Blink-182

Blink-182
from left to right: Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge from left to right: Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge
Background information
Years active	1992 – 2005 (Hiatus)
Members	Mark Hoppus Tom DeLonge Travis Barker (1998-)
Past members	Scott Raynor (1992-1998)
Website	Official Website

blink-182 is a Southern California 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 replaced Raynor on drums in 1998, midway through blink-182's US tour. In 2005, its members announced that the band was on "indefinite hiatus."

The group is known for its catchy melodies, as well as for satirical, and sometimes profanity-laden, toilet humor. 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, prior to their earlier albums, is usually humorous and uplifting.

Although the band is labeled as Blink 182 on albums prior to Raynor's departure, the official rendering of the band's name is blink-182. The numbers 182 are added to the band's name to prevent a trademark conflict with the Irish pop group Blink. However, fans frequently refer to the band informally as 'Blink'.

History

Early career (1992-1996)

The earliest incarnation of the band can be traced back to the early '90s when DeLonge was reportedly expelled from Poway High School during junior year after being caught drunk at a school basketball game. After he transferred to another school, he met Anne Hoppus, sister of Mark Hoppus, who introduced DeLonge to her brother. The day the two future bandmates met they were skateboarding with friends in a plaza parking lot and to impress DeLonge, Hoppus climbed a lamp pole and jumped from the top, cracking both heels. The two hit it off and eventually came up with the name "Duck Tape" for the name of new band. Duck Tape soon transformed into Blink. In need of a drummer, DeLonge tapped 14-year-old Scott Raynor, whom he had known from a party.

In May 1993, Blink released a demo tape entitled Flyswatter, recorded in drummer Scott Raynor's bedroom. It was their first album and a 4-track was used to record the material, resulting in poor sound quality and according to Hoppus, only around fifty copies were produced. Their first real show took place at a bar and since they were underage, they were only allowed to enter when it was time for their set. They bought 50 tickets to sell, but no one came to see them. After only one song Blink was kicked off the stage and out of the bar. Before the end of the year, the band released another demo tape known as Buddha. Around 1,000 copies were produced by Filter Records (owned by Hoppus' boss).

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(this was stated by Mark Hoppus as being the reasoning behind the numbers in an interview with Australian Cable TV channel, Channel [V]), 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.

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 (Growing Up)" 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 or 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.

Breakthrough and rising to success (1998–2002)

For the 1998 album Enema of the State, the band hired Rancid and MxPx producer Jerry Finn, who became the band's permanent record producer. 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 7.7 million copies worldwide, which made it their bestselling 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 recorded and mixed cleaner and with less distortion, allowing it to be 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. A European tour (in the winter 2001) in support of the live album was cancelled in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Rescheduled dates in early 2002 were also cancelled due to Delonge's back problems.

On break, Pop Disaster and career with band projects (2002)

In the Summer of 2002, blink-182 and Green Day co-headlined the "Pop Disaster" tour, with support coming from Jimmy Eat World, Saves The Day and a relatively unknown band called Kut u up. Leading up to the tour, DeLonge began writing solo material. This was mostly due to the way he felt in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attacks, feelings which were exacerbated by recent medical problems involving his back.

DeLonge slowly started to gather more and more material for a side project and it wasn't until he recruited Barker on drums and long time friend David Kennedy on guitar that his idea came to fruition. Bass would be played by DeLonge and Anthony Celestino on subsequent tours and videos. The project became known as Box Car Racer, a name 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) and Jordan Pundik (New Found Glory) 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, as this project made Hoppus feel alienated from DeLonge and Barker. In a recent interview, DeLonge stated that he wished he had enlisted friend Atom Willard for drum duties instead, which could have potentially prevented blink-182's disbandment, or at the very least, could have made the separation more amiable. However, he would go on to enlist Willard for the band he formed during blink-182's hiatus.

After Boxcar Racer, Barker was invited to work on a second side project known as 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 Boxcar Racer, Armstrong asked him to assist in the side project. Not long after their formation, 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, an instrumental version of the song is featured on the Garnier Fructis commercial. After playing the Warped Tour, Transplants decided to part ways for the time being.

