I began writing this punk rock series with a post about the San Francisco area band Jawbreaker. In that post (which you can read here) I talked about some of the characteristics of bands who claim to be punk bands, or else are said to be punk bands. Chief among those was a foundation of non-conformity. The manifestation of this non-conformist attitude tended to appear in the form of politically motivated song lyrics combined with an unwillingness to involve themselves with the corporate world by the signing of record contracts with major record labels. Much of the series has examined the careers of bands who eschewed such corporate sponsorship and what happened to those who did agree to suck on the corporate teat, as it were. Through it all, it appears as though the bands held in the highest esteem by punk rock fans tended to be those who stayed true to the DIY aspect of punk. Bands such as Rancid, Fugazi/Minor Threat, Black Flag and today’s featured band, NOFX, were all bands that kept it real and raw and minimalistic. For them and their fans, it was all about the music, the message and the connection that existed between the band and their fans. When a band stayed true to their fans by staying true to their punk roots, the fans remained loyal to them right up until the end. This is especially true with NOFX. I can talk about the easy rapport that NOFX had with its fans, but trust me, no words will be necessary once you watch the video for “The Decline” that is included in the links below. The strength of that connection is obvious and is a delight to see. I close out this series as it began, by showcasing one of punk’s legendary bands. By doing so, I will touch again upon some of the ways that true punk bands were able to stay relevant and financially solvent at the same time. The time for the final post has arrived. Here is the story of NOFX and “The Decline”.

NOFX: Smelly Sandin, Fat Mike, El Hefe and Eric Melvin.

NOFX formed in Boston in the early 1980s. Like many bands, there have been numerous lineup changes over the years, but the lineup for NOFX’s most successful days as a band was composed of singer/guitarist Mike “Fat Mike” Burkett, guitarist Eric Melvin, guitarist Aaron “El Hefe” Abeyta and drummer Erik “Smelly” Sandin. Right from the get-go, NOFX used sophomoric humour as a means of making political points. Over the course of their career, the band has released albums with names such as S & M Airlines, Heavy Petting Zoo, So Long and Thanks For All The Shoes, Pump Up the Valuum and their most commercially successful album, Punk in Drublic. In total, NOFX has released 15 studio albums and various EPs, singles and live albums (including one called I Heard They Suck Live) that have sold over 8 million units worldwide. This makes NOFX one of the biggest selling completely independent bands in the world. The fact that many of you reading these words have probably never heard of them speaks to the indie nature of how NOFX goes about their business. As “Fat” Mike famously wrote in the liner notes of Punk in Drublic with regard to signing with a major record label, “We’ve been doing fine all these years without you so leave us alone!”  They have toured extensively. 

NOFX have played venues large and small. But they have done so on their own terms and have never accepted corporate sponsorship along the way. So how have they done this for all these years and managed to survive? It isn’t cheap to travel across North America and around the world. Well, one of the ways that DIY punk bands like NOFX have eased their financial burden is by taking over the means of production and distribution of their own music. The primary vehicle for achieving this is to own their own independent record label. Companies such as Dischord Records, Epitaph Records and Fat Wreck Chords were all in the business of signing and promoting punk bands and other indie acts. All of these companies were started by punk rock musicians themselves as a way to centralize control of their music. In this way, they ensured that they had the independence to record what they wanted to, rather than having to use a formula to create “hits” to justify a major label’s investment and bolster the corporate bottom line. Dischord Records was started by Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat/Fugazi in Washington, DC. Epitaph Records was started by Brett Gurewitz of the band Bad Religion on the west coast. Fat Wreck Chords was started by “Fat” Mike of NOFX. That company operates out of San Francisco now. In addition to taking care of the business of producing and distributing albums for punk and indie artists, these record companies also served as a cross-country promotional network that helped book bands into punk-friendly venues and promote their appearances as they moved across the land. If not for this community of like-minded punk idealists, it would have been much harder for these bands to remain true to the spirit of their punk roots. 

One of the positive benefits that comes from being your own boss, as NOFX is because they release their music on their own label, Fat Wreck Chords, is that the only consideration they have when it comes to their songwriting is creating new material that pleases them and their fans. There are no external factors or pressures that NOFX has to bear in mind when coming up with fresh material. If they have something to say that they think their fans will be receptive to, then that material becomes the fodder for a new album. It was this artistic freedom that allowed “Fat” Mike and the band to even remotely consider a song like “The Decline”. 

