Green Day
Green Day is a pop punk band consisting of Billie Joe Armstrong (lead vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass, backing vocals, born Michael Ryan Pritchard), and Tré Cool (drummer, backing vocals, born Frank Edwin Wright III, in Germany). Since their sixth album, the band have included close friend and associate, back-up guitarist Jason White.
Mike Dirnt, Billie Joe Armstrong, and Tré Cool
Along with other bands on the Lookout! label, they are credited as being the pioneers of the pop punk genre popularizing the genre to the mainstream with the 1994 album Dookie. Dookie has been certified diamond (10 million copies shipped) in the United States since its release. Their second best-selling album American Idiot came a decade after Dookie, in 2004, enjoying huge critical and fan acclaim. A year after its release, it has been certified quadruple platinum in the US, has sold 8 million copies world-wide and won the band a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album". Green Day swept the MTV Video Music Awards 2005 winning seven out of eight nominations: "Video of the Year", "Best Rock Video", "Best Group Video", "Best Direction", "Best Editing", "Best Cinematography" - all for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", and the "Viewer Choice Award" for "American Idiot".
History
Lookouts: the beginning
At the age of 12, Tré Cool became a member of the band The Lookouts. Their album attracted some attention, and Tré began performing at an early age at the Berkeley, California punk rock all-ages venue 924 Gilman Street.
In 1988, Billie Joe Armstrong, (aged 16) and Mike Dirnt (also aged 16) formed "Sweet Children", with Armstrong on lead vocals and guitar, Dirnt on bass and backing vocals, and John Kiffmeyer (a.k.a. Al Sobrante), on drums. Their first show was in 1988 at Rod's Hickory's Pit in Vallejo, California.
A couple of months later, they played a high school party with the Lookouts in a remote mountain location near Willits, California, where Tre and Kain Kong of the Lookouts lived and attended school. Only five kids showed up for the party but they left after the first song, and there was no electricity in the house and the toilet didn't work, so Sweet Children had to play using a generator and candlelight, but they played, as Lookouts singer/guitarist Larry Livermore put it, "as if they were The Beatles at Shea Stadium."
Livermore, who also ran the Berkeley independent label Lookout! Records, immediately offered them a deal, and in early 1989 they recorded their first EP, 1,000 Hours, and then decided, weeks before the EP release, to change their name to Green Day, a slang term for a day spent smoking cannabis. The band were smokers since puberty and Billie Joe got his nickname, "Two Dollar Bill", from selling joints at that price ($2) at his high school. The song "Green Day", written by Billie Joe, is about his first experience using marijuana. Many references to the drug appear in Green Day's music, though it is by no means their defining characteristic.
One year later, in April 1990, Green Day released their first album 39/Smooth, and that summer they set out in a van on their first national tour. Before leaving, they recorded another four-song EP called Slappy and while in Minneapolis-St. Paul they recorded a four-song EP of some of their old songs for the local label Skene Records, and called it "Sweet Children". In 1991, 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours was released on CD; this re-issued 39/Smooth with all the tracks from Slappy and 1,000 Hours.
After this tour, at the end of the summer of 1990, Al Sobrante left the band on what was supposed to be a temporary basis to attend college in Arcata, California. By this time the Lookouts had become mostly inactive, and Tré Cool, now 17 and living in Berkeley, began playing with Green Day as a temporary replacement. The combination worked out so well that he soon became Green Day's permanent drummer.
During 1991, the band toured and played locally, building up a large fan following, and also wrote and recorded their second album, Kerplunk!, which was released on Lookout Records in January 1992. The CD version also included the four tracks from the Sweet Children EP. They continued to tour through 1992 and 1993, ranging as far afield as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, and Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) When the tour came through the UK, it was notable for a famous appearance at a Wigan social club called The rainbow. The gig would have been a standard stop on an independent punk band's minor UK tour, were it not for one small fact: the band decided to use their set to stage their own version of the Nativity, featuring Billie Joe as all three schizophrenic Three Wise Punks, Mike as Santa Claus and a bad-taste version of the Virgin Birth featuring Tre as Mary, a roadie as Jesus and a bag of rice pudding and tomato ketchup as the Holy Placenta. This sort of theatrical show would become common practice for the band ten years later, only on a much larger scale.
Mainstream success with Dookie
By 1993, Green Day had sold about 55,000 copies of Kerplunk!, a large amount for the independent punk scene in those days, and attracted a great deal of attention from the major labels. Eventually they decided to sign a deal with Reprise Records, leaving Lookout on friendly terms, and spent the greater part of the year recording their major label debut, Dookie, which proved to be an almost instant sensation, helped by extensive MTV airplay for the videos "Longview", "When I Come Around" and "Basket Case".
