Alternative Tentacles is an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

established in 1979 in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

. It was used by

Dead Kennedys 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. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing p ...

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.

History

Alternative Tentacles subsequently released records of other bands of the alternative/punk scene including releasing records (which were later released by other labels) by bands including

The Dicks ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

, 7 Seconds, and the Butthole Surfers. In 1981, Alternative Tentacles released the compilation '' Let Them Eat Jellybeans!''. Some of the best known bands that have released albums through Alternative Tentacles are

, NoMeansNo, D.O.A., and Alice Donut. In addition to musical acts, Alternative Tentacles also publishes spoken word albums, many by Jello Biafra himself. Another common theme of Alternative Tentacles records over the years has been the artwork of Winston Smith, which has appeared on many of their records, catalogs, posters and shirts. Smith also designed the Alternative Tentacles logo.A Crash Course in Alternative Tentacles.
Alternative Tentacles. 2004. Web. In April 2019 Kerrang ran a long form feature called "An Oral History of Alternative Tentacles". Within that article were quotes on the modern political stance of the label:

"Alternative Tentacles has a long history of making political statements. Two of their biggest selling T-shirts since America’s 2016 election are the ‘Nazi Trumps Fuck Off’ and ‘Trump Hates Me’ designs. Anti-Trump sentiments have also been expressed on the A.T Batcast podcast. So it came as a surprise to the staff to find out that there are Trump supporters who are also fans of A.T. “They think that Trump is punk,” Chris sighs. “He’s the chaos factor, so they see him as someone who’s fucking up the government. It’s amazing to me that people are surprised Jello is anti-Trump. Like, where have you been?!”
This label has questioned every single president – including Obama – since 1979,” adds Dominic, “and we will continue to do so. We support questioning everything, we are feminists, we like to challenge norms, and we aren’t afraid to take a side. I’ll say it again: If you support Trump, fuck you. That shaking things up you love so much is destroying people’s lives.”

In March 2020,

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

ran a feature on their site entitled "The Lesser-Known Classics of Alternative Tentacles Records" as part of their label profile series.

United Kingdom branch

In the early 1980s, Alternative Tentacles opened an office in the UK (eventually settling at 64 Mountgrove Road in London) to release special editions of American punk records that were unavailable in Europe, many of which were licensed from other independent U.S. labels. Among these were releases by SST Records' groups Black Flag and Hüsker Dü, the Dischord Records compilation '' Flex Your Head'', and an EP of tracks from the Bad Brains eponymous 1982 album, as well as U.K. pressings of all American Dead Kennedys releases. It was also a distribution hub for Elemental Records.

Legal trouble

In 1985, Los Angeles prosecutors charged Biafra with "distributing harmful matter to minors" for artwork contained in the

album '' Frankenchrist''. The artwork was a poster reproduction of the painting " Work 219: Landscape XX", also known as "Penis Landscape" by

H.R. Giger Hans Ruedi Giger ( ; ; 5 February 1940 – 12 May 2014) was a Swiss artist best known for his airbrushed images that blended human physiques with machines, an art style known as " biomechanical". Giger later abandoned airbrush for pastels, mark ...

. The case ended in a hung jury and charges were not re-filed. Biafra presented a detailed account of the trial on his second spoken word album, '' High Priest of Harmful Matter − Tales from the Trial''. In early 2000, the label and Biafra were named in a lawsuit brought by his former Dead Kennedys bandmates. The suit claimed that Biafra had failed to pay the band's members a decade's worth of royalties on the band's albums, totaling some $76,000. All sides agreed the initial underpayment of royalties was due to an accounting error. However, the jury ultimately ruled that Alternative Tentacles and Biafra were "guilty of

malice Malice may refer to: Law * Malice (law), a legal term describing the intent to harm Entertainment Film and literature * ''Malice'' (1926 film), a 1926 German silent film directed by Manfred Noa * ''Malice'' (1993 film), a 1993 film starring Al ...

, oppression and

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

" by not promptly informing his former bandmates of the matter and instead withholding the information during subsequent discussions and contractual negotiations. The other Dead Kennedys members only learned of the royalty underpayment from a

whistleblower A whistleblower (also written as whistle-blower or whistle blower) is a person, often an employee, who reveals information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe or fraudulent. Whi ...

at the record label. A 2003 appeal upheld the verdict and judgment against Biafra and the record label of $200,000 in compensation and punitive damages. The result of the case saw the rights to the Dead Kennedys albums turned over to the other band members, who licensed them to Manifesto Records in the United States (and to other labels in the rest of the world). Dead Kennedys albums accounted for about half of all sales by Alternative Tentacles, leading to financial uncertainty for the label. In October 2002, the label moved to

Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The resident population was 12,905 a ...