“The Decline” is an eighteen minute long epic piece of commentary on the state of life in America. While it mines the expected anti-government/anti-corporation line, “The Decline” also takes time to rap the knuckles of ordinary citizens who display apathy and/or blind obedience to it all. The song is told in one-two verse segments that, when stitched together, form a damning indictment of life in the land of the free. Because “The Decline” is so long, it is rarely performed in public. It also does not appear on any album. It was released as its own EP and was pressed in a limited edition. The version of “The Decline” that I am featuring today is one that takes an already over-the-top song and brings it to an even higher level. The story is that one day while warming up for a concert somewhere in Europe, a French jazz drummer who goes by the stage name of Baz came to hear “The Decline”. As he listened to the EP version of the song, Baz immediately began to hear orchestral accompaniment in his head. When time permitted, Baz sat down and fleshed out his ideas and contacted “Fat” Mike and pitched it all to him. Now “Fat” Mike had never written or collaborated with anyone on a NOFX project but was intrigued by what Baz had to say and agreed to give it a try. The result of this collaboration can be seen in the video included in the links. That video shows “The Decline” as it was played at the lovely Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado with NOFX performing in front of the Denver Symphony Orchestra under the musical direction of Baz. When it comes to the history of punk music, this rendition of “The Decline” is its magnum opus. What a theatrical, bombastic joyride this is! A punk rock opera, of sorts. Simply astonishing and amazing and a completely satisfying way to end this series for me.

The irony of the punk genre’s DIY poster child, NOFX, standing in costume before a symphony orchestra in a setting like Red Rocks while playing a song that has as much in common with prog. rock songs that the original punk bands like The Sex Pistols formed to lampoon, is not lost on anyone, including me. But if there is one thing that has become clear as this series on punk music has rolled along, it is that one of the core rules of the punk world is that, in the end, the only rule that matters is being your true authentic self with not the slightest concern for what others might have to say. The only opinions that matter are those of a band and their fans. That’s it! The rest are pure bollocks.

Thanks to those of you who have followed the posts that made up this series. I hope that you enjoyed it, and maybe even learned a thing or two along the way. I had fun and even scored a Jawbreaker t-shirt out of it for my trouble! From MC5 and The Stooges in the 1960s all the way to NOFX and “The Decline” at Red Rocks in the 2020s, watching and listening to the evolution of punk music has been a blast!  Tune in next week to see what happens next. I haven’t come up with a firm plan yet, but rest assured, the next series will be as interesting and informative as I can possibly make it, too. Take care, everyone. Thanks for reading my words.

The link to the video for the song “The Decline” by NOFX with Baz and the Denver Symphony Orchestra can be found here.  ***The lyric version is not from the same concert. However, it is helpful to watch the lyric version so that you have a sense of familiarity with what is being sung on stage at Red Rocks in the live video. You can watch the lyric version here.

As I have said all throughout this series, the title of the series was taken from lyrics to a great song called “Boxcar” by the band Jawbreaker. I am most appreciative of having been able to use such a meaningful phrase as my series title. In response, I have always encouraged my readers to take a few moments to visit the Jawbreaker website and show the band a little love. They have a great music archive there. They also have the latest information on tours and ticket sales, as well as terrific merch for purchase. Remember, punk bands are often their own sources of income, so buying directly from a band helps that band directly. The link to Jawbreaker’s website can be found here.

***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2024 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com

https://tommacinneswriter.com/2024/02/29/whos-punk-whats-the-score-song-20-20-the-decline-by-nofx/

