Green Day Biography Page 2 - Self Help - http://maxpages.com/gazandmacs/Green_Day_Biography_Page

The Gilman Street Project, parent and guardian to many a punk-rocker, does not take kindly to successful children coming home to visit. Jello Biafra, ex lead singer for the Dead Kennedys, was severely beaten by members of the crowd there as chants of "sell-out" and "pop star" filled the hardcore haven. Members of Green Day nonetheless put Gilman Street up on a pedestal as a true home, a mecca for those looking for a bit of silly behavior, love, and belonging. They also seem to have accepted the fact that they can never go back.

Perhaps one of the strongest rebuttals to the punk faction's cries of "traitor" is the fact that Green Day has demanded that all rights to their first 2 albums remain with Lookout Records. Judging by the number of 39/Smooth and Kerplunk CD's in every major record chain in the country, this should ensure future funding for many struggling punk artists in the years to come.

On December 2, 1994, the band played to a sold-out crowd of almost 15,000 at New Yorks's Nassau Coliseum. Yet again boosting their fellow Lookout Records artists, Green Day's opening act was Pansy Division, a gay punk band whose song "Rock & Roll Queer Boy" probably wasn't written with a stadium audience in mind. Green Day refused to take a more popular band on tour with them, arguing that if they couldn't sell large venues out with Pansy Division as their support, that they would just play smaller places.

They have also hooked up many a kid with a cheap seat;the band butted heads with Ticketmaster in order to ensure that ticket prices for their man 1994 shows never rose above the $15 mark.

Billie Joe, as any rock and roll frontman worth his salt, is adept at giving good quote. His flair for smart-ass replies harkens back to the days of the cleverly silly press confrences with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. A List of his most succinct verbal treasures must include his summary of sexuality ("People don't know what the fuck they are") and his self analysis ("I'm an asshole trying to be a nice guy").

The band has also been known to, well, condone a few excesses that aren't exactly on the moral majority top ten list. In the January 26, 1995 Rolling Stone interview, Billie Joe candidly (and no one can't help imaging happily) admitted "I drank everyday, and I use it as a crutch to relax me." Mike Dirnt, apparently on the same wavelength as his esteemed colleague, went on to say, "I think drinking and doing drugs are very important."

Billie Joe has also been known to wax poetic on his own image. His concerns about fane are excapsulated in the comment, "You might start to believe what the media is saying and stuff and become, like, a parody of yourself." Not taking yourself too seriously is a maximum which has stood him in good stead over the yearsl his reply to his being designated the voice of his generation is that he's "more like the butt of a generation."

What are a few twenty-two year old punks to do after spending one outrageous year touring like mad to support an album that wont stop selling? The reverse bungee jump from limited underground success to being the favorite band of millions of your peers can leave you feeling more than a little dizzy.

Unless, of course, you spent your teenage years driving headlong into the sex, drugs, and rock n' roll trip. Unless you never had much money and never expected to. Unless you'd been playing your own music in your band since your early teenage years. You might just decide to take it all in stride and enjoy it. As Mike Dirnt told Rolling Stone, "Eventually, we'll lose all the money and everything else, anyway. Let's just make sure we have one big story at the end."

Not everyone was convinced that here was the band we'd all been waiting for. Critics panned the band as nothing but hype and funny haircuts. Rolling Stone recieved mixed responses from readers of the January 26, 1995 annual music Awards issue featuring "Best New Band" Green Day on the cover, including a letter from a subscriber who claimed she wasn't even able to read the artice as the cover alone caused her to throw up on the magazine another disgrunteld letter to the editor cited the band's music as "glorified commercial crap."

Well, to each his own. Green Day recieved four nominations at the 37th annual Grammy Awards, presented March 1, 1995, including "Best New Artist" and "Best Alternative Music Performanc." At the Bay Area Music Awatds (a.k.a. teh bammies), Mike Dirnt showed up to retrieve Green Day's awards, explaining his solo status by disclosing that the band had drawn straws and he had lost.

In mid-March, Billie Joe's wife Adrienne gave birth to a baby boy they'd already named Joey. Joey's imminence was confirmed via a home pregnancy test the day after the proud parents' backyard wedding ceremony. Billie Joe's description of the nupitals to Rollig Stone was characteristically blunt: "It was a lot of fun. Then we went to the Claremont Hotel, and we fucked like bunnies." Not to be outdone, Tre Cool and his girlfriend Lisa a few months before became parents to a baby girl they had decided to name ramona (any intention tribute to the Ramones remains unconfirmed).

