Green Day: a rough guide.
Created | Updated Aug 27, 2006
A Short Story
In the late '80s, in Rodeo, California, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt (Mike Pritchard) formed a band called Sweet Children at the age of forteen. By 1987 they had found a drummer, Al Sobrante, and changed their name to Green Day. In that year they released their first EP, called Sweet Children. THey then released the 1000 Hours EP in 1989. Shortly after this release, 1990, they were signed to Lookout! records who released the Slappy EP and their first album, 39/Smooth. Shortly after the album's release their drummer left, to be replaced by the one and only Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright, III). He has drummed for Green Day to this day. They then released their second album, Kerplunk, in 1991.
Kerplunk was a huge success and after its release many larger record companies were interested in signing Green Day. The band decided to go with Reprise records and in 1994 their 3rd album, Dookie, was released. It was expected to sell quite well but, thanks to MTV playing the Longview video, it was a major hit. The album continued to sell throughout the year as they brought out more singles and claimed more air time on MTV. Green Day also stole the show at 1994's Woodstock festival and won 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance. The album that was expected to sell 100,000 has now sold over 10,000,000 copies.
Green Day followed up to Dookie with the single J.A.R. from the "Angus" sound track which reached number one and after that they released Insomniac in 1995. This album was far less popular than Dookie, but is more powerful. Their next album was called Nimrod and is considered to be their best album. Released in 1992 it includes the song "Good Ridance (Time Of Your Life)" which is probably Green Day's most well known song. The song was almost left off of the album for being "Too girly" as it is an accoustic song with just Billie Joe singing and playing guitar.
Three years passed and they released their latest studio album, Warning, in 2000. This album is noticably different from their earlier music, being less powerful. They then released a 'best of' album called International Superhits in 2001. This contained all of the band's singles. This was followed in 2003 by Shenanigans, a B-sides collection. They are now working on a new album that is set to be released this year (2003) and they have also worked with Iggy Pop for his new album, and that brings us up to date.
Who Are They?
Stage Name: Billie Joe
Full Name: Billie Joe Armstrong
Plays: Vocals, Guitar
Born: February 17, 1972
Family: wife, Adrienne ( Nesser, married July 1994); son, Joseph Marciano (born March 1995); son, Jacob Danger (born September 1998)
Also Plays: Harmonica, Mandolin, Drums, Piano
Has Also Played With : Pinhead Gunpowder, Blatz, Rancid, the Lookouts, Goodbye Harry, Corrupted Morals
Billie Joe was the youngest of six kids in a working-class family in Rodeo, California. His father was a truck driver and part time jazz musician who died of cancer when Billie Joe was ten, his mother a waitress and diehard country music fan. As a child, Billie would sing at hospitals to cheer patients up. He also recorded a song called "Look For Love" for the locally based Fiat Records when he was five. The first album Billie Joe bought was Elvis Presley's The Sun Sessions. Soon after a couple friends got him hooked on punk bands like DOA, TSOL, and the Dead Kennedys. At age eleven, Billie got his first guitar, a blue Stratocaster that he plays to this day. He wrote his first song, "Why Do You Want Him", when he was 14. Billie Joe is the co-founder and partial owner of the independant label Adeline Records.
Stage Name: Mike Dirnt
Full Name: Michael Pritchard
Plays: Bass, Backing Vocals
Born: May 4, 1972
Family: daughter, Estelle Desiree (born April 1997 to ex-wife, Anastasia)
Also Plays: Farfisa, Guitar, Drums, Baseball Bat
Has Also Played With : The Frustrators, Screeching Weasel, Crummy Musicians, Squirtgun
Mike was born of a heroin-addicted mother and was put up for adoption. His adoptive parents divorced when he was seven, at which point he began dividing his time between their separate households. He met Billie Joe in the fifth grade, and ended up working with his mother at Rod's Hickory Pit. At fifteen he rented a room on the side of Billie's house. Though he & his ex-wife, Anastasia divorced, they are still good friends, and he visits their daughter, Estelle, as often as possible.