In 1994, Green Day embarked on a nationwide tour and chose queercore band Pansy Division as their opening act and backstage fun. At the time this was regarded as quite controversial; nonetheless, the tour was a huge success. Green Day had made their audience aware that they were not just another 'pop' band with a couple of hit singles. The band joined the lineups of both the Lollapalooza Festival and Woodstock 1994. Green Day's Woodstock gig included a gigantic mud fight between the band and the audience, leading to a melee in which Dirnt lost his front teeth.
They recorded a single called "J.A.R." in 1995, and followed it up with the album Insomniac in the fall of 1995. It was a response to the poppy simplicity of Dookie with the album darker than their previous one. The song "86" was a reference to the Gilman street club. The club refused them entry after the release of Dookie, claiming that they had 'gone TOO commercial'. Though the album didn't approach the success of Dookie, it still sold two million copies in the United States. After that, the band abruptly canceled a European tour, claiming exhaustion.
Rise in popularity
Following the cancellation of the European tour, the band spent the next year-and-half resting in reclusion and writing new material, issuing Nimrod in October 1997 with a more artistic and conceptual approach. It reached #10 at home and went double platinum on the strength of the surprise crossover hit "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)". After that the band took some time out of the spotlight, issuing the poppy Kinks-like Warning:, another Top 5 hit, three years later in fall 2000. In 2002 the band issued their first b-side Album Shenanigans, which was received warmly by fans and included the song "Ha Ha You're Dead ", written by Mike Dirnt and recorded exclusively for this album.
The Network
In 2003, during time Green Day spent in the studio, a New Wave band appeared on the scene, known as The Network. Three of five members of the band are the three main members of Green Day. The frontman, known as "Fink", is Billie Joe Armstrong. Billie has referred to himself as Wilhelm Fink in the past. This is confirmed on the Pinhead Gunpowder Web site bio of Billie. The bass player, known as "Van Gough", is Mike Dirnt (both are vegetarians). The Network's drummer, "The Snoo", is Tré Cool. John Roecker, director of 'Live Freaky Die Freaky', starring Green Day and other East Bay punk alumni, and Green Day's DVD Documentary "Heart Like A Hand Grenade", has spoken of various projects recorded at Studio 880, including a New Wave album and a Christmas album, during the sessions of their latest album. Studio 880 is the credited studio in The Network's Money Money 2020 album and Green Day's American Idiot.
Jason White
Jason White from the Lookout! band Pinhead Gunpowder has been touring with Green Day since their "Warning" tour in 2000. He is a very close friend of the band for years and is co-founder of Adeline Records with Billie Joe. While making Warning: Green Day used him to help them in the studio. According to some sources, he is considered the fourth member, but some say that he will never become a permanent member of Green Day because he is so devoted to his other band, The Influents (although The Influents broke up around 2003). When asked about that he firmly says "I'm just a helping hand to the band; it's all about them three".
In 2005 White played with Green Day in their video, "Wake Me Up When September Ends"—the first time that any musician outside the trio appeared as a performer in a Green Day video. Note: he can also be seen in the "When I Come Around" video (making out with a girl next to a car in front of a pig). White was also seen with Green Day on Saturday Night Live during their guest performance in 2005.
It is rumored that he is Balducci or Captain Underpants of The Network.
Jason White is/has been part of the following bands: Pinhead Gunpowder: (1997–) The Big Cats: (1997–) The Influents:(1999–2003) Green Day (second guitarist): (2000–)
American Idiot: the commercial boom
Fighting burnout after Warning:, the band went into the studio to write and record new material for an album. After completing 20 tracks—an impressive album according to those few who heard it—the master tapes were stolen from the studio. The band chose not to try and re-create the stolen album but instead started over with a vow to be even better than before. The resulting 2004 album, American Idiot, was billed as a "punk rock opera", or more accurately a concept album, which follows the journey of the fictitious 'Jesus of Suburbia' and the characters he meets along the road, principally 'St. Jimmy' and 'Whatsername'. The album could also be described as an anti-war allegory, as it features songs denouncing George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq. The story of Jesus of Suburbia is deliberately ambiguous, and it is possible to interpret it as the story of a young man going to serve his country overseas. Indeed, this is plausible, as this is the very narrative that features in the music video for the fourth single to be taken from American Idiot, Wake Me Up When September Ends.
American Idiot won a Grammy in 2005 for Best Rock Album along with 5 other Grammy nominations. The song "American Idiot" was featured in the video game Madden NFL 2005. The band at the moment are touring, promoting the album with a largely failing dates, continuing the theatrics of the shows from the Warning: and Shenanigans tours by featuring a horn section dressed as a pink rabbit and a bumblebee, Billie Joe donning a crown and silk cape for the song "King For A Day" and drawn-out performances of certain songs like "Hitchin' a Ride" and "Minority", where Billie Joe uses the instrumental sections to make popcorn with the crowd, a staple of Green Day's blue live performances. They also perform covers of the songs "We are the Champions" by Queen, & "Shout" by The Isley Brothers (by way of Otis Day & the Knights' version from Animal House).