Will parenthood calm everyone's favorite obnoxious punks down? Will Billie Joe stop writing songs like "Chump"(I don't know you but I think i hate you) and suddenly become a responsible married man? Don't worry, one of Billie Joe's goals as a husband is to carry on "dumpster diving" with his wife as often as possible. The happy couple have already begun thinking about what they'll say when their son decides to drop out of school. Tre has bought himself a house and aims to do one of the things he does best: hang out. Mike Dirnt is thinking about persuing a career as a stand-up comedian. The most hyperactive band you know is planning on chilling out for a while. Who knows, maybe they'll find something good on TV.

GREEN DAY FUCKING RULE!!! That is an official press release from the government today. It is also now illegal not to listen to Green Day every day. Last night I witnessed a moment in music history - Green Day, in concert, in Manchester. Wow. I have been in a euphoric daze all day, and now I am starting to experience serious withdrawal symptoms. Shaking, sweating, palpitations, a need stronger than any other need. I need to see Green Day again. The show started at 8:00, with the Bouncing Souls opening, but at the end of the day, I didn't go to see them, did I? With Ian and Lewis showing as much life as a couple of week-old corpses, I had to have some sort of intellectual stimulation, so I started to harass the couple who were sitting next to me, Caroline and Kevin, who are from Liverpool. Good sports that they were, they put up with my ramblings and cursing until Green Day finally came on stage. Then I sat there with a bigger grin than when I had my first hard on. They Kicked off with 'Nice Guys Finish Last' from their Nimrod LP, and after I had come, they Launched straight into 'Castaway', followed by the amazing 'Blood, Sex and Booze', reinforcing my belief that they are the greatest live band of the 90's, and now quite possibly, the millenium. Halfway through 'Knowledge', a cover of an Operation Ivy song from '1039 Smoothed out Slappy Hours', Billie Joe asked who in the arena could play guitar. At this point my bowels opened, and I stood on my chair and screamed as loud as I could, and guess what? Some sweaty little 16 year old got dragged from the front row. Bastard. Only kidding, he's a lucky fucker, though. 16 year old Patrick Case from Chorley, you are truly the luckiest bastard on this planet. Apart from the fact that he could not string two chords together, he didn't do bad. And he got a kiss and a hug from Billie Joe Armstrong. Bitter? Me? Of course! Here is a full track list:

1... Nice Guys Finish Last
2... Castaway
3... Blood, Sex and Booze
4... Geek Stink Breath
5... Longview
6... Welcome to Paradise
7... Hitchin' a Ride
8... Brain Stew
9... Jaded
10... Knowledge
11... Basket Case
12... She
13... King For a Day
14... F.O.D.
15... Minority
16... Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
17... Warning
18... Platypus
19... When I Come Around
20... Macy's Day Parade

Note to everyone, especially Caroline and Kevin, 'cos I promised them copies, but if anyone wants photos, then just Email me, Gaz, on either jimmypop1uk@yahoo.com or gazthetwat@hotmail.com or phone me on 07855595064 or 0151 290 0658, and I will be only too happy to help you out, as we got a camera past their sloppy security and filled a full film. Ha Ha Ha!!!

Watch this space or visit Page182 for a more comprehensive review soon...

Recreate that authentic 'concert vibe' in the comfort of your own home!!! Place an album cover on the floor in your living room. Move as far away as you can, and get a couple of friends to stand in front of you, whilst you try and see over them at the minute dot you can see, that quite frankly, could be anyone. Make it even more realistic by charging yourself four quid for a warm beaker of beer and a quid for a packet of Dorito's. For the real die-hard concert goers out there, you can piss in the empty beaker and launch it at your friends for a laugh!!! This was meant to be a joke, you know? Taken tongue in cheek and all that. Whaddya mean 'it's not funny'? No, seriously, the concert was amazing, certainly the best I have ever been to, and if they toured again, I would not hesitate to go and see them again.

Next time I go, I want to take someone with me who can write down the scoop while I do some serious moshing. If you fit the bill and want to get into some concerts for free, then Email Gaz!!!

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Page Updated Fri Oct 21, 2005 5:44am EDT