KBD: Part I – Killed By Death has come to describe not only a sub-genre of punk, but a whole approach to archiving and releasing DIY music. It’s also one of the top keywords on eBay for record collectors, where the three letter acronym is used as a catch-all phrase for collectors. The first four KBD records were released by Redrum Records in Sweden and were simply LP compilations of old punk 45’s. In an interview with MRR in July 1991, Redrum proprietor Trond E. Gutten (not his real name) says he was inspired to start the KBD series after getting into the “Back from the Grave” compilations of obscure 60’s garage rock. The KBD name is now synonymous with the 77-82 era of punk and the first four volumes are worth picking up.
The Nuns – Decadent Jew
From Killed By Death #1. Part of the appeal of the KBD series is that they highlight the deliberately offensive and desperate nature of early punk music. Poor recordings, out of tune guitars and crude lyrics are all par for the course. Believe it or not, there was a time when you could be offensive as a part of a greater artistic statement (or just because you wanted to). The idea seems so strange and foreign now in our current political and social climate.
Kraut – Matinee
From Killed By Death #1, Krauts ode to babysitting from their 1981 Kill For Cash 7”.
The Users – Sick Of You
From Killed By Death #1, the Users were one of the first punk bands in Cambridge, UK and had a small following thanks to early radio play from John Peel. Speaking of followings, the main idea behind the KBD series was getting the music into the hands of the audience for 10 or 12 bucks. In their MRR interview, Redrum claimed that “The point is that all of this stuff is too great not to be available to anybody except elitist record collectors. I’ve kept the wholesale price distributors fairly low.” Most of the KBD records that are available are still priced between $12 and $14.
The Controllers – Neutron Bomb
From Killed By Death #1, recorded before The Weirdos wrote their song with a real similar title. It’s important to note that all of the early KBD records are technically bootlegs. “I’m not paying royalties to any of the bands on the records” Gutten said in 1991. “The royalty breakdown would amount to something like $7 per band member”. Redrum could have never tracked down all of the band members of each song, and if they did, paying out royalties would have skyrocketed their costs. “Some of the bands were sorta bitter and thought that they should have been R.E.M or Husker Du tried to screw me for as much money as possible…”
The Authorities – I Hate Cops
From Killed By Death #1, early California punk from their “Soundtrack for Trouble” EP, released in 1982. Don’t hate people for their profession, hate them for their mustache.
Detention – Dead Rock N’ Rollers
From Killed By Death #2, classic early punk from New Jersey. The vinyl version of KBD #1 included the entire Polly Wog Stew EP from The Beastie Boys, recorded in 1982. All subsequent pressings have an altered track listing with this EP removed.
Child Molesters – (I’m The) Hillside Strangler
From Killed By Death #1. Redrum told MRR, “I love the 45, I think it’s the perfect medium for rock n roll. Hoarding rare records for the rareness of the discs themselves sucks. Show me a man who’ll drag out his copy of the Child Molesters EP and play it dead drunk and then toss it on the coffee table without the sleeve and I’ll show you a real man. None of this M-/VG++ crap. What we are talking about is great music that you have a good time cranking loud.”
Psycho Surgeons – Horizontal Action
From Killed By Death #1, frantic and high energy punk from Sydney, Australia who released this single in 1978 on Wallaby Beat.
Gasoline – Killer Man
From Killed By Death #1, Early punk from France who released two 45’s in 1977.
The Freeze – I Hate Tourists
From Killed By Death #2. The Freeze were from Cape Cod and are one of the longest running punk bands from Massachusetts.
