Blink-182

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blink-182 was a Southern-Californian Pop-Punk band that was formed in 1992 by Tom Delonge, Mark Hoppus, and Scott Raynor in the northern San Diego suburb of Poway, California. Travis Barker and Tom Delonge have both publicly announced blink-182's official disbandment.

The group is known for its catchy melodies, as well as for satirical, and sometimes profanity-laden toilet humour. Musically, the band plays up-tempo songs with prominent major-chord harmonies, often digitally mixed, to provide a much cleaner sound than typical punk/rock recordings, which generally exhibit distortion and analogue mixes to achieve the opposite effect. The lyrical content of their songs, especially prior to their last album, is often humorous and uplifting.

Although the band is labelled as Blink 182 on albums prior to Raynor's departure, the specific syntax for the band's current name is blink-182. The numbers 182 were added to the band's name to prevent a trademark conflict with an Irish pop/rock group called "Blink".

Contents

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History

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Early career (1992-1996)

In May 1993 the band, at the time known as "Blink," released a demo tape entitled Flyswatter, recorded in drummer Scott Raynor's bedroom. A boom box was used to record the material, resulting in poor sound quality and according to Hoppus, only around eighty copies were produced. Before the end of the year, the band released another demo tape known as Buddha. Around 1,000 copies were produced by Filter Records.

In early 1994, blink released their debut full-length album, Cheshire Cat, released on Grilled Cheese Records. The album contained many new versions of songs that had appeared on the Buddha demo.

Shortly after the release of Cheshire Cat, blink was threatened with legal action by a techno band in Ireland of the same name. In order to avoid a lengthy lawsuit, blink appended "-182" to the end of their name. There are several rumours as to why these numbers were ultimately chosen, such as their correspondence to the number of times Al Pacino utters the word "fuck" in Scarface, the 1985 Timothy Hutton film, Turk 182!, their representation of Hoppus's ideal weight, or that they represent the position in the alphabet of the letters 'R' and 'B,' referring to the northern San Diego suburb of Rancho Bernardo. However, the band members have dismissed such claims and maintain that the numbers were picked at random. However, in one interview, Barker stated that the "182" was the U.S. radio code meaning 'homicide' (apparently confusing "182," the radio code for conspiracy, with "187"). During the pop punk boom of the 1990s, blink-182 was signed by MCA in 1996 which later became Geffen Records.

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Dude Ranch-era (1996-1998)

After moving to Encinitas, California, the band recorded the album Dude Ranch in 1996 with producer Mark Trombino. The album was released in 1997 and was commercially successful. The singles, "Josie" and "Dammit" rose to the top of the U.S. airplay charts. However, in 1998 the band experienced a setback. Raynor, who had a serious drinking problem at the time, was reportedly asked to leave the band and go into rehab. However, there are also reports that he departed in order to attend college. Raynor claims he agreed, but that the remaining band members fired him over the phone despite his acquiescence, citing that they were doubtful of Raynor's sincerity. His expulsion occurred midway through blink-182's U.S. tour. He was replaced by Travis Barker, the drummer of blink-182's support band The Aquabats.

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Breakthrough and rising to success (1998-2002)

For the 1999 album Enema of the State, the band hired Rancid and The Offspring producer Jerry Finn, who became the band's permanent record engineer. The album was largely successful, propelling the band to pop punk fame and gaining a significant amount of airtime on MTV and Total Request Live (TRL). This was largely due to the commercial success of the songs "What's My Age Again?", "Adam's Song" and "All the Small Things"; and particularly due to an infamous music video for "What's My Age Again?" which featured the band streaking. Enema of the State sold 7.5 million copies worldwide, which made it their best-selling album to that point. The sound on the album was rooted in the same genre as earlier punk-rock bands such as NOFX, Green Day and The Offspring, but it was digitally mixed and enhanced, and therefore more accessible to the mainstream. Because of this, many fans felt the band had strayed from its punk rock roots.

Blink-182's only live album, The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back was released the following year in 2000. The songs featured are from the group's first three albums: Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch and Enema of the State. The album also includes one new studio song, "Man Overboard," among the live renditions. Because it is no longer in print the album is strongly sought after by collectors.

