Editing Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death
| type       = compilation
| artist     = [[Dead Kennedys]]
| cover      = Dead Kennedys - Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death cover.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = June 1987
| recorded   = 1979–87
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = {{flatlist|
* [[Hardcore punk]]
* [[punk rock]]
}}
| length     = 51:26
| label      = [[Alternative Tentacles]]
| producer   =
| prev_title = [[Bedtime for Democracy]]
| prev_year  = 1986
| next_title = [[Mutiny on the Bay]]
| next_year  = 2001
| misc       = 
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AbsolutePunk]]
| rev1Score = (87%) [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=371181 link]
| rev2 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev2Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}  [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000193420|pure_url=yes}} link]
| rev3 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev3score = 4/10<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Dead Kennedys|first=Gina|last=Arnold|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor2-first=Craig|editor2-last=Marks|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=106–107}}</ref>
| noprose = yes
}}
'''''Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death''''' (stylized as '''''Give me convenience OR give me death''''') is a compilation album by the American [[hardcore punk]] band [[Dead Kennedys]]. It was released in June 1987 through [[lead vocalist|front man]] [[Jello Biafra]]'s record label [[Alternative Tentacles]].

The image on its album cover is a composite of a 1950s [[Barbasol]] shaving cream ad and a 1946 famine in [[Calcutta]].<ref name="Harper">{{Cite web |last=Harper |first=April |date=2022-11-18 |title=This Just In: Punk Flyers of the Bay Area |url=https://letterformarchive.org/news/punk-flyers-of-san-francisco/ |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=Letterform Archive |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Overview==
The album consists of songs (or in some cases, different versions of songs) that were not released on the band's studio albums. The original [[Vinyl record|vinyl version]] had tracks 16 and 17 on an extra [[flexi disc]]. The album was certified gold by both [[British Phonographic Industry|BPI]] and the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]] in December 2007. The title is a play on the ultimatum by [[Patrick Henry]], "[[Give me liberty or give me death!]]", and is intended as a commentary on American [[consumerism]]. ''Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death'' was the last Dead Kennedys album that Biafra approved the production of, and their last album released through Alternative Tentacles.

The album includes "Pull My Strings", recorded live, which they played only once on March 25, 1980 at the [[Bay Area Music Awards]] ("BAMMIES") in front of music industry bigwigs to give the event some "[[New wave music|new wave]] credibility". The band spent the day of the show practicing their increasingly popular "[[California Über Alles]]", the song they were asked to play. About 15 seconds into the song Jello Biafra said, "Hold it! We've gotta prove that we're adults now. We're not a punk rock band, we're a new wave band."
 
The band, who all wore white shirts with a big, black S painted on the front, pulled black ties from around the backs of their necks to form a dollar sign, then started playing "Pull My Strings", a [[satirical]] attack on the ethics of the mainstream [[music industry]]. The song also referenced [[the Knack]]'s biggest hit, "[[My Sharona]]". The song was never recorded in the studio but this performance, the only time the song was ever performed, was included on the album.<ref>{{cite web |author= Dead Kennedys |author-link= Dead Kennedys | date=1980|title= Pull My Strings |website= [[YouTube]] | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSg2MzH6gsE}}</ref>

Also included is "Night of the Living Rednecks", which was recorded during a show in [[Portland, Oregon]] in 1979 when East Bay Ray snapped a guitar string as the band finished their song "Chemical Warfare". While the guitar string was being replaced, Biafra vamped for time by telling a story, backed by Ted and Flouride performing a [[jazz]]-style instrumental, about how on the last trip the band made to Portland, where he had a confrontation with some "dumb rich kids" in a "life-size [[Hot Wheels]] car" that involved him throwing a rock at their vehicle after they sprayed water on him and later trapping himself in a telephone booth when they retaliated.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}

