The Beatnigs were an American, San Francisco-based band, which combined hardcore punk, industrial and hip hop influences, described as "a kind of avant-garde industrial jazz poets collective". The band was the initial collaboration of
Michael Franti
Michael Franti (born April 21, 1966) is an American rapper, musician, poet, activist, documentarian, and singer-songwriter, known for his participation in many musical projects, most with a political and social emphasis, including the Beatnigs ...
and
Rono Tse, who would later form
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy were an American hip-hop musical ensemble, active during the early 1990s. The band was formed in 1990 by Michael Franti (vocals, production, misc. instruments) and Rono Tse (drums, percussion, programming), w ...
, and
Kevin Carnes who would later form
Broun Fellinis. The band's stage performance included the use of power tools such as a rotary saw on a metal bar to create industrial noise and pyrotechnics. The Beatnigs released an LP
virus065, Jan 1988 and 12" EP of their most famous song, ''"Television: The Drug of the Nation''
virus071 remixed by
Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958, London, England) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing technique ...
,
Gary Clail
Gary Clail (born 1956) is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit in ...
, and
Mark Stewart) on
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single " California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, ...
in 1988. That same year the played their NYC debut at the
New Music Seminar
The New Music Seminar (NMS) is a Music Conference and Festival held annually each June in New York City. The New Music Seminar originally ran from 1980 to 1995 and was relaunched in 2009. NMS features over 150 CEOs and other executives, presiden ...
, and recorded for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's Peel Sessions.
The single was reissued by Alternative Tentacles in 2002, and the album was planned for a CD re-release while made available on iTunes and other digital retailers. One venue for the band was