2001 saw blink-182 continuing their commercial success, recording Take off Your Pants and Jacket, which followed the same basic formula of "Enema of the State". When the album was first released, there were several versions with different bonus tracks. These were titled "Take off," "Pants," and "Jacket," each of which were signified by a different sticker on the CD. Each version had two different bonus tracks. The tracks were "Fuck a Dog", "Mothers Day" and "When You Fucked Grandpa", all considered to be joke songs. The more serious numbers were "Time to Break Up", "Don't Tell Me That It's Over" and "What Went Wrong". Because of the different combinations, some long-term fans wanted to collect them all. However, the bonus tracks were only available for a limited time.

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On break and career with band projects (2002)

After touring for the promotion of Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, the band decided to enter a hiatus. Hoppus spent more time with his newborn son Jack, while Delonge and Barker formed a side project called Box Car Racer. Following his work with Box Car Racer, Barker also worked with a project called The Transplants. Both bands explored other musical styles.

Because the two members functioned as active songwriters, there was an initial artistic conflict. Delonge wanted to create an acoustic-emo styled project, while Barker wished to maintain a punk ethos. To compromise, the friends decided to fuse the ideas to create Boxcar Racer, a name which was inspired by the bomber Bockscar, responsible for deploying the second atomic bomb, Fat Man, on Japan during World War II. The two singles from the self-titled album were "I Feel So", and "There Is". The record also included guest singers Tim Armstrong (Rancid, Operation Ivy, Transplants) on "Cat Like Thief" and Mark Hoppus on "Elevator". However, according to recent interviews with Delonge, the formation of Boxcar Racer caused much friction between himself and Hoppus. This was one of the main reasons blink-182 abruptly went on an indefinite hiatus in 2005, which was recently confirmed definite by Delonge.

After Boxcar Racer, Barker was invited to work on a second side project known as The Transplants. This band started with Tim Armstrong (Rancid and Operation Ivy) and Skinhead Rob dabbling with musical ideas in Armstrong's basement recording studio. Having already known Barker from Box Car Racer, Armstrong asked him to assist in the side project. Not long after their formation, The Transplants debuted their first self-titled CD on Armstrong's record label Hellcat Records. The first single of the album was "DJ DJ", followed by the wildly successful "Diamonds and Guns". Due to explicit content, the latter was banned from the airwaves. Despite this, the song is featured on the Garnier Fructis commercial. After playing the Warped Tour, The Transplants decided to part ways, with Travis working on Plus-44 and Tim Armstrong returning to Rancid.

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Untitled (blink-182)-era (2002-2005)

After taking some time off in 2002 the band released its fifth studio album blink-182 on November 18 2003. Described as "a self-meditation on romantic decay", the album featured the hit singles "Feeling This" (previously named "Action"), "I Miss You", "Down", and the 1980s-influenced "Always". Travis Barker has confirmed that the band left the album untitled (rather than self-titled) to represent a new blink-182. It showcased a style of music deeper than anything blink-182 had done previously, but still managed to receive significant airplay on radio stations and MTV. Critics have deemed their sound similar to that of The Police and U2, although members of the band claim they took most of their influence from The Cure, whose front man Robert Smith had appeared on "All of This". Listeners called the riffs heavier and the lyrics more profound. A tour with No Doubt in the summer of 2004 was very successful. However, the album did receive a fair amount of criticism from disappointed fans who opined a style more closely related to pop at the expense of their punk rock roots.


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On "indefinite hiatus" (2005)

On February 22, 2005, many fans were shocked when blink-182 announced they were going on an "indefinite hiatus". Expectedly, rumors soon began to accumulate regarding the band's break up. The only band member to speak outright was Barker. Frustrated, he eventually stated that he was not the only person in the band and indicated that there were two other band members reporters could question. Fans soon began to suspect that there was a disagreement that alienated Delonge and Hoppus. Kerrang! soon printed an article that seemed to confirm the suspicion , but Delonge denounced it on his "In-studio journal" on his "MacBeth" podcast.

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Post-breakup (2005-present)

In the wake of the hiatus, Geffen Records released a career long "Greatest Hits" compilation in November 2005. Two previously unreleased tracks were also included, "Not Now" (from the European version of the untitled album) and "Another Girl Another Planet" (a cover song originally by The Only Ones, recorded for the theme song to the reality show Meet the Barkers). The album immediately reached No. 6 on the United States top selling records. There are three versions of the Greatest Hits CD. One has a bonus track: Aliens Exist (live) with a bonus DVD, and the other version has two bonus tracks: "Go" and "I Won't Be Home For Christmas" along with the DVD.