Stage Name: Tre Cool
Full Name: Frank Edwin Wright III
Plays: Drums, Percussion
Born: December 9, 1972
Family: wife, Claudia (married May 2000); daughter, Ramona (born 1995 to ex-wife, Lisea)
Also Plays: Accordion, Guitar
Has Also Played With: The Lookouts, Samiam
Tré grew up in Willits, California, with his father and two siblings. His dad built many of the houses in that area, including that of Lawrance Livermore, their nearest neighbor and the founder of Lookout! Records. At age twelve, he joined Livermore's band, the Lookouts. Shortly after Al Sobrante left Green Day, Tré hopped aboard. Tré and his wife, Claudia, are expecting their first child.
And a Discography (The albums and EPs)
1987 - Sweet Children - EP (Skene Records)
1989 - 1000 Hours - EP (Lookout! Records)
1990 - Slappy - EP (Lookout! Records)
1990 - 39/Smooth - Album (Lookout! Records)
1991 - Kerplunk - Album (Lookout Records)
1994 - Dookie - Album (Reprise)
1994 - Live Tracks - EP (Reprise)
1995 - Insomniac - Album (Reprise)
1996 - Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking - EP (Reprise)
1996 - Foot In Mouth - EP (Reprise)
1997 - Nimrod - Album (Reprise)
2000 - Warning - Album (Reprise)
2000 - Tune In Tokyo - EP (Reprise)
2001 - International Superhits - Best Of (Reprise)
2002 - Shenanigans - B-sides Collection (Reprise)
Soundtracks/Compilations
1990 - The Big One Compilation
1994 - Woodstock 1994
1994 - Jerky Boys Soundtrack
1994 - Angus Soundtrack
1997 - Generations I
1998 - Godzilla Soundtrack
1999 - Varsity Blues Soundtrack
1999 - Short Music For Short People
1999 - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Soundtrack
1999 - Friends Again Soundtrack
2001 - Freddy Got Fingered Soundtrack
2001 - American Pie 2 Soundtrack
2002 - Every Dog Will Have Its Day
In the late '80s, in Rodeo, California, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt (Mike Pritchard) formed a band called Sweet Children at the age of forteen. By 1987 they had found a drummer, Al Sobrante, and changed their name to Green Day. In that year they released their first EP, called Sweet Children. THey then released the 1000 Hours EP in 1989. Shortly after this release, 1990, they were signed to Lookout! records who released the Slappy EP and their first album, 39/Smooth. Shortly after the album's release their drummer left, to be replaced by the one and only Tre Cool (Frank Edwin Wright, III). He has drummed for Green Day to this day. They then released their second album, Kerplunk, in 1991.
Kerplunk was a huge success and after its release many larger record companies were interested in signing Green Day. The band decided to go with Reprise records and in 1994 their 3rd album, Dookie, was released. It was expected to sell quite well but, thanks to MTV playing the Longview video, it was a major hit. The album continued to sell throughout the year as they brought out more singles and claimed more air time on MTV. Green Day also stole the show at 1994's Woodstock festival and won 1994 Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance. The album that was expected to sell 100,000 has now sold over 10,000,000 copies.
Green Day followed up to Dookie with the single J.A.R. from the "Angus" sound track which reached number one and after that they released Insomniac in 1995. This album was far less popular than Dookie, but is more powerful. Their next album was called Nimrod and is considered to be their best album. Released in 1992 it includes the song "Good Ridance (Time Of Your Life)" which is probably Green Day's most well known song. The song was almost left off of the album for being "Too girly" as it is an accoustic song with just Billie Joe singing and playing guitar.
Three years passed and they released their latest studio album, Warning, in 2000. This album is noticably different from their earlier music, being less powerful. They then released a 'best of' album called International Superhits in 2001. This contained all of the band's singles. This was followed in 2003 by Shenanigans, a B-sides collection. They are now working on a new album that is set to be released this year (2003) and they have also worked with Iggy Pop for his new album, and that brings us up to date.
Who Are They?