#Baz #NOFX #TheDecline #WhoSPunkWhatSTheScore_

Who’s Punk?! What’s the Score?!…Song #15/21: Picture My Face by Teenage Head

For all the talk about Punk rock being a UK thing or a New York thing, it may come as a surprise to some to know that at the same time as both legendary music scenes were exploding, Toronto was undergoing a similar musical transformation. Using the famous Horseshoe Tavern for a homebase, bands such as The Diodes, The Viletones, The Ugly, The Mods, Cardboard Brains, The Scenics, L’Etranger (featuring future N.D.P. parliamentarians Charlie Angus and Andrew Cash) and from Hamiliton, Forgotten Rebels and the most famous punk band of them all, Teenage Head, all ruled a music scene that burned brightly for a few years before fizzling out in a series of riots and then being swallowed by the arrival of New Wave and Alternative music that characterized the 1980s. But for a few short, intense years at the end of the 1970s, punk rock in Toronto was as vibrant a music scene as anywhere else in the world. You can believe it. It’s true. While all of the aforementioned bands had their moments of artistic brilliance or notoriety, it was Teenage Head that came closest to actually becoming national and international stars. They had even signed a U.S. record deal and were prepared to start touring in America when fate intervened with other plans for the boys. However, despite never becoming Canada’s version of The Clash or perhaps more fittingly, The New York Dolls or The Ramones, Teenage Head still left an indelible mark on Canada’s music scene…a mark that began with the arrival of their self-titled debut album and a song called “Picture My Face”.

Teenage Head: Gord Lewis, Nick Stipanitz, Frankie Venom, Steve Mahon.

Teenage Head formed in Hamilton, Ontario in 1975. The original members were Frank Kerr (who donned the great stage name of Frankie Venom), Gord Lewis, Steve Mahon and Nick Stipanitz. While I will be talking more about the punk scene as it played out in Toronto, I would be remiss if I didn’t make mention of the fact that the city of Hamiliton (immediately to the west of Toronto) had a burgeoning music scene of its own. During the 1970s, bands such as Forgotten Rebels, Simply Saucer (whose members floated in and out of the lineup for Teenage Head over the years) and, of course, Teenage Head all played in venues around the working class city that was built upon a foundation of steel. While Teenage Head was playing high school dances and legion halls in the city, across town musician/producer Daniel Lanois had opened Grant Avenue Studios and was producing the likes of Martha and the Muffins just as they released “Echo Beach”, The Spoons (and “Nova Heart”). Johnny Cash came through, as did Brian Eno, the Killjoys, and even Peter Gabriel stopped by, too. Today, The Sheepdogs and The Arkells proudly call Hamilton home. But back in the day, it was the four lads who made up Teenage Head that made the most noise and helped to put Hamilton firmly on Canada’s musical map.

The band’s name was nicked from a song on an album by 1960s US rockers The Flamin’ Groovies. Being teenage boys, the idea of “Teenage Head” appealed to them, and they adopted that moniker as their identity. But what made Teenage Head successful right from their very first album was that these guys could actually play really well. As much as Teenage Head is called a punk band, they were equally a rock band. Many people flocked to their live shows, not because the band was outrageous or even dangerous, it was because Teenage Head knew how to put on a good show and knew how to play great party music. It is for this reason that many people say that Teenage Head and The Ramones were musical cousins of a sort. In any case, in the pre-Internet world of the late 1970s, it was word-of-mouth by fans of the band that helped pave the way for Teenage Head to migrate down the highway from Hamilton to Toronto. It also helped that the band had a single that was actually available in record stores. That single was called “Picture My Face”. While not the first Canadian punk song to hit the airwaves, “Picture My Face” became one of the most popular. It was a clarion call to the music world that Teenage Head had arrived and would not quickly be forgotten. The lyrics to “Picture My Face” speak of remembering the tough times and having your character forged by those experiences. Because of that DNA in their blood, the band declared themselves as a band that would not merely survive but actually become a band worth remembering.

Once in Toronto, Teenage Head quickly became one of the top must-see punk acts. Their live shows were great fun and their recorded music was well received. In fact, it was when they released their second album called Frantic City and issued their first single “Let’s Shake” that the band really took off all across the country. “Let’s Shake” was very much a radio friendly song that became a staple of many a high school dance playlist as the 1980s began. Also from that album came smaller hits “Something on my Mind” and “Disgusteen”. Not long after Frantic City became a national hit, Teenage Head was positioned to be the next big thing and were preparing to sign a contract with a U.S. record label. However, just prior to leaving for a series of showcase performances in New York, guitarist Gord Lewis was involved in a serious car accident. The performances never went off as intended. This might have been a blessing in disguise, because had they officially signed in America it was rumoured that they were going to be pressured to alter their band name to become Teenage Heads so as to remove the sexual connotation that their Canadian band name implied. In any case, by the early 1980s, the band released an album called Some Kinda Fun and had a big hit with that, too. They had one last album in the early 1980s called Tornado which contained the title track which, in turn, landed on the soundtrack of a Michael J. Fox movie. It was to be Teenage Head’s last charting song. As the 1980s rolled along, the lineup of the band became unstable, with members coming and going. There were several other albums and reunions along the way, but the glory days of Teenage Head were drawing to a close.

