MDC “Millions of Dead Cops” 1982. R Radical Records. The flyer is from a show I may or may not have seen in ‘87 in Green Bay (lots of shows in the 80′s + 30 years past = fuzzy memory). “Millions of Dead Cops” – an album title fraught with controversy at the time and would only be worse now – was MDC’s debut album and it is now considered a hardcore punk classic release (Kurt Cobain listed it in his top 50 albums). Milwaukee’s own Beer City Records re-released the original recording for Record Store Day in 2014 (a remixed and expanded version came out in ‘88 on the Twisted Chords label).

MDC, originally from Texas, relocated to San Francisco in the early 80′s and helped define the California hardcore punk sound and San Fran punk political messages of equal rights, equality and anti-corruption (along with Dead Kennedys of course – Jello Biafra’s label Alternative Tentacles would collaborate with MDC on subsequent releases). Millions of Dead Cops is crammed with manic energy and classic lightning-speed punk tracks including their first single from ‘81 “John Wayne Was a Nazi,” as well as “Corporate Deathburger,” “Dick for Brains,” “Greedy & Pathetic,” “Business on Parade” and “Church & State,” the titles of which give a good idea of the lyrical content.