Green Day

With alternative rock music going overground in the early 90s, few acts were better positioned to exploit the commercial possibilities than Green Day - Billie Joe Armstrong (b. 17 February 1972, California, USA; vocals/guitar), Mike Dirnt (b. 4 May 1972, California, USA; bass/vocals) and Tre Cool (b. Frank Edwin Wright III, 9 December 1972, Germany; drums/vocals). Armstrong and Dirnt had been playing together since the age of 11 in the refinery town of Rodeo, California, performing in various garage bands. Tre Cool had been in a band called The Lookouts who broke up in 1990, but their final EP, IV, featured Billie Joe Armstrong playing guitar and singing backing vocals on three tracks. Armstrong and Dirnt had already formed Sweet Children with ex-Isocracy drummer John Kiffmeyer. Their debut release came on Livermore's Lookout Records in 1989, the 1000 Hours EP. However, two weeks before release the band informed Livermore that they had changed their name to Green Day, inspired by their fondness for marijuana and by the fact that another local band, Sweet Baby Jesus, had just changed their name to Sweet Baby and signed with Slash/ Warner Brothers Records. Their debut album, 39/Smooth, recorded in a single day, comprised 10 pop punk tracks. Two limited edition EPs followed, one for Lookout, the second for Chicago label Skene Records. Kiffmeyer booked their first national tour, but afterwards left the band to concentrate on college (his only subsequent musical activity came in the Ne'er Do Wells). Cool was asked to fill in, and immediately wrote the comedic "Dominated Love Song" for Kerplunk!, where the 60s pop quotient was reduced in favour of a synthesis of 70s British punk bands the Jam and Stiff Little Fingers. It sold over 50,000 records through word of mouth and underground media support. Afterwards they decided to take the plunge and move to a major label, signing to Warner Brothers subsidiary Reprise Records, despite bigger offers from elsewhere. A&R man Rob Cavallo was also recruited as producer for their third album. Dookie gradually stalked the charts, going on to sell over nine million copies in the USA. Their arduous touring schedule was the chief reason for their rise, and was topped off by appearances on the 1994 Lollapalooza package and the revived Woodstock event. The other main factor was the estimable quality of their songwriting. As Dirnt said: "We just figured out a formula and Billie Joe writes real good songs, that's all." With Dookie being so successful, it came as no surprise when the band were nominated in no less than four Grammy categories. In 1995, it was confirmed that they had sold over 10 million albums worldwide, a stunning achievement for a band who have remained faithful to a basic punk pop framework. Insomniac and Nimrod confirmed their popularity, with the band's fans seemingly unfazed by the weakness of the songs compared to the material on Dookie. Their fourth major label release, October 2000's Warning, was a hugely enjoyable power pop album that, contrary to the band's defiant claims, owed little to their punk roots