Contents
Introduction
The Albums
The Singles
The Band
Live
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Introduction
Green Day was part of the California punk scene. Childhood friends
Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass) formed
their first band, Sweet Children in Rodeo, California when they
were 14 years old. By 1989, the group had added a drummer named Al
Sobrante and changed their name to Green Day. It wasn't until
their first album came out that Al Sobrante left the band and
Green Day's permanent drummer, Tre Cool joined.
In 1989 the band
independently released their first EP, 1,000 Hours, which was
received well in the underground scene. Soon after that the group
had signed a contract with their local independent label, Lookout!
Records. Then came the album 39/Smooth, Green Day's first album,
which was released later in 89'.
Throughout the
early '90s, Green Day continued to cultivate a following, which
gained strength with the release of their second album, 1992's
Kerplunk. The underground success of Kerplunk led to a wave of
interest from major record labels and the band eventually decided
to sign with Reprise, part of the Warner group. Dookie, Green
Day's major label debut, was released in the spring of 1994.
Thanks to MTV support for the initial single "Longview,"
Dookie became a massive hit. The album continued to gain momentum
throughout the summer, with the second single "Basket
Case" spending five weeks on the top of the American modern
rock charts and hit the number 5 spot here in the UK.
At the end of the
summer, the band stole the show at Woodstock '94, which helped the
sales of Dookie increase dramatically. By the time the fourth
single "When I Come Around" began its seven-week stay at
number one in the modern rock charts in early 1995, Dookie had
sold over five million copies in the US alone; it would eventually
top 8 million in America, selling over 13 million copies
internationally. Dookie also won the 1994 Grammy for best
Alternative Music Performance. Following the success of Dookie the
band started a world tour, which sold out in virtually every
country.
Green Day quickly
followed Dookie with Insomniac towards the summer of 95'. During
the summer, they hit number one again on the modern rock charts
with "J.A.R." their contribution to the Angus
soundtrack. Insomniac performed well initially, entering the US
charts at number two, and selling over two million copies by the
spring of 1996, yet none of its singles - including the radio
favourite "Brain Stew/Jaded" were as popular as those
from Dookie.
Later in 95'
Green Day began another world tour, but the stress of all the gigs
was too much and they abruptly cancelled the European tour in
spring 96'. Following the cancellation, the band spent the rest of
the year resting and writing new material. The end result is what
is called by many, the best album of their career, Nimrod.
Nimrod released
in September 1997 is fast becoming Green Days best selling album,
this is because of the new direction the band are now taking.
Billie Joe, the lead singer said the album is like this because
they are now more mature (although still only 26). After
performing a series of dates in the US Green Day came to Europe
and the UK in January 1998. Their new single "Time of your
life" was released just before their tour. It hit the US
charts at No. 1 and the UK charts at No. 9. During their visit to
the UK the band did some promoting appearing on shows such as Top
of the Pops and TFI Friday. Their UK tour was a sell out
everywhere so the band also plan to appear at some UK festivals
including V98. Their third single ‘Redundant’ was released in
May and hit the UK charts at 23. Their 4th single is said to be
‘Nice guys finish last’ and is planned for a December /
January release. Green Day played at V98 this August and were
easily the best band there. At the end of their set they set the
drums on fire causing a lot of damage.
The
Albums
In 1989 the band independently released their first EP, 1,000
Hours, which was received well in the underground scene. Soon
after that the group had signed a contract with their local
independent label, Lookout! Records. Then came the album
39/Smooth, Green Day's first album, which was released later in
89'.
Throughout the
early '90s, Green Day continued to cultivate a following, which
gained strength with the release of their second album, 1992's
Kerplunk. The underground success of Kerplunk led to a wave of
interest from major record labels and the band eventually decided
to sign with Reprise, part of the Warner group. Dookie, Green
Day's major label debut, was released in the spring of 1994.
Thanks to MTV support for the initial single "Longview,"
Dookie became a massive hit. The album continued to gain momentum
throughout the summer, with the second single "Basket
Case" spending five weeks on the top of the American modern
rock charts and hit the number 5 spot here in the UK.
At the end of the
summer, the band stole the show at Woodstock '94, which helped the
sales of Dookie increase. By the time the fourth single "When
I Come Around" began its seven-week stay at number one in the
modern rock charts in early 1995, Dookie had sold over five
million copies in the US alone; it would eventually top 8 million
in America, selling over 13 million copies internationally and
about 4 million here in the UK. Dookie also won the 1994 Grammy
for best Alternative Music Performance. Following the success of
Dookie the band started a world tour, which sold out in virtually
every country.
Green Day quickly
followed Dookie with Insomniac towards the summer of 95'. During
the summer, they hit number one again on the modern rock charts
with "J.A.R.," their contribution to the Angus
soundtrack. Insomniac performed well initially, entering the US
charts at number two, and selling over two million copies by the
spring of 1996, yet none of its singles -- including the radio
favourite "Brain Stew/Jaded" were as popular as those
from Dookie.
