Roadkill Records

Roadkill Records a was record label started in 1988 by Dave Best, a college textbook salesman who wanted to use his sales bonus to start putting out records. Best ran the label with Ben Weasel and Jughead of Screeching Weasel, and also received the assistance of Marc Ruvolo of No Empathy. The label not only put out their own records but also distributed records by other local bands on different labels. The label ceased operating in 1991 when Best could no longer afford to keep the label going.

Releases

• RDK-001 Screeching Weasel - Boogadaboogadaboogada! LP (1988))
• RDK-002 Bhopal Stiffs - E.P.A. 12" EP (1988)
• RDK-003 Rattail Grenadier - Rattail Grenadier LP (1988)
• RDK-004 No Empathy - Freedom of the Flesh LP (1989)
• RDK-005 The Effigies - Remains Nonviewable LP (1989)
• RDK-006 Sludgeworth - Sludgeworth 7" EP (1990)
• RDK-007 No Empathy - "Agrippa" b/w "Saw Your Horns Off" 7" single (1990)
• RDK-008 Sloppy Seconds - "Where Eagles Dare" b/w "Ice Cream Man" 7" single (1991)
• RDK-009/JFR-001 Chia Pet - Elpee LP (1989) - Joint release with Johanns Face Records

Record Collector Notes

• The first 200 copies of Boogadaboogadaboogada came with an insert that featured photos of the band bowling in the nude.
• No Empathy's "Aggripa" single was limited to 500 copies on gold vinyl. The inside of all the sleeves were hand-numbered.
• The Sloppy Seconds' single came on pink marble vinyl. "Where Eagles Dare" is a Misfits cover and features an appearance by one-time Misfits' guitarist Bobby Steele.

Notes

• Although not an official Roadkill release, the release of Screeching Weasel's 1989 7" EP, Punkhouse, on Limited Potential Records, was financed by Roadkill.
• According to Ben Weasel, Dave Best did a repress of 176 copies of Boogadaboogadaboogada to fill up extra jackets the label had left over. In 1991, the label planned to repress the record again, which was by then out of print, but a co-worker of Dave's took the tapes and sold them to German label which bootlegged the record.
• Rattail Grenadier and the Sloppy Seconds were from Indiana. Rattail Grenadier was fronted by Dave Best's younger brother, Steve, and featured future pop punk super-producer Mass Giorgini.

Reissues

• Screeching Weasel's Boogadaboogadaboogada has been (legitimately) reissued several times. In 1992, Lookout Records issued the record with a green cover (Ben Weasel claimed that this was joke, signifying that the band was "cashing in"). In 2004, Asian Man records reissued it on CD with a pink cover, just like the original cover. It was reissued again in 2008 by Recess Records. Roadkill had also licensed the record in 1988 to the Wetspots label in the UK, who pressed the record but never paid the band. The Wetspots cover features a cartoon of a young paperboy flipping of an old man. Boogadaboogadaboogada is Screeching Weasel's biggest seller, with over 100,000 copies sold.
• Bhopal Stiffs' E.P.A. was reissued on the 1985-1989 compilation CD on Harmless Records.
• No Empathy's Freedom of the Flesh was reissued on the CD version of their 3rd LP, They Want Whatever on Johann's Face Records. The song "Agrippa" was included on a No Empathy compilation in 1998.
• The Effigies' Remains Nonviewable was reissued on CD by Touch and Go Records in 1995. Dave Best's name in the thank you list and his Executive Producer credit, which appeared on the original release, were removed on the reissue.
• The Sludgeworth EP was never reissued but re-recorded versions of the songs appeared on different releases.