 2006.
Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco was a Los Angeles nightclub located at 7561 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip from late 1972 until early 1975. It catered to the glam rock movement. The club was infamous for widespread drug use and hosting underage girls at parties, but it was also a popular spot among rockstars, including Cherie Currie, Joan Jett, and Iggy Pop.
Rodney Bingenheimer is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of Rodney on the ROQ, a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ-FM from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he also managed a Los Angeles nightclub called Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco.
Celebrity Skin was a post-punk, glam-influenced, hard rock band from Los Angeles, California. They were active from the mid-1980s until the early 1990s.
We Got the Neutron Bomb: The Untold Story of LA Punk is an oral history of the Los Angeles punk scene written by Marc Spitz and Brendan Mullen. It was released in 2001 by Three Rivers Press.
The Barb Wire Dolls are a grunge/punk rock band from Greece, based in the United States. They were championed by Lemmy on whose personal record label their third and fourth albums were released.
Jobriath A.D. is a 2012 American biographical documentary film written, produced and directed by Kieran Turner. The documentary details the rise and fall of the first openly gay rock star Jobriath. The film features commentary by Jerry Brandt, Joe Elliott, Marc Almond, Dennis Christopher, Will Sheff, Justin Tranter, Kristian Hoffman, and Ann Magnuson, and is narrated by Henry Rollins. Jobriath appears in archival footage. The film had its world premiere on March 29, 2012 at the London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and had additional screenings at the Frameline Film Festival, and the Florida Film Festival. It won the Best Documentary award at both the Out on Film festival and the Dublin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The film had a limited theatrical release on January 31, 2014, and was released to DVD in 2015.
The Hollywood Stars are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in late 1973 by manager/impresario Kim Fowley. The band was created as a West Coast answer to the New York Dolls during the height of the popularity of the glam rock genre. The band signed with Columbia Records in 1974 and with Arista Records in 1976, releasing one self-titled LP with the latter label in 1977 and opening for The Kinks on their Sleepwalker tour the same year. The band's song "Escape" was recorded by Alice Cooper and released on the album Welcome to my Nightmare (1975), while their song "King of the Night Time World" was recorded by Kiss and released on the album Destroyer (1976). Two archive albums recorded in 1974 and 1976 were released in 2013 and 2019 to critical acclaim, prompting the band to reform in 2018.