Untitled-era (2003–2005)

After taking some time off in 2002, recording of the next record began in early 2003. A more laid back approach to song writing was taken. The result was a more mature sounding record than anything blink-182 had attempted before. The band released its fifth studio album on November 18, 2003. Described as "a self-meditation on romantic decay", the album featured the hit singles "Feeling This" (previously named "Action", as released on the game Madden 2004), "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 Fuse. 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. During late 2003, the band embarked on what came to be known as the "Dolla Bill" tour. The name stemmed from the inexpensive ticket costs for attendance. The tour was largely popular with fans as the band played more intimate venues and ticket sales were heavily controlled to prevent touting. Also, special "meet and greets" were arranged before some of the shows. The tour would also visit The SOMA in San Diego, a venue where blink-182 would go to watch and play gigs during their early years. A tour with No Doubt in the summer of 2004 was also very successful. Coming up to 3 years after its release, the successful album has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

On "indefinite hiatus" (2005-present)

blink-182 visiting United States Troops in Manama, Bahrain (Aug. 25, 2003)

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. 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. DeLonge did not give an interview until September of the same year, while Hoppus refused to officially provide an explanation and has still yet to give any in-depth response on the situation. Fans soon began to suspect that there was a disagreement that alienated DeLonge and Hoppus. Kerrang! printed an article that seemed to confirm the suspicion, but Delonge immediately denounced it on his "In-studio journal" on his "Macbeth" podcast, saying not to believe anything unless it comes straight from any of the band-members.

In the wake of the "hiatus", Geffen Records released a career long "Greatest Hits" compilation in October (Outside the United States) and November (United States) 2005. One previously unreleased track was included "Another Girl Another Planet" (a cover song originally by The Only Ones, recorded as the theme song to the reality TV show Meet the Barkers), Also included was the previously issued B-side (to the "I Miss You" single) and Untitled album bonus track (Outside the United States), "Not Now" (which was used as the first single). The album immediately reached No. 6 on The Billboard 200 in the United States. There are two versions of the Greatest Hits CD. One that has a bonus track: Aliens Exist (live) issued in Australia with a bonus DVD, and another version that includes two bonus tracks: "Go (live)" and "I Won't Be Home For Christmas" along with the DVD issued in the UK.

As the reason for the "indefinite hiatus", the band mainly suggests the mounting tension between DeLonge and Hoppus, ultimately caused by DeLonge's desire for a break with his family and Hoppus' feelings of betrayal from the formation of Boxcar Racer. 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 and was released on May 23rd, 2006. 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 (+44) debut album, "Little Death." Earlier in 2006, Barker played a couple of shows with DJ AM and has trademarked the name The Phenomenons for a new band.

In an interview for Channel V, an Australian Music channel, DeLonge stated:" I’m going to let it be for a while, but I definitely want to talk to them again obviously. I would love to rebuild my friendship with those guys, they’re amazing people." Right now, DeLonge is focusing on touring with Angels and Airwaves and none of the former band members have spoken any word of a possible blink-182 reunion. Some fans remain extremely nostalgic and hopeful, while others are looking towards the future with the three musicians and their new projects.

On the July 21st, 2006 MTV posted an article in which Hoppus and Barker both commented on their (+44) outfit. In this article, along with the confirmation of the departure of Carol Heller, Barker spoke very briefly on Tom DeLonge and his new band saying: "You're definately seeing what the real Tom DeLonge was like. That's all I'm going to say about him or his band." Whether or not this insinuates tense, mutual or friendly feelings requires more clarification.

Discography

For full discography, see blink-182 discography.

Album Cover	Date of Release	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak	US sales
File:ChesireCatBlink182.jpg	February 17, 1994	Cheshire Cat	Grilled Cheese	Did not chart
File:Dude Ranch Blink 182 album.jpg	June 17, 1997	Dude Ranch	MCA	#67	Platinum
File:Blink181State.jpg	June 1, 1999	Enema of the State	MCA	#9	9x Platinum
File:Blink182-takeoffyourpantsandjacket.png	June 12, 2001	Take Off Your Pants and Jacket	MCA	#1	6x Platinum
File:Blink182albumcover.jpg	November 18, 2003	(Untitled)	Geffen	#3	5x Platinum

Podcasts

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 favorite 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.

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.