Stage Name: Billie Joe
Full Name: Billie Joe Armstrong
Plays: Vocals, Guitar
Born: February 17, 1972
Family: wife, Adrienne ( Nesser, married July 1994); son, Joseph Marciano (born March 1995); son, Jacob Danger (born September 1998)
Also Plays: Harmonica, Mandolin, Drums, Piano
Has Also Played With : Pinhead Gunpowder, Blatz, Rancid, the Lookouts, Goodbye Harry, Corrupted Morals
Billie Joe was the youngest of six kids in a working-class family in Rodeo, California. His father was a truck driver and part time jazz musician who died of cancer when Billie Joe was ten, his mother a waitress and diehard country music fan. As a child, Billie would sing at hospitals to cheer patients up. He also recorded a song called "Look For Love" for the locally based Fiat Records when he was five. The first album Billie Joe bought was Elvis Presley's The Sun Sessions. Soon after a couple friends got him hooked on punk bands like DOA, TSOL, and the Dead Kennedys. At age eleven, Billie got his first guitar, a blue Stratocaster that he plays to this day. He wrote his first song, "Why Do You Want Him", when he was 14. Billie Joe is the co-founder and partial owner of the independant label Adeline Records.
Stage Name: Mike Dirnt
Full Name: Michael Pritchard
Plays: Bass, Backing Vocals
Born: May 4, 1972
Family: daughter, Estelle Desiree (born April 1997 to ex-wife, Anastasia)
Also Plays: Farfisa, Guitar, Drums, Baseball Bat
Has Also Played With : The Frustrators, Screeching Weasel, Crummy Musicians, Squirtgun
Mike was born of a heroin-addicted mother and was put up for adoption. His adoptive parents divorced when he was seven, at which point he began dividing his time between their separate households. He met Billie Joe in the fifth grade, and ended up working with his mother at Rod's Hickory Pit. At fifteen he rented a room on the side of Billie's house. Though he & his ex-wife, Anastasia divorced, they are still good friends, and he visits their daughter, Estelle, as often as possible.
Stage Name: Tre Cool
Full Name: Frank Edwin Wright III
Plays: Drums, Percussion
Born: December 9, 1972
Family: wife, Claudia (married May 2000); daughter, Ramona (born 1995 to ex-wife, Lisea)
Also Plays: Accordion, Guitar
Has Also Played With: The Lookouts, Samiam
Tré grew up in Willits, California, with his father and two siblings. His dad built many of the houses in that area, including that of Lawrance Livermore, their nearest neighbor and the founder of Lookout! Records. At age twelve, he joined Livermore's band, the Lookouts. Shortly after Al Sobrante left Green Day, Tré hopped aboard. Tré and his wife, Claudia, are expecting their first child.
And a Discography (The albums and EPs)
1987 - Sweet Children - EP (Skene Records)
1989 - 1000 Hours - EP (Lookout! Records)
1990 - Slappy - EP (Lookout! Records)
1990 - 39/Smooth - Album (Lookout! Records)
1991 - Kerplunk - Album (Lookout Records)
1994 - Dookie - Album (Reprise)
1994 - Live Tracks - EP (Reprise)
1995 - Insomniac - Album (Reprise)
1996 - Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking - EP (Reprise)
1996 - Foot In Mouth - EP (Reprise)
1997 - Nimrod - Album (Reprise)
2000 - Warning - Album (Reprise)
2000 - Tune In Tokyo - EP (Reprise)
2001 - International Superhits - Best Of (Reprise)
2002 - Shenanigans - B-sides Collection (Reprise)
Soundtracks/Compilations
1990 - The Big One Compilation
1994 - Woodstock 1994
1994 - Jerky Boys Soundtrack
1994 - Angus Soundtrack
1997 - Generations I
1998 - Godzilla Soundtrack
1999 - Varsity Blues Soundtrack
1999 - Short Music For Short People
1999 - Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me Soundtrack
1999 - Friends Again Soundtrack
2001 - Freddy Got Fingered Soundtrack
2001 - American Pie 2 Soundtrack
2002 - Every Dog Will Have Its Day