Crowds gather outside of The Horseshoe tavern in Toronto for The Last Pogo.

However, the legend of Teenage Head remains to be told. While their music helped to gain them a measure of fame, it was their involvement in two separate riots that has cemented their status as one of Canada’s greatest bands. First things first: let’s start with The Last Pogo. One of the things that caused punk music to emerge as a genre was that it was partially a reaction to what some people perceived as being the bloated, leaden state of rock music at the time in the world. In the case of the Toronto punk scene, there was a gathering of all the most well known Toronto and area punk bands at a venue called The Horseshoe Tavern on Queen Street West. For almost a full year, two local music promoters known as “The Garys” had leased out The Horseshoe in order to put on punk shows that would cash in on this fresh, emerging music scene. After nine months, the owners of The Horseshoe had had enough and terminated the lease agreement with The Garys. At the same time as this was transpiring, famed movie director Martin Scorsese released his ode to the famous rock group The Band called The Last Waltz. In Toronto, this documentary was greeted with the same disdain by local punk rockers as UK prog rock bands like Yes, Genesis and others of that ilk were viewed by The Sex Pistols and The Damned over there. Back in Toronto, The Garys decided to mimic Scorsese’s The Last Waltz by organizing a punk rock blowout that they dubbed The Last Pogo. Maybe everyone knew it at the time or maybe they didn’t, but The Last Pogo concert at The Horseshoe Tavern turned out to be the last great moment for the original first wave of Toronto’s punk rock scene. Because almost every punk band of note was scheduled to appear, crowds quickly gathered outside The Horseshoe. A filmmaker was hired to document the concert (just like Scorsese did). As with most events of this type, there was a series of opening acts who all took to the stage in front of an overflow crowd. The final two acts were scheduled to be Teenage Head and The Viletones. By the time Teenage Head took the stage, it had become dangerously hot inside The Horseshoe Tavern. It was also becoming late in the evening, and at the time, there were noise restrictions in place for how loud a band could play and how late into the evening they could play. Because crowds were spilling out onto Queen Street West and because the concert was still going full tilt late into the evening, by the time Teenage Head took to the stage, the police had arrived and were intent on shutting the concert down. The members of the band began to play anyway and got through two songs before the police put their foot down and canceled the rest of the show. Needless to say, their intervention was not appreciated. A full blown riot erupted outside on Queen Street and inside the Horseshoe Tavern, too. The Last Pogo was punk rock’s last great stand in Toronto and the genre went down fighting. A twenty-eight minute documentary came out of the experience. The documentary is called The Last Pogo and was recorded and produced by a man named Colin Brunton.  I have watched it. It is a terrific historical document of a time when music really mattered in Toronto. You can feel the heat and the claustrophobic nature of the scene through your own screen. You can also get to watch a roster of bands who were at the top of their game in 1978. It is a great film and a sad film at the same time. Because it was Teenage Head battling the police, quite literally, their status as a legendary band was confirmed for all time.