Artists

Current artists

ArnoCorps ArnoCorps is a hard rock group based in Oakland, California that exclusively performs songs based on the films of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The focus of the band is on inspirational, humorous and energetic live performances. The stage show features au ...

* The Bellrays * Citizen Fish *

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* The Darts * Dash Rip Rock * Dead Ending *

Death Hymn Number 9 Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Disaster Strikes A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

* eX-Girl *

Feral Ohms A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...

* itchy-O * Jello Biafra * Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine * Jucifer * Leftöver Crack *

Legendary Shack Shakers The Legendary Shack Shakers (originally Those or Th' ) are an American rock band from Murray, Kentucky that was formed in 1995 by J.D. Wilkes. The original line-up formed the band out of a shared interest in rockabilly, blues and Western swing ...

* Nardwuar the Human Serviette * Pansy Division * Pins of Light *

The Silver Machine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

* Skarp * Spindrift * Subhumans * Tsunami Bomb *

Turn Me on Dead Man "Revolution 9" is a sound collage from the Beatles' 1968 self-titled double album (also known as the "White Album"). The composition, credited to Lennon–McCartney, was created primarily by John Lennon with assistance from Yoko Ono and George ...

* Unsane * Victim's Family *

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* The World/Inferno Friendship Society

Former artists

* 7 Seconds *

Akimbo Akimbo may refer to: * Akimbo (album), a 2000 album by Friendly * "Arms akimbo" refers to placing hands on hips, arms bent at the elbows which are pointing outward, often in a standing position * Akimbo (band), an American hardcore band * Dual ...

* Alice Donut * Amebix * Bad Brains * Beatnigs * Black Flag * Black Kali Ma *

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Blowfly Blowfly or blow fly may refer to: * Calliphoridae, a family of flies * Blowfly (musician) Clarence Henry Reid (February 14, 1939 – January 17, 2016) was an American musician, songwriter and producer also known by the stage name and altern ...

* BGK * Brujeria * Brutal Juice *

Burning Image Burning Image are an American deathrock band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation ''1983-1987'' i ...

Buzzkill Buzzkill may refer to: * ''Buzzkill'' (TV series) * "Buzzkill" (''CSI: NY'' episode) * "Buzzkill" (song), by Luke Bryan *"Buzz-Kill", a song by Dune Rats from '' The Kids Will Know It's Bullshit'' *''Buzzkill'', a 2008 film by Second City See also ...

* Butthole Surfers * The Causey Way * Chill Eb *

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

* Christian Lunch *

Comets on Fire Comets on Fire were an American noise rock band from Santa Cruz, California, United States. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarist and vocalist Ethan Miller and longtime friend bassist Ben Flashman, who were seeking to create rhythmically ...

* Creeps On Candy * Crucifucks *

* D.O.A. * Doc Corbin Dart *

Dog Faced Hermans Dog Faced Hermans were a post-punk band that formed in Scotland in the mid 1980s and remained active through the mid 1990s. They emerged from the UK anarcho-punk scene with a guitar/bass/drums line-up, but also incorporated trumpet and othe ...

* The Dot Wiggin Band *

Duh Duh or DUH may refer to: * DUH (band), a California-based noise and alternative rock group * ''Duh'' (album), a 1992 album by the punk rock band Lagwagon * "Duh", a 2009 song by rapper Brianna Perry * Matija Duh (1989–2013), Slovenian motorcycl ...

* East Bay Ray *

Eat Eating (also known as consuming) is the ingestion of food, typically to provide a heterotrophic organism with energy and to allow for growth. Animals and other heterotrophs must eat in order to survive — carnivores eat other animals, herbi ...

Eugene Chadbourne Eugene Chadbourne (born January 4, 1954) is an American banjoist, guitarist and music critic. Life and career Chadbourne was born in Mount Vernon, New York, but grew up in Boulder, Colorado. He started playing guitar when he was eleven or twe ...

* Evan Johns and The H-Bombs *

The Evaporators The Evaporators is a Canadian garage rock band formed in 1986 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Nardwuar, its founding member, is also known for interviewing musicians and celebrities. As of 2007, the band consists of vocalist/keyboardist Nardwuar ...

* eX-Girl * F-Minus * Facepuller * False Prophets * The Fartz * The Flaming Stars * Fleshies * Flipper *

Free Beer Opay Beer, originally known as Vores øl - An open source beer (English: ''Our Beer''), is a brand of beer and the first with an "open"/"free" brand and recipe. The recipe and trademark elements are published under the Creative Commons CC ...