Later in 95'
Green Day began another world tour, but the stress of all the gigs
was too much and they abruptly cancelled the European tour in
spring 96'. Following the cancellation, the band spent the rest of
the year resting and writing new material. The end result is what
is called by many, the best album of their career, Nimrod.
Nimrod released
in September 1997 is fast becoming Green Days best selling album,
this is because of the new direction the band are now taking.
Billie Joe, the lead singer said the album is like this because
they are now more mature (although still only 26).
1,039/Smoothed
Out Slappy Hours
This is Green day’s first album, titled 1,039/Smoothed out
slappy hours. The album contains 19 songs made up from 3 EP’s.
Tracks 1- 10 are from the EP 39/Smooth, Tracks 11 – 14 are from
the EP Slappy and tracks 15 – 18 are from the EP 1,000 Hours.
The album also contains the famous track Knowledge by Operation
Ivy. The album was released in 1990 by Lookout Records.
Kerplunk
The second album, entitled Kerplunk was released in 1992 again be
Lookout Records and this time Tre Cool is the drummer. The album
contains 16 tracks including My Generation by The Who. This album
is considered better than the first and record sales seemed to
prove this. On the inside cover is a story entitled My adventure
with Green Day by Laurie L. It is fictional and tells the tale of
a girl who would do anything to see Green Day including killing
her parents (which she did).
Dookie
This is Green Day’s most famous album, it has sold over 13
million copies worldwide. It was released in 1994 by Warner
Records and instantly became a hit. The single Basket Case reached
No. 4 in the UK and topped the American charts for a couple of
weeks. The following single Longview reached No. 3 in the UK and
topped the American charts for over five weeks. The album contains
14 tracks all written by Green Day. This album is No. 33 in the
"top 100 albums you must here before you die" chats and
appears in all top album charts. Although 4 years old it has begun
creeping in the charts again and is currently at No. 59.
Insomniac
This is Green Days 4th album. It was released in the
summer of 1995 containing 14 original songs. Although not as
successful as Dookie the album is just as good. There is much
controversy involving this album, many critics say that it is not
as good as it should be. Many say that this is deliberate, Green
Day wanted to get rid of their fans from Dookie, in order to stay
‘underground’. However whether this is true or not is unknown
and the album is still very good.
Nimrod
This is possibly Green Day’s best album to-date,critically
acclaimed because of the more mature approach the band has taken.
Although many of the songs still have their unique style. The
album contains 18 tracks including the big hit Good Riddance. The
album is has now sold over 2 million copies worldwide. The most
recent single just released, redundant hit the charts at No. 20.
There are plans to release a 4th single from the album.
The track is to be ‘Nice guys finish last’, which is already
receiving heavy airplay on radio stations in America.
The
Singles
Green Day have enjoyed some success with their singles. The band
didn’t release any singles from the first two albums because the
band was still considered ‘underground’. So their first single
was from the multi-million selling album ‘Dookie’. Basket
Case, released in August 1994 was a major hit, in the US it stayed
at No.1 for 6 weeks and hit the No. 5 spot here in then UK. The
single featured some new tracks, ‘on the wagon’ was the first
original track to appear since ‘Dookie’. Along side this was a
tribute to the kinks’ classic ‘tired of waiting for you’.
The video was another MTV hit, ‘a surreal vignette of life in an
asylum where the nurses gave narcotic candies to patients in sumo
wrestler masks while the band jumped around frenetically in boiler
suits and pink fish swam past their faces. It was a joyous snippet
of Green Days lunacy’ said MTV. The video was so popular that it
became MTV’s No.1 video for 94’. Although one member of the
British music magazine ‘melody maker’ had this to say about
them ‘I loathe them with every fibre of my being’. In the
beginning of 1995 they released the very successful ‘when I come
around’ – a distinctly more accessible and jaunty sound for
Green Day which guaranteed radio play and chart success. After the
release of these singles there wasn’t anything else happening
until their next album came out a year later.
Insomniac came
out later in 1995 and with it the release of the single ‘brain
stew / jaded’. The single came out as a limited edition brain
shape but it didn’t do well at all, it reached the US top 30 but
failed to reach even the top 40 here in the UK. The story is the
same with their second single ‘Geek Stink Breath’ although
this did a little better helped probably by the live songs
featured on the single – ‘dominated love slave’, ‘chump’
and ‘stuck with me’. The single was released as two CD’s
each one featuring different live tracks.
After a long
break the band released their new album ‘Nimrod’ and with it
came the single ‘hitchin’ a ride’. This contains ‘sick’
and ‘espionage’. This single received good reviews from
critics and reached the UK charts at No.19. The next single
released from ‘nimrod’ was ‘time of your life (good
riddance)’ or as it’s called on the album ‘good riddance
(time of your life)’. It was released as a two CD boxed set
containing 4 totally new tracks, ‘desensitized, rotting,
suffocate and you lied’ The single received a lot of air play
and sold a few hundred thousand taking it to No.9.