But that was not the last big incident for Teenage Head. The second riot that they found themselves in the middle of happened two years later at an event called The Heatwave Music Festival that was being held at a location known as Ontario Place. For those of you unfamiliar with Toronto, Ontario Place is a theme park, of sorts, that sits on the southern edge of the city along the shores of Lake Ontario. In 1980, you could buy a day pass into the park. Included with this pass was free access to the concert bowl. There had never been an issue with this setup until the day of the Heatwave Music Festival. Like all concert facilities, there was a capacity limit at the concert bowl. By the time Teenage Head took the stage there, the capacity limit had been far exceeded. Festival promoters were overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of people who swarmed into the concert bowl and, in a panic, decided that the best course of action was to lock the access gates. This infuriated people who were not yet inside but had paid their fare to get a day pass. Needless to say, another riot broke out. People became injured. The police were needed to restore order. From that point on, the owners of Ontario Place enacted a concert ban that lasted for over a decade. As for the general public, Teenage Head cemented their reputation as the most notorious band in the land. Even if they were still a fun party band, the atmosphere surrounding attending a Teenage Head concert going forward had changed. Teenage Head may have formed in a blue collar town as a reaction to the rules of authority figures such as politicians and the police, but they were never a band whose purpose was to call for anarchy and to incite violence. Teenage Head was a rock band at its core. It played songs that spoke of lust and partying. As such, the tone surrounding concerts by the band changed. Even though they had some commercial success in the years that followed the Ontario Place riot, things were never the same.

Teenage Head at Ontario Place…just before the riot.

As mentioned above, by the mid-1980s the members of Teenage Head splintered into various alternative projects, only to reform as Teenage Head every now and again throughout the next two decades. In 2008 Frankie Venom passed away from throat cancer. In 2022, guitarist Gord Lewis was found murdered at the hand of his own son. In 2023, the surviving members of the band worked with drummer Marky Ramone (of The Ramones) to record and release a collection of B-sides and alternative tracks called Teenage Head with Marky Ramone. Former Toronto Star newspaper columnist Geoff Pevere penned the definitive book on the career of Teenage Head and about the Toronto punk scene in general. His book is called Gods of the Hammer: the Story of Teenage Head. That title cleverly gives a nod to another great rock n’ roll music book called Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis about Led Zeppelin. It is also a nod to the city of Hamilton, which many locals call “The Hammer”. Finally, in addition to the documentary called The Last Pogo, TVO (TV Ontario) has produced a documentary called Picture My Face: The Teenage Head Story. This documentary takes a look at the history of the band but focuses mostly on the last days of Gord Lewis’ life and his many struggles with addiction and mental illness. And finally, for the last time…I really mean it…there is a video for a series produced by the CBC called Backstage Pass that is hosted by two members of modern Toronto punk band F*cked Up! This twenty-five minute show is hosted by Damian Abraham, lead singer of F*cked Up! and Jonah Falco, who is the band’s drummer. Abraham has become known as a music historian of note and hosts his own podcast where he delves into the stories behind the songs that defined Punk Rock history. In this particular video, he talks about The Last Pogo, and, with his band, he covers some of the most memorable performances including doing a ripping cover of “Picture My Face” by Teenage Head.

All in all, Teenage Head has earned its place in Canada’s musical canon. If you are not familiar with their music, then I am predicting that “Picture My Face” may surprise you. It is more rock n’ roll than what many would consider punk rock to be. If you go on to listen to songs such as “Let’s Shake” and “Some Kinda Fun”, you will be even more drawn into the rock n’ roll party vibe that Teenage Head was really known for. In any case, class is dismissed for the day. If you didn’t know about Teenage Head before, well now you do. If you didn’t know that Toronto had a kickass punk rock scene that rivaled those scenes in the U.S. and the U.K., well, now you know that too. Have a great rest of your day. Thanks for reading my words.

The link to the video for the song “Picture My Face” can be found here.

***This video is the actual performance from The Last Pogo. You will note how chaotic it all was inside the Horseshoe tavern just before the riots began. lyrics video is here. 

***A cleaner, clearer version is here.

***The lyrics version is here. This is a full live concert that was held as a tribute when Frankie Venom passed away. Pete Macaulay stood in for Venom. All songs have subtitles. “Picture My face” is song #2.

The link to the official website for Teenage Head can be found here.

The link to the video for The Last Pogo documentary can be found here.

The link to the video for the TVO documentary called Picture My Face: The Teenage Head Story can be found here.

The link to the video for the CBC Backstage Pass episode hosted by Damian Abraham and bandmate Jonah Falco regarding the history of The Last Pogo can be found here.

The official website for The Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto can be found here.

The name of this series is borrowed from a lyric in a song called “Boxcar” by a great punk band called Jawbreaker. Please take a moment and visit Jawbreaker’s website. You will find it filled with great videos, tour information, cool merch and much, much more. Thanks. You can link to their website here.

