Editing Alternative Tentacles (section)

==History==

The origins of Alternative Tentacles trace back to June 1979. The name Alternative Tentacles was used as the label name on Dead Kennedys' self-produced debut single, "[[California Uber Alles]]". In true independent spirit, the band had saved their gig money for a year to produce their own record instead of waiting for an established label to sign them. The single would do better than anyone expected, garnering considerable attention throughout the U.S. and Europe. At the same time, lead singer Jello Biafra's 1979 mayoral campaign in San Francisco helped kick-start interest from the British music press that culminated in a very successful British and European tour in the fall of 1980, upon the release of their full-length debut, ''[[Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables]]''.

The original idea was for Alternative Tentacles to be based in Europe only, and concentrate on European released and exposure for then-unknown American bands after Biafra found many Dead Kennedys fans were far more interested in the American underground than the overseas labels and press were.

The result was the ''[[Let Them Eat Jellybeans!]]'' compilation album. This was quickly followed with singles by [[D.O.A. (band)|D.O.A.]], [[Bad Brains]], [[Black Flag (band)|Black Flag]], [[Flipper (band)|Flipper]], [[TSOL]], [[Voice Far]], [[Husker Du]], and more. But the impact of ''Jellybeans'' and Alternative Tentacles turned out to be even greater outside Great Britain. ''Jellybeans'' and Dead Kennedys' follow-up '81 European tour is credited with breaking open the still strong underground scenes in Finland, Italy, Germany, and even behind the Iron Curtain.

Meanwhile, ''Jellybeans'' was also gaining steam in America. Many Americans were picking up import copies as a way of tuning in to the ongoing underground explosion in the States. Alternative Tentacles U.S. was off and running with domestic releases of new albums by [[D.O.A. (band)|D.O.A.]], [[TSOL]], [[Dead Kennedys]], [[Butthole Surfers]], [[Dicks (band)|the Dicks]], [[the Crucifucks]] and many more.

At the same time a friend in San Francisco, Ruth Schwartz, was starting [[Mordam Records]] label and distribution. They partnered with Alternative Tentacles Records to handle global distribution in 1983.<ref name="about">[http://www.alternativetentacles.com/page.php?page=about2&sd=nV2RIy-2E7aLM-WVKet A Crash Course in Alternative Tentacles.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622122654/http://www.alternativetentacles.com/page.php?page=about2 |date=June 22, 2011 }} Alternative Tentacles. 2004. Web.</ref>

As the label progressed, an increasing divide between Biafra and Ray developed, stemming from a combination of personal, financial, and philosophical differences over the direction of the label. Biafra had a strong vision for the label's direction, focusing on politically charged and experimental acts prioritizing a more avant-garde and activist-focused roster and Ray was feeling that was increasingly too narrow of a direction. Also feeling that there was an increasing conflict of interest between the interest of Dead Kennedys and the label, Ray sold his stake in the mid-1980s, allowing Jello Biafra to maintain full creative control over Alternative Tentacles, while Ray focused on the running of the band’s partnership.<ref>{{cite web |title=Punknews Interviews East Bay Ray of Dead Kennedys |url=https://www.punknews.org/article/25621/interviews-east-bay-ray-dead-kennedys |website=punknews.com |date=2007}}</ref>

In addition to musical acts, Alternative Tentacles has also published [[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 (artist)|Winston Smith]], which has appeared on many of their records, catalogs, posters and shirts. Smith also designed the original Alternative Tentacles logo in 1981.

<blockquote>"From the very beginning, everyone agreed that the label should treat the bands fairly and decently," says Greg Werckman, who managed AT from 1989-1997. "It was never hip to be on Alternative Tentacles the way it was to be on [[Sub Pop]]. That was its appeal to me. We stayed true to our vision."</blockquote>

Alternative Tentacles has had a number of locations around San Francisco over the years. The first office was in Dead Kennedys tour manager Mike Bonnano’s bedroom at the A-Hole, a punk rock household at Third and Bryant in San Francisco. They then went on to share offices with Mordam Records on Rodgers Street South of Market, then on Shipley Street still in the South of Market neighborhood shared with Mordam, then moved to the Mission District with Mordam Records on Folsom Street.

In 1995, Alternative Tentacles moved to their own office in the [[Noe Valley]] neighborhood in [[San Francisco]], before relocating to [[Emeryville, California|Emeryville]], California, across the Bay in October 2002 and the label has continued its operation there to present day.<ref>{{cite web |title=Still Rebellious After All These Years/ Punk Rock label Alternative Tentacles celebrates 20 years of musical anarchy |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/still-rebellious-after-all-these-years-punk-2924552.php |website=bandcamp.com |date=June 20, 1999}}</ref>

In 2009, following the closure of Lumberjack Mordam Music Group, Alternative Tentacles Records switched global distribution to San Francisco based Revolver/Mid-Heaven.

In 2006 they re-released some classic early-1980s recordings in its "Re-issues Of Necessity" series by the likes of [[JFA (band)|JFA]], [[Dicks (band)|the Dicks]], BGK, [[the Fartz]], [[Los Olvidados]], [[Drunk Injuns]], [[Free Beer]], [[False Prophets (band)|False Prophets]], [[Amebix]], M.I.A., [[Nausea]], [[The Mentally Ill|Mentally Ill]], and the classic compilation [[Not So Quiet on the Western Front (album)|''Not So Quiet on the Western Front'']]. 

In April 2019 [[Kerrang]] ran a long form feature called "An Oral History of Alternative Tentacles".<ref>{{cite web |title=An Oral History of Alternative Tentacles |url=https://www.kerrang.com/features/an-oral-history-of-alternative-tentacles-40-years-of-keeping-punk-alive/ |website=kerrang.com |date=April 8, 2019 |access-date=June 27, 2020}}</ref> 

In March 2020, [[Bandcamp]] ran a feature on their site entitled "The Lesser-Known Classics of Alternative Tentacles Records" as part of their label profile series.<ref>{{cite web |title=Still The Lesser-Known Classics of Alternative Tentacles|url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/label-profile/alternative-tentacles-guide |website=bandcamp.com |date=June 20, 1999}}</ref>

In 2023 Alternative Tentacles announced that they would be once again releasing the entire [[Nomeansno]] catalog on the label after the band had left the label in 2002, starting with the 7" "Dad/Revenge".<ref>{{cite web |title=Alternative Tentacles to re-releases NoMeansNo discogrpahy, starts with 7-inch |url=https://www.punknews.org/article/78818/alternative-tentacles-to-re-releases-nomeansno-discogrpahy-starts-with-7-inch |website=punknews.com}}</ref> This was followed by the release of their 1989 full length, ''[[Wrong (album)|Wrong]]'', in 2024.

Through 2024, the label has released over 500 recordings and has made a push to reissue some of the most popular releases on vinyl, releasing limited edition color versions both as pre-orders through their website and through a Patreon program they launched in October of 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title= 2024 IN REVIEW... AND WHAT'S COMING IN 2025
 |url=https://alternativetentacles.com/blogs/news/2024-in-review-and-whats-coming-in-2025 |website=alternativetentacles.com}}</ref>