==Track listing==
{{track listing
| extra_column = Original appearance
| title1   = [[Police Truck]]
| length1  = 2:27
| writer1  = [[Jello Biafra]], [[East Bay Ray]]
| extra1   = "[[Holiday in Cambodia]]"
| title2   = [[Too Drunk to Fuck]]
| length2  = 2:42
| writer2  = Biafra
| extra2   = "[[Too Drunk to Fuck]]"
| title3   = [[California über alles]]
| note3    = single version
| length3  = 3:28
| writer3  = Biafra, John Greenway
| extra3   = "[[California über alles]]"
| title4   = The Man with the Dogs
| length4  = 3:04
| writer4  = Biafra
| extra4   = "[[California über alles]]"
| title5   = Insight
| length5  = 1:42
| writer5  = Biafra
| extra5   = "[[Kill the Poor]]"
| title6   = Life Sentence
| length6  = 2:41
| writer6  = Biafra
| extra6   = "[[Bleed for Me (Dead Kennedys song)|Bleed for Me]]"
| title7   = A Child and His Lawnmower
| length7  = 0:57
| writer7  = Biafra
| extra7   = ''[[Not So Quiet on the Western Front (album)|Not So Quiet on the Western Front]]''
| title8   = [[Holiday in Cambodia]]
| note8    = single version
| length8  = 3:46
| writer8  = Dead Kennedys
| extra8   = "Holiday in Cambodia"
| title9   = [[I Fought the Law]]
| length9  = 2:21
| writer9  = [[Sonny Curtis]], new lyrics: Biafra
| extra9   = ''Play New Rose for Me&nbsp;– Rose 100''
| title10  = Saturday Night Holocaust
| length10 = 4:21
| writer10 = Dead Kennedys
| extra10  = "[[Halloween (Dead Kennedys song)|Halloween]]"
| title11  = Pull My Strings
| note11   = live
| length11 = 5:47
| writer11 = Biafra, [[Bruce Slesinger|Ted]]
| extra11  = March 25, 1980 – Bay Area Music Awards
| title12  = Short Songs
| note12   = live
| length12 = 0:29
| writer12 = [[Carlos Cadona|6025]]
| extra12  = ''Can You Hear Me? Music from the Deaf Club''
| title13  = Straight A's
| note13   = live
| length13 = 2:15
| writer13 = Biafra, 6025
| extra13  = ''Can You Hear Me? Music from the Deaf Club''
| title14  = Kinky Sex Makes the World Go 'Round
| length14 = 4:17
| writer14 = Dead Kennedys
| extra14  = ''Wargasm''
| title15  = The Prey
| length15 = 3:50
| writer15 = Biafra, Ray
| extra15  = "Too Drunk to Fuck"
| title16  = Night of the Living Rednecks
| note16   = live
| length16 = 5:14
| writer16 = Biafra, Flouride, Ted
| extra16  = November 19, 1979 – Earth Tavern, Portland, OR
| title17  = Buzzbomb from Pasadena
| length17 = 2:22
| writer17 = Biafra, Ray
| extra17  = N/A
}}

==Personnel==
* [[Jello Biafra]] – vocals, producer, artwork, compiler
* [[East Bay Ray]] – guitar, echoplex, producer, mixer
* [[Klaus Flouride]] – bass, backing vocals
* [[Bruce Slesinger|Ted]] – drums (tracks 1–5, 8, 11–13, 16), artwork 
* [[D.H. Peligro]] – drums, backing vocals (tracks 6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17)
* [[Carlos Cadona|6025]] – rhythm guitar (tracks 12, 13)

===Additional performers===
* Ninotchka (Theresa Soder) – backing vocals on "Insight"

===Production===
* [[Thom Wilson]] – producer
* Geza X – producer, backing vocals
* Norm – producer
* Elliot Mazer – producer
* Jim Keylor – engineer
* [[John Cuniberti]] – producer, engineer
* Oliver Dicicco – mixer, engineer
* Pippin Youth – mixer
* Dee Dee Graves – artwork
* [[Winston Smith (artist)|Winston Smith]] – artwork
* Jayed Scotti – artwork

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col" | Chart (1987)
! scope="col" | Peak<br />position
|-
{{Album chart|UK2|84|date=19870628|rowheader=true|accessdate=August 30, 2024}}
|-
! scope="row"| [[UK Indie Chart|UK Independent Albums]] ([[Official Charts Company|OCC]])<ref>{{cite book |first=Barry |last=Lazell |url=http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/d.htm |title=Indie Hits 1980–1989 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |date=1997 |access-date=September 5, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605132747/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/d.htm |archive-date=June 5, 2011 }}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|}

==Certifications==
{{certification Table Top}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United Kingdom|artist=Dead Kennedys|title=Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death|award=Silver|relyear=1987|certyear=2008|id=2530-476-2}}
{{certification Table Entry|type=album|region=United States|artist=Dead Kennedys|title=Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death|award=Gold|relyear=1987|certyear=2007}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dead Kennedys}}
{{Jello Biafra}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death}}
[[Category:Dead Kennedys albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Geza X]]
[[Category:1987 compilation albums]]
[[Category:Alternative Tentacles compilation albums]]