''Hollywood Potato Chip'' is the tenth studio album by the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

punk rock band

The Vandals The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped ...

, released in 2004 by

Kung Fu Records Kung Fu Records is an American independent record label founded in 1996 by Joe Escalante and Warren Fitzgerald of the punk rock band The Vandals. Founded in order to release a record by the Riverside, California band Assorted Jelly Beans, the ...

. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

starring guitarist and producer

Warren Fitzgerald Warren Fitzgerald (born September 15, 1968) is an American punk rock guitarist, songwriter, and record label owner. He is best known for being the guitarist of The Vandals and Oingo Boingo. He is also co-founder of Kung Fu Records, along with ...

was filmed for the band's

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

's "

Don't Stop Me Now "Don't Stop Me Now" is a song by the British rock band Queen featured on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' that was released as a single in 1979. Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it was recorded in August 1978 at Super Bear Studios in Berre-les ...

". The album's title is a

euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...

for dried

semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen i ...

on a

casting couch The casting couch is a euphemism for the practice of soliciting sexual favors from a job applicant in exchange for employment in the entertainment industry, primarily acting roles. The practice is illegal in the United States. Predominantly male ...

. Its original cover art used lettering that

parodied A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

the logo of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', prompting legal action and a

cease and desist A cease and desist letter is a document sent to an individual or business to stop alleged illegal activity. The phrase "cease and desist" is a legal doublet, made up of two near-synonyms. The letter may warn that, if the recipient does not dis ...

order from the magazine which resulted in a replacement cover with redesigned lettering. In 2010 the magazine brought further legal action against the band over third-party uses of the original cover appearing on the internet.

Cover artwork controversy

The album's cover was a source of legal controversy. A few months after the album's release, entertainment industry magazine ''

'' issued a

order against The Vandals over the design of the band's name on the album cover. The design mimicked the logo of the magazine as an intentional comment on the materialistic culture of Hollywood, and the magazine accused the band of trademark infringement. The lawsuit was settled with redesigned lettering which appears on all subsequent pressings of the album. However, in April 2010 ''Variety'' filed a lawsuit against the band in a

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

court, suing them over images of the original cover appearing on the internet. The magazine claimed that the band "ignored their agreement" and were "misusing our mark". The Vandals claimed that they had ceased using the parody logo per the terms of the cease and desist order, and they were not responsible for images placed on the internet by third parties:

We agreed not to use this logo anymore and we have no product for sale with this logo so their claims that we are intentionally using it and harming the ''Daily Variety'' are ludicrous. Now they are in the process of punishing us with an abusive lawsuit filed in Delaware, where none of the parties reside or do business, because this will cause us the most financial harm and when we get sick of it, and realize we can't afford to fight them, we will pay them the money. That is our opinion of what is going on because we cooperated in every way to try to take the images down, but they filed the suit anyway.... in Delaware.

The Vandals planned a benefit show to raise money to cover their legal fees, and considered legal action against ''Variety'' to lift the injunction against use of the original logo: "After reading the public filing against us by the ''Daily Variety'' it is clear they are abusing this injunction to shake us down for money, and by filing against us when there are no prohibited images on any sites under our control, they have breached the settlement agreement between us. We did not agree to be responsible for third party distributors of this product. That was clear in the settlement agreement." The band promised two tickets to the benefit to anyone who was able to notify them of a usage of the ''Variety''-mocking logo on a site under the band's control. In April 2011 The Vandals successfully petitioned to have the case moved from Delaware to California. The band used their website to taunt ''Variety'' lawyer Henry Horbaczewski and editor Peter Bart, saying "The Plaintiffs should all be ashamed and it is the Vandals' opinion that 'Variety'''s lawyersare liable for malpractice damages by ruining their client's reputation in a frivolous attempt to act like

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film ''Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films produc ...

when it comes to hoarding their precious font and inhibiting protected free speech." ''Variety'' agreed to drop the case in February 2012. Bassist

Joe Escalante Joseph Patrick Escalante (born January 30, 1963) is an American television writer, film and television director, musician, radio host, and former television executive. He is known professionally as the bassist and songwriter for the punk rock ...

, who has a background as an entertainment lawyer and represented The Vandals in the lawsuit, called it "the worst thing that's ever happened to me, and to the band, and the hardest thing I've ever done. However, the crash course in federal court litigation made me a better lawyer."

Track listing

Personnel

Band

Dave Quackenbush The Vandals are an American punk rock band, established in 1980 in Orange County, California. They have released ten full-length studio albums, two live albums, and have toured the world extensively, including performances on the Vans Warped ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, backing vocals, lead vocals on

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, backing vocals *

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. He is a member of the Vandals (since 1989) and Devo (since 1996), having forme ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Production

*Greg Koller and Kevin Augunas –

recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...

s *Jeremy Mackenzie and Jon St. James – assistant engineers *Jason Gossman and Seth Waldman –

mix engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

s *Brain Gardner –

audio mastering Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...

*Tony Vitali – illustrations and art direction *Lisa Johnson – band photos

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums Kung Fu Records albums The Vandals albums