***As always, all original content contained within this post remains the sole property of the author. No portion of this post shall be reblogged, copied or shared in any manner without the express written consent of the author. ©2024 http://www.tommacinneswriter.com

#PictureMyFace #Punk #TeenageHead #TheHorseshoeTavern #TheLastPogo #WhoSPunkWhatSTheScore_ #2

Green Day are one of the most commercially successful rock bands of the past thirty years. They have sold over 75 million albums worldwide, have earned multiple gold and platinum records and have already been inducted into The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, even though they are still an active touring band. However, their very success has fuelled much discussion and debate among fans as to whether or not they are actually a true punk rock band. The debate centres around whether Green Day has adhered to the strict ethos of what makes a punk band truly punk or have they sold their soul to the gods of corporate rock n’ roll. Like many issues of this sort, there are points to be had for both sides of the story. In fact, one of the best books I have read in a while was totally devoted to the issue of examining the careers of bands who claimed to be punk to see how they dealt with commercial growth and blowback against them if they ended up signing a contract with a major record label. The entire first chapter of Sell Out by Dan Ozzi was devoted to Green Day. To be fair, Ozzi didn’t label any of the bands profiled in this book as being sellouts. Instead, he simply chronicled each band’s story. However, the world of punk is filled with fans who are purists in their idea of what constitutes a punk band. Heaven help those who opt to feed from the corporate teat. This is the story of Green Day.

Green Day at Gilman’s.

Green Day came together in the same Berkley/San Francisco area of California that bands such as Jawbreaker did. *(This series began with a post about Jawbreaker and the demands that fans and promoters of punk music placed upon the bands that they followed. It is an important read if you wish to understand the context in which Green Day was judged. You can read that post here). The band consisted of only three players: singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer John Kiffmeyer. Not long into their career as a band, Kiffmeyer left to attend college. He was replaced by current drummer Tre Cool. When it came to describing who Green Day were as a band in their younger days, they checked a lot of the boxes necessary to be considered a punk rock band. First of all, they played loud and fast. Secondly, they interacted with their audiences, often playing close enough to reach out and touch their fans as they played and vice versa. Thirdly, Green Day had lots to say about the state of the world around them and were often heard singing about their disgust with right wing, conservative politics and the politicians who supported such policies. Finally, Green Day signed their first record contract with a small local record company named Lookout! Records. Signing with Lookout! Records was an important step in establishing the necessary street credibility with their early punk audiences because that company was the one that signed and promoted other local punk bands such as Operation Ivy (which eventually evolved into the band Rancid). Lookout! Records operated on a shoestring budget, channeling almost all profits back into promoting the bands they had signed. Music that was vital and filled with passionate idealism was being made by bands who had a lot to say. It was being consumed by a rapturous choir of fans who all truly believed that punk music was music in its purest form. The holy temples where the bands played and the fans jumped up and down included places like Gilman *(mentioned in the Jawbreaker post). If the Gilman’s experience could have gone on and on forever in a protective bubble away from the rest of the world, then all would have been good. But life does not exist in a protective plastic bubble.

One of the other characteristics of many pure punk bands is that there is a rawness to their sound. These bands tend to be loud, with distortion and feedback being common features of how they play. One of the attributes that Green Day began to possess that first raised eyebrows with their fans was that they actually began to learn how to play their instruments properly. Dare I say that their musical sound became almost slick? Being a tight, polished band alarmed their fans. Green Day began playing songs that sounded more like pop or rock than they did punk. Because their songs were becoming so well constructed, rumours swept the punk world in San Francisco that Green Day was about to sign with a major label. When news leaked out that, in fact, they had left Lookout! Records for Reprise Records and had signed a major label recording contract, Green Day found themselves ostracized by their fans. Not long after they signed with Reprise, Green Day released their major label debut album called Dookie. Dookie was a huge success! It sold millions of copies and included hit songs such as “Longview”, “Basket Case”, “When I Come Around” and “Welcome to Paradise”. Music critics raved about the album, calling it one of the best punk albums of all time. The band members became famous overnight. Their bank accounts swelled. They became the poster children for the new punk-inspired resurgence that also included bands such as The Offspring, Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World and so on. Yet, through all of the band’s success, the members of Green Day found themselves under constant scrutiny regarding the question of whether they had sold their punk soul to the corporate rock world. 

