PETA Global Issue 2

If we want to avoid this endless human riot why don’t we start by changing our diet? Life is for living The animals agree If they were meant to be eaten they’d be growing on trees So no more torture of our furry friends in the name of food

Nina/Lene: © Derek Ridgers | Music Background: © iStock.com/RKaulitzki | Gramophone: © iStock.com/nicoolay

or scientific ends The pressure is on Make your decision Be vegetarian Be antivivisection!

PETA’s Indie Rock Album Animal Liberation Turns 30 Download Dance Hit ‘Don’t Kill the Animals’ for Free!

– from “Don’t Kill the Animals,” by Nina Hagen and Lene Lovich

I n the 1980s, charity records (think We Are the World) were all the rage. These star-studded albums and singles benefitted famine relief, AIDS outreach, and other social justice causes. But there wasn’t an album devoted to helping animals – until PETA created the first one, Animal Liberation. PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews says that when he was in high school and first heard the Siouxsie and the Banshees song “Skin” about the fur industry, he thought, “That’s so effective.” He assumed that someone would eventually release a charity record to benefit animals. “When I got out of college, no one had done it. I met Morrissey the month I began working at PETA. He loved the idea and offered us The Smiths’ brand-new song ‘Meat Is Murder,’ and soon we had an international deal with trendy Wax Trax! Records.” PETA’s Animal Liberation album was born. Named “Rock Album of the Week” by The New York Times upon its release in 1987, PETA’s groundbreaking record featured ’80s indie artists such as Siouxsie Sioux, The Smiths, Shriekback, and top 40 pop star Howard Jones.

fan, recalling PETA’s Animal Rights Music Festival – a 35,000-strong gathering that took place the following year at the Washington Monument and was the largest event in the history of the movement – said, “I was at the PETA concert in Washington, D.C. The next day, I was vegetarian.” “[A] constant raising of ethical awareness … is good for us human beings,” Nina told

But the song that had the greatest impact – and helped put PETA on the pop culture radar – was the edgy dance hit “Don’t Kill the Animals” by indie icons Nina Hagen and Lene Lovich. In an exclusive interview with PETA, Lene explained how the song came to be after her friend Nina opened her eyes to the horrific abuse of animals in

PETA. “Will those people who never showed any love and compassion for their fellow beings … enter heaven? I doubt it.” Take Action Now “Don’t Kill the Animals” has changed hearts and minds. Listen for free at PETA.org/Music , and share “Don’t Kill the Animals” with everyone you know who loves music and animals.

laboratories and on factory farms. Once Lene stopped eating animals, she says, “I suddenly felt this fantastic freedom. … And I was just really so excited that all that weight was lifted off of me.” To celebrate the animal anthem’s 30 th anniversary, PETA is offering a free download of the out-of-print Wax Trax! collectible. One commenter wrote on Nina’s Facebook page, “This song marked history.” Another

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