Trivia

blink-182 in popular culture

• "Dammit" appears constantly in the movies Bubble Boy, Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, and Can't Hardly Wait. It also appeared on the Daria episode, "Arts 'n Crass" and an episode of the WB teen drama, Dawson's Creek.
• 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 the film's soundtrack (considered the film's theme song).
• "Everytime I Look For You" appears in the sequel, American Pie 2 (and on the soundtrack).
• 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.
• 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-182", which parodies the sitcom "Leave it to Beaver".
• The band plays their song 'What's My Age Again' naked, in episode 2, season 3 of the sitcom "Two Guys and a Girl."
• The band appeared on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno three times ("All The Small Things", "Aliens Exist", "Stay Together for the Kids"), The Late Show with David Letterman twice ("The Rock Show", "Down"), Late Night with Conan O'brien twice ("Dammit", "First Date"), Jimmy Kimmel once ("Feeling This/Stay Together for the Kids"), and performed two songs ("All the Small Things" and "What's My Age Again?") on Saturday Night Live's first episode of the year 2000 (the host for that episode was Jamie Foxx).
• "All the Small Things" and "First Date" appeared in the film "Clockstoppers".
• In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Something Blue", Willow gets drunk and dances to "All The Small Things".
• In "Stick It" when Haley is doing her floor routine she is dancing to "Anthem Part 2."
• Hoppus appeared on episode #7 of Haunted as the dead father of a living girl.
• "All The Small Things" is covered by an unnamed band on the Gamecube game Donkey Konga
• "Rock Show" appears in the PS2 game Amplitude.
• "Feeling This" (then known as "Action") appears in the Gamecube, Xbox, and PS2 game Madden 2004.
• The band appeared in South Park in the episode 105 (ninth of the seventh season) entitled "Christian Rock". They were supporting Kenny, Kyle & Stan's band "Moop" against illegal music downloading.
• "I Miss You" was the theme song to the short-lived The WB series The Mountain (TV series)

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. He even bought a computer just to research aliens with it.
• 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.
• Mark Hoppus is an avid ant farm collector, and owns over 15 large ant farms
• The 182 in the name, according to Tom, is a random number. The band was forced to change their name "Blink" in their early years when the band was threatened with a lawsuit from an Irish band with the name Blink. So, the band added the number 182.
• Another claim is that 182 refers to one hundred and eighty two degrees. One hundred and eighty degrees is a straight line, therefore 182 would be slighty crooked, probably for humorous purposes.
• Once, Tom DeLonge got suspended for drinking at a school basketball game. Then, to the anger of the school officials, he was nominated prom king. The reaction at Tom's home with his drinking incident later inspired the song "Dick Lips".
• Tom's first jobs were working on a construction site and at Gary’s Chicken and Ribs in Poway.
• Before blink, Tom was in a band called Big Oily Men (which he said wasn't all too great), Mark was in a band called the Pier 69, then Of All Things, until he moved to San Diego to start The Attic Children (which later turned into blink, and grew on to become a part of the name of the clothing company, Atticus, which Mark and Tom co-founded), and before the Aquabats and the Vandals, Travis was in an amateur band called Feeble.
• On the inside of the spine on the album Enema of the State you will find the words "Viking wizard eyes, Wizard full of lies"
• When approached on the street by fans seeking insight, Mark Hoppus reportedly has replied with: "I'm the guy with the flat voice in Blink 182. Why are you paying any attention me? I have nothing to offer anyone."
• They have been honored at Teen Choice Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, and the Blockbuster Entertainment awards.
• DeLonge was arrested for underage drinking during the Good Times tour.
• What's My Age Again was originally going to be called Peter Pan Complex.
• The song "Dick Lips" was not originally called "Dick Lips". Hoppus was very fond of those two words, and called everybody in the studio that. When the producer came to the studio to ask what the name of the song was. Hoppus and DeLonge both blurted out "Dick Lips". They were going to change the name to better suit the song, but the name stuck with it.
• The song 'Adam's Song' is about a band friend called Adam who killed himself during a phase of severe depression.

Album titles

All of blink-182's albums appear to run off 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", on the (untitled album) the "H" is found in the intersection of the lines of the face, and finally, on the Greatest Hits compilation, the letter "I" appeared 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 Take Off Your Pants and Jacket Album.

External links

Official websites

• Blink-182 Official website

Official websites (other)

• Box Car Racer
• Angels And Airwaves
• (+44)
• Macbeth Footwear
• Transplants
• HiMyNameIsMark.com
• LoserKids
• Resting Bird
• Punk Disasters
• Atticus Clothing

Unofficial websites

• Boltzies-blink A blink fan site.
• Easy target 182
• blink182foreverandever

Official MySpace websites

• Angels And Airwaves
• Macbeth Footwear
• Transplants
• (+44)
• Mark Hoppus