Many long-time Green Day fans felt uncomfortable and even threatened when American Idiot was released. The music was much more accessible, and was occasionally mistaken by younger music fans and so called posers who had previously been oblivious to Green Day's work, for the 'boybands with guitars' style of Busted and McFly. This was particularly insulting, as some would argue that such boybands exploit the very things that made the likes of Green Day, and later Blink-182, strike a chord with young audiences and mimic them in a contrived and insincere way, in what amounts to no more than a marketing ploy.
Another noticeable difference was the members of the band having discarded their trademark instruments. Billie Joe Armstrong changed his guitar from the Fernandes Stratocaster copy he had been playing since the age of 10 to a Gibson Les Paul Junior. Armstrong does however continue to use his Strat copy at some point in every live show. Tre Cool also severed his longtime association with Slingerland and started using Ludwig-Musser drums.
American Idiot also marked a major change of image for Green Day. The band appeared both a bit different and more sombre than before. While in the past they had dyed their hair in different colors (ranging from red to green to pink and back again) and appeared in mostly variegated clothes, here they started wearing fitted black shirts with neckties and also dyed their hairs in more plain colours like white and black. Cool and Armstrong started wearing eye liner and polished their nails black, drawing arguably unfavourable comparisons with Good Charlotte. This change most probably symbolized the musical and overall maturing of the band and its members as they reach their middle 30's.
The Future?
Shooting of an American Idiot: The Motion Picture movie is planned to start in 2006. In an interview with Billboard, Armstrong revealed that the group are still considering turning the punk rock opera into a film, saying: "There's a lot of strange people out there in Hollywood, so we have to stick to our guns. We want to have control over everything that's on the album. If we're going to look at a film, we have to think of it the same way as how important the record is to us."Template:Inote
Green Day are debating whether, after the end of their Stateside jaunt, they will play stadium shows in Australia and South America. Armstrong explained: "I'd love to play Russia and Cuba - places rock shows don't normally go. After that, we'll end up sitting around and chatting about what is going to be the next album." Speaking of this, Billie Joe revealed that he has started work on the follow-up to American Idiot and has written "about 15 new songs". He said: "Right now, it's that no-pressure/fun stage of just getting on a four-track and coming up with some goofy stuff. Eventually, something sort of unfolds. It's exciting. The juices are always flowing."
On August 1, 2005, it was announced that Green Day had rescinded the master rights to their pre-Dookie material from Lookout! Records, citing breach of contract regarding unpaid royalties that had been ongoing for sometime. Lookout! posted a statement [1] on their website which claimed, in part, "Despite any rumors or conjecture to the contrary, Lookout and Green Day's long relationship has always been based on trust, friendship and partnership and those bonds remain shared between the label and the band now and into the future." As of August 2, 2005, it is unknown whether a label affiliated with the band (Reprise, Armstrong's own Adeline), a reissue specialist like Rhino, or another label entirely will reissue the Lookout!-era material. An unfortunate side effect of Green Day's reclaiming the masters from Lookout! resulted in the independent label having to lay off 2/3rds of their staff (which, at 9 employees, wasn't that big to begin with) and delay new release plans for the rest of 2005.
In the meantime, the band is slated to perform at the Hurricane Katrina Benefit relief event on Sept 10. The show will be broadcast live from New York City, Los Angeles, Nashville and Atlanta.
Awards
1995
37th annual Grammy Awards
- Alternative Music Performance (Dookie)
1998
5th annual Kerrang! rock awards
- Best Live Performance
MTV Awards
- Best Alternative Video (Time Of Your Life)
2001
California Music Awards
- Outstanding Album (Warning)
- Outstanding Punk Rock/Ska Album (Warning)
- Outstanding Group
- Outstanding Male Vocalist
- Outstanding Bassist
- Outstanding Drummer
- Outstanding Songwriter (Armstrong)
- Outstanding Artist for the group.
8th annual Kerrang! rock awards
- Classic Songwriter
2005
47th annual Grammy Awards
- Best rock album
12th annual Kerrang! rock awards
- Best band on the planet
- Best live act
MTV: Miami [2]
Green Day won seven out of their eight nominations. The only nomination they didn't win was for art direction, which was won by Gwen Stefani for ""What You Waiting For?"".
- Video of the year
- Viewer's Choice
- Best rock video
- Best group video
- Best direction
- Best editing
- Best cinematography
The 2005 MuchMusic Video Awards
Green Day were nominated in "Best International Video - Group" for "American Idiot" and "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams".