As time unfolded, Green Day found that their fanbase had changed. Gone were their original passionate, opinionated fans from the Gilman sphere of influence. In their place were fans who were more interested in having fun and bopping along to songs that had a good beat and were easy to dance to, as they used to say on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. The funny thing was that Green Day still felt as though they hadn’t changed much at all. They were convinced that they were the same hard driving, loud, fast and political band that they had always been and that the only thing that changed was that they had an actual comfortable tour bus to get them to gigs as opposed to a ratty old broken down van. Soon, drugs and alcohol became a refuge from the reality that they found themselves in. There were several incidents in which Billy Joe Armstrong left concerts in mid-performance because he was angry at the promoters of the show or at something the audience was doing. Sales began to fall. It appeared as though Green Day might end up becoming irrelevant. A breakup of the band seemed imminent. Then something happened beyond the control of the band that ended up revitalizing their career…the Twin Towers fell.

In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, a great many political moves were made by the U.S. government of the day led by President George W. Bush that were seen as being undemocratic by the band. Personal liberties were curtailed, music was censored on radio stations, public discourse became polarized and the nation was plunged into a war that many deemed to be ill-conceived and more focussed on revenge than anything else. Being the opinionated young men that they were, the members of Green Day sought to express themselves in song. Initially, they started working on an album of songs that were a mishmash of styles. In a bit of fortuitous luck, the master tapes from those early sessions were stolen. When the band sat to discuss what to do next, their producer challenged them to be better by asking if they truly believed that the music on those stolen tapes was their best work. When the boys in the band agreed that it wasn’t their best work, it was felt that a make or break time had come for Green Day as a band. To give up felt like admitting that George Bush and his followers were right about how life should be in America. So instead, Billie Joe Armstrong went off on a writing retreat and emerged a few weeks later with the makings of a cohesive album that read more like a rock opera in the same vein as Quadrophenia and Tommy by The Who. Armstrong, Dirnt and Cool channeled all of their anger against George Dubya into an album that became known as American Idiot.  This album contained songs such as the title track, “Holiday”, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “When September Comes”. It was a huge hit for Green Day and served as a rallying cry by left-leaning Americans against the Republican president’s policies and personality. American Idiot breathed new life into the band. Green Day were now being hailed as a powerful voice for a new generation. They had accrued elder statesmen status and began to be respected as a talented and vital band once again.  

In recent interviews, the band was asked to reflect on their legacy. Armstrong replied by admitting that it is foolish to call them a punk band these days because of the size and complexity of their live shows and the amount of financial considerations involved in paying the salaries of hundreds of employees who help the entity known as Green Day to function day in and day out. However, he was quick to add that Green Day remains punk as f*ck because they are never afraid to speak their mind to the powers that be through their music. The members of Green Day are justifiably proud of their accomplishments and each swear that their best may still be to come. American Idiot was the inspiration behind a Broadway musical that launched a decade or so ago. The band was also recently the half-time guests at the CFL’s Grey Cup championship game. If playing in the cold at half-time in the land of three-down football isn’t punk then I don’t know what is. 

The link to the video for the song “American Idiot” by Green Day can be found here. ***The lyrics version is here.

The link to the official website for Green Day can be found here.

The link to the video for the trailer to American Idiot: the Musical can be found here.

The link to a news article about how Green Day are seen as heroes by many in the LBGTQ2s+ community can be found here. In addition to the specific connection Green Day has to this community, the article points out the tremendous role that music and musicians can play in the lives of people who feel marginalized and forgotten. This article by Niko Stratis is one of my favourite music-related articles I have ever read. Period. It is well worth checking out.

The title of this series was taken from a lyric in the song “Boxcar” by the awesome Bay-area band Jawbreaker. Please show this band a little love and visit their website to buy a little merch, score some show tickets, etc. Thanks. The band and I appreciate it. The link to their website can be found here.

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https://tommacinneswriter.com/2023/11/22/whos-punk-whats-the-score-song-9-25-american-idiot-by-green-day/

#AmericanIdiot #GilmanS #GreenDay #Punk #WhoSPunkWhatSTheScore_ #9