* Galloping Coroners (Vágtázó Halottkémek) * Geza X * God Bullies * Grong Grong * Grotus * Half Japanese *

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political sc ...

* Hack *

The Hanson Brothers The Hanson Brothers are fictional characters in the 1977 movie ''Slap Shot''. The characters are based on the Carlson brothers, who were actual hockey players. The movie, which stars Paul Newman, was written by Nancy Dowd. The story was based ...

* Hissanol * Husker Du * Jarboe * Jungle Studs * Kepone *

Klaus Flouride Geoffrey Lyall (born May 30, 1949), better known as Klaus Flouride, is an American musician best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography' ...

Lard Lard is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.Lard
entry in the ...

Les Thugs Les Thugs were a punk band from France. Their records are distributed in North-America by Sub Pop Records. Biography Early Days and first issue The founding members of Les Thugs were two brothers, Eric and Christophe Sourice, from Angers, ...

Life After Life Life After Life may refer to: Film *''Life After Life'' (再生人), a 1981 film Hong Kong film; see 2nd Hong Kong Film Awards * ''Chances Are'' (film), a 1989 film that was known while under production as ''Life After Life'' *''Life After Life'', ...

Logical Nonsense Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...

* The Looters *

Los Gusanos Los Gusanos is a garage/rock/punk band formed in 1992 by Chris Ward (a.k.a. C. J. Ramone of the Ramones). The band began as a side project, but became a full-time job after the Ramones disbanded. Unlike his bassist role in Ramones, Ward sings lead ...

* Ludicra * Mat Callahan * MDC * Melvins * M.I.A. * Michael Gira * Mischief Brew * Mojo Nixon * Molotov Cocktail *

Nausea Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...

* Neurosis *

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

* Nomeansno *

No WTO Combo The No WTO Combo was a one-shot punk rock band started by Krist Novoselic (former Nirvana bassist). The band consisted of Jello Biafra (former frontman of Dead Kennedys); guitarist Kim Thayil of Soundgarden; and the rhythm section of Sweet 75, ...

* Pachinko * Part Time Christians * Peligro * Pitchshifter *

Porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

* Ratos de Porão *

TARANTELLA () is a group of various southern Italian folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania and Puglia. It is characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in time (sometimes or ), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the ...

The Phantom Limbs The Phantom Limbs were a post-punk/deathrock band formed in Oakland, California, in 1999. The group combined the unusual keyboard-driven compositions of Stevenson Sedgwick with an aggressive, punk-influenced rhythm section and a very odd singer, ...

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* Sibling Rivalry *

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* Skrapyard * Slim Cessna's Auto Club * SNFU *

Star Fucking Hipsters Star Fucking Hipsters is an American punk rock band from New York City who have released albums on Fat Wreck Chords and Alternative Tentacles records. They have been called a "punk supergroup" and feature members from numerous notable bands in ...

* Stickdog * Teddy & the Frat Girls * Thrall * Toxic Reasons *

Tragic Mulatto The tragic mulatto is a stereotypical fictional character that appeared in American literature during the 19th and 20th centuries, starting in 1837. The "tragic mulatto" is a stereotypical mixed-race person (a "mulatto"), who is assumed to be dep ...

* Triclops! * Tribe 8 *

Tumor Circus Tumor Circus was a collaboration between Jello Biafra and members of Steel Pole Bath Tub and Grong Grong. They released one self-titled album in 1991. Track listing #"Hazing for Success (Pork Grind Confidential)" – 9:03 #"Human Cyst" - 3:26 # ...

* T.S.O.L. * Ultra Bide *

VHK Galloping Coroners ( Hungarian: Vágtázó Halottkémek, , also known as VHK and Rasende Leichenbeschauer) was a Hungarian rock band active from 1975–2001, and briefly reformed in 2009 and 2013. The band established a unique "shaman punk" or " ...

Voice Farm Voice Farm is a musical group and video collective based in San Francisco. Vocalist Charly Brown and sound designer Myke Reilly form the core of the group, who met in 1980. Voice Farm's musical style has evolved from their influential early-198 ...

* Ward Churchill * Wesley Willis * White Trash Debutants * The Witch Trials * The Yuppie Pricks * Zeni Geva *

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Discography

* Alternative Tentacles discography

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Alternative rock record labels American independent record labels Companies based in San Francisco Companies based in Emeryville, California Punk record labels Record labels established in 1979 Rock record labels Spoken word record labels Music of the San Francisco Bay Area