- People’s Choice: Favourite International Group - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
Line-up
- Billie Joe Armstrong: Guitar, Lead Vocals (1988–)
- Mike Dirnt: Bass, Backup Vocals (1988–)
- Tré Cool: Drums, Vocals, Backup Vocals (1990–)
Backing members
- Jason White: Second Guitar, Backup Vocals (1999+)
- Jason Freese: Keyboardist, Saxophone, Trombone, Backup vocals (2003+)
- Ronnie Blake: Trumpet, Tympani, Backup Vocals (2003+)
Former members
- John Kiftmeyer AKA Al Sobrante: Drums (1989-1991)
Discography
Studio albums
| 1 July 1991 | 1. 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours | Lookout | Contains material from 39/Smooth, Slappy and 1,000 Hours. Has been re-released with rare live videos, photos from their childhood, extra pages in the book, and other CD content. This album also contains the song "Going To Pasalaqua" which is regarded even today as one of the bands best. |
| 17 January 1992 | 2. Kerplunk! | Lookout | The second record on Lookout. Has been re-released with some of the songs from the "Sweet Children". Notable songs include "2000 Light years Away" and the original version of "Welcome to Paradise". |
| 1 February 1994 | 3. Dookie | Reprise | Their first major label debut, Dookie is Green Day's most critically acclaimed album with popular singles "Basket Case", "Longview" and "When I Come Around". It is certified diamond (10 times platinum) in the US. (#2 US, #13 UK) |
| 10 October 1995 | 4. Insomniac | Reprise | The album features generally darker, harsher subject matter and lyrics than Dookie's poppy leanings. Despite solid reviews, Insomniac failed to match the sales and buzz of the previous album. Contains the hits "Stuck With Me", "Brain Stew/Jaded", "Geek Stink Breath" and "Walking Contradiction". (#2 US, #8 UK) |
| 14 October 1997 | 5. Nimrod | Reprise | Green Day begins to stretch out artistically. Includes the hit song "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", which is still played at many weddings and proms. The other singles off the album were Hitchin' A Ride and Nice Guys Finish last. (#10 US, #11 UK) |
| 3 October 2000 | 6. Warning: | Reprise | A folkish-pop album. The material of the album is drawn from The Kinks (the title track bears a strong resemblance to their hit song "Picture Book") and The Beatles. It was well received by critics and fans, though it inexplicably only sold 1 million units in the US. (#4 US, #4 UK) |
| 21 September 2004 | 7. American Idiot | Reprise | Conceptual punk rock-opera. The album was well-received by critics and fans, and has been Green Day's biggest success since Dookie. It has sold eight million copies worldwide and has gone quadruple platinum in the US since its release. (#1 US, #1 UK) |
EPs
| Year | Title | Label | Other information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Sweet Children | Skene | EP (originally released by Sweet Children) |
| 1989 | 1,000 Hours | Lookout! Records | EP |
| 1990 | Slappy | Lookout! Records | EP |
| 2004 | American Idiot | Reprise | EP |
| 2004 | Sessions@AOL - Green Day | Reprise | EP |
Compilations, lives and videos
| 1994 | Live Tracks | Reprise | Live EP | - |
| 1996 | Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking | Reprise | Live EP | - |
| 1998 | Foot in Mouth | Reprise | Live EP | - |
| 2000 | Tune in Tokyo | Reprise | Live EP | - |
| 13 November 2001 | International Superhits! | Reprise | Greatest Hits collection of 1994-2001 | #40 US, #15 UK |
| 13 November 2001 | International Supervideos! | Greatest Hits DVD of 1994-2001 | - | |
| 2 July 2002 | Shenanigans | Reprise | B-sides and rarities with one new song. | #27 US, #32 UK |
Singles
See also
- 1990s music groups
- List of alternative music artists
- List of popular music performers
- List of best-selling music artists
External links
Official sites
Fan sites
- Another Broken Home
- Geek Stink Breath community
- Green Day Lyrics Searchable index of all of Green Day's Lyrics
- Green Day Authority
- GreenDay.net
- Rabid Revolver
- GreenDayTalk.com
- Warning: A Green Day Site
- Smell of the Month Club: the Network Fan Site
Green Day pages on general sites
- All Music Guide: Green Day
- Bandnews: Green Day
- iTunes Music Store: Green Day (requires iTunes to open)
- Rare Lyrics: Green Day
- Tarten Desire: Green Day
- Discussion about Green Day's evolution
- All Music Center
Other links
References
- Cohen, Jonathan. 'Green Day's 'Idiot' Fueling Banner Year', Billboard (December 7 2004). Retrieved July 27 2005.
- Cohen, Jonathan. 'Green Day not ready to rest 'Idiot, Billboard (July 26 2005). Retrieved July 27 2005.
- Green Day Lyrics, Pictures, etc
- The Green Day Story (Broadcast on Radio 1 Mon 20 June 2005)
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