The next single
released was ‘redundant’. This 2 CD set contains 4 live tracks
including: The grouch, Paper lanterns, Reject and She. It wasn’t
as successful as Time of your life and managed to enter the charts
at 23.
There are now
plans to release a new single ‘Nice guys finish last’. It is
already receiving air play in America and its thought to get a
February / March release date.
The
Band
Billie Joe
Armstrong
Born on
February 17, 1972 the youngest of six children. His Dad was a jazz
drummer / truck driver who died of cancer when Billie was 10 years
old. His mother was a waitress at a place called Rod's Hickory
Pit. When he was five, Billie would sing at hospitals to cheer
patients up. The first album BJ bought was Elvis Presley's
"The Sun Sessions". Soon after a couple friends got him
hooked on punk bands. He has played / produced / wrote with
several other bands but most notably, Pinhead Gunpowder, with whom
he has recorded a couple EP’s and records. In July 1994 he
married his girlfriend Adrienne Nesser. The ceremony only lasted 5
minutes and both he and Adrienne drank beer before hand to calm
their nerves. The day after the wedding Adrienne discovered she
was pregnant. Nine months later, in March of 1995, Joseph
Marcicano Armstrong was born.
Mike
Dirnt
Mike Dirnt, formerly Michael Pritchard, lived in poverty, born to
a heroin-addicted mother. He moved in with his foster parents, it
was short lived, and soon Dirnt struck out on his own, working,
among a handful of jobs, including the place where Billie Joe's
mam was a waitress. Dirnt rented a room on the side of Billie
Joe's house at one point. Mike married his girlfriend Anastasia in
August 1996, they now have a daughter named Estelle-Desiree born
in April 1997. Mike was born on May 4, 1972. The pressures of
being in Green Day have become too much for Mike and Anasasia's
marriage to withstand and they are now separated. Mike says he is
still very good friends with her and calls his daughter his
"hero".
Tre Cool
Tre Cool, born Frank Edwin Wright III, grew up in the Mendocino
mountains, where his father who was a Vietnam vet, raised Tre and
his two brothers. Tre's dad built many of the houses in that area,
including that of Lawrence Livermore, Tre's nearest neighbour and
the founder of Green Day's original label, Lookout! Records. At
the age of 12, Tre joined Livermore's pop-punk band, the Lookouts,
recorded an album, and began giging regularly at Gilman Street
(Berkeley's punk club). When John Kiffmeyer, the drummer on Green
Day's debut 39/Smooth, left the band for college, Tre, with
Livermore's blessing, hopped aboard. Tre married his girlfriend
Lisa Lyons in March of 1995, they have a daughter together named
Ramona. They have since separated but are still on good terms.
Live!
From Kerrang!
Magazine: 5/5
‘Welcome to the new face of punk rock. Destroy – with a smiley
face. Yeah, there’s a few old timers mooching around:
evil-looking f**kers with multi-pronged mohicans and tatooed spit.
Mostly, though, its youngsters with newly grown bob’s, Nirvana,
Rancid, Offspring shirts and expensive looking trainers. Never has
the homework of Leeds been finished off quite so quickly’.
‘The kids are
up for it though. Ridiculously so. And a taste of the mayhem to
follow comes early on, when the evening’s first surfer hauls
himself up and over a full 20 minutes before D-Generation appear.
When they do arrive, the New York trash queens are a hoot, but
it’s an unfortunate coincidence that everyone in the band
feature a fat version of someone else.
Pandemonium.
That’s the only word for Green Day. Onstage and off. Up on the
boards, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool – the punk
rock beach boys. About a hundred songs in an hour, tight as a nut,
with a mental comedy cabaret thrown in for free.
Down on the floor
its absolute carnage. A human wave breaks its self again and again
on the stage barrier, throwing up bodies like pieces of flotsam to
be caught and carried off to meet the St John’s ambulance by a
security team that deserves a medal for ensuring nobody gets
killed. The bands own crew are keeping busy as well, towelling
down a stage soaked by attacking squadrons of pint pots, and
gathering up a treasure-trove of shirts, shoes, jackets and other
items lobbed by over enthusiastic punters.
In the middle of
it all they actually get to play. All the best ones are here:
‘welcome to paradise’, ‘geek stink breath’, ‘basket
case’, ‘nice guys finish last’, ‘chump’ and funniest of
all ‘when I come around’ which Tre Cool brings to an abrupt
end by pushing over his drum kit and most of the back line. After
five minutes of ear splitting protest from the wrecked gear,
Billie Joe returns for a solo jog of new single ‘time of your
life (good riddance)’, repeating its closing line over and over:
‘I hope you had the time of your life’. If they’re this good
every night they must be the most thrilling band on the planet.
Green Day later
won an award from Kerrang! Magazine, ‘The best live band in the
world’.
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