Many credit the mounting tension between Delonge and Hoppus as the main reason for the "indefinite hiatus". Other factors also played a role in the decision, however. In an interview with Kerrang! Delonge revealed the side project Box Car Racer created a rift between him and Hoppus. Delonge has remarked that while on tour he sometimes felt there was more to life than playing in blink-182. At the end of their European tour in 2005, Delonge wanted to return home to be with his family. Geffen Records immediately offered Delonge a solo album, but he declined. Upset at the turn of events, in response, Hoppus created Plus-44, while Delonge created Angels and Airwaves (AVA). Delonge claimed the last words uttered by his bandmates were, "If your family is going to be your priority, then you better be cool with the repercussions."

Today each of the band members has his own musical agenda. Delonge is currently working with his outfit Angels and Airwaves, whose debut album We Don't Need to Whisper was leaked in April 2006. The Transplants broke up after the Warped Tour, however Barker and Skinhead Rob emerged immediately with a new project, called Expensive Taste with rap superstar Paul Wall. Hoppus and Barker are finishing work on their Plus-44 debut album, rumored to be called "Break the Record". Barker has also trademarked the name The Phenomenons for a new band.

At Angels and Airwaves' first performance, Delonge confirmed that Blink-182 has officially broken up.

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Discography

For full discography, see blink-182 discography.

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Podcasts

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Hi, My Name Is Mark

Since the hiatus of blink-182, Mark Hoppus has set up his very own podcast called "Hi, My Name Is Mark" (www.himynameismark.com). Every two weeks he plays songs from underground artists, interviews favourite bands, and informs listeners about happenings in his life. The show was first created at Hoppus's home, but was later moved to a studio. Hoppus won the "Best Podcast" award for 2005.

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Macbeth

Following in Hoppus's footsteps, MacBeth Footwear soon created a podcast. Their very first podcast introduced Angels and Airwaves to the world, featuring music, an interview with the band's members, and a preview to the movie.

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Trivia

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Blink-182 in television and films

  • Barker and wife Shanna Moakler co-star in Meet the Barkers, an MTV reality show.
  • DeLonge had one line as a fast-food worker in the film Idle Hands.
  • DeLonge, Hoppus, and Barker played a "garage band" that watches a webcast of Nadia stripping in American Pie. Barker was incorrectly credited as Scott Raynor. The band's song "Mutt" is featured on film's soundtrack and "Everytime I Look for You" appears in American Pie 2 and its soundtrack.
  • Barker appears in print and TV advertisements for Boost Mobile.
  • DeLonge, Hoppus, and Barker appeared in the 300th episode of The Simpsons, in season 14, playing a concert at skateboarder Tony Hawk's loft in Bart's apartment building.
  • All three band members appeared in the Mad TV skit, "Leave it to Blink", which paradies the sitcom "Leave it to Beaver."
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Trivia

  • The cover of Greatest Hits looks similar to The Offspring's Greatest Hits' cover, an apparent homage to "real punk rock" according to Travis.
  • Tom Delonge was #15 on Cosmogirl's top fifty hottest rockers.
  • Barker started playing the drums when he was four.
  • An early band containing Mark Hoppus was called The Attic Children.
  • Delonge chose the name "blink" because he reportedly likes short verbs.
  • Delonge's wife was angry at a line in the song "Dumpweed". The line was: "I need a girl that I can train."
  • Delonge believes in aliens and has said he has always wanted to go to space.
  • Barker placed 33 in "Best Drummers in the World" play-off
  • Both Delonge and Hoppus claim to believe in unicorns.
  • The lyrics booklet for Buddha shows a discarded line in "Carousel": "Well, I guess this is growing up". This line would later become the main lyric in Dammit (Growing Up).
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Album titles

All of blink-182's albums appear to run in alphabetical order in one way or another. For instance, the cover art of Flyswatter features the letter "A", the first letters of the albums Buddha, Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch and Enema of the State are in alphabetical order, the drum kit on the cover art of The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back features an "F" on the bass drum (the Famous Stars and Straps logo), the jacket pocket of the green version of Take off Your Pants and Jacket shows the letter "G", and finally, on the (Untitled) there is a hidden letter "H". The band continued this format on the Greatest Hits compilation with the letter "I" in the word blink). Mark Hoppus has stated that the albums beginning with "A" through "F" were merely a coincidence, but that the band intentionally added the "G" on the TOYPAJ CD.

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The Come Back

It has been rumoured that Blink-182 are set to do a 'One Night Stand' in the summer of 2006. Little is known but will be updated when news is available.

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Other projects by band members

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Companies owned by band members

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External links

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Official Links

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Official Myspace Links

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Unofficial Links

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