Green Day—my favourite band!
Green Day is an American rock trio formed in 1987. The band has consisted of Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, vocals), and Tré Cool (drums, percussion) for the majority of its existence.
Green Day was originally part of the punk rock scene at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California.Its early releases for independent record label Lookout! Records earned them a grassroots fanbase, some of whom felt alienated when the band signed to a major label.Nevertheless, its major label debut Dookie (1994) became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. and 15 million worldwide. Green Day’s 2004 rock opera American Idiot reignited the band’s popularity with a younger generation, selling five million copies in the U.S. Nevertheless, Green Day has sold over 22 million records in the United States. They have won three Grammy Awards; Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, and Record of the Year for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams“.
Green Day’s sound is often compared to first wave punk bands such as the Ramones, The Clash, Sex Pistols, The Jam, and the Buzzcocks. The majority of their song catalog is composed of overdriven guitar, fast, manic drums, and relatively high-treble bass. Most of their songs are fast-paced and under four minutes.
Among other influences, Green Day have also cited Queen, proto-punks The Who, and power pop pioneers Cheap Trick. Armstrong’s lyrics commonly describe alienation, (“Jesus of Suburbia“, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams“, “Road to Acceptance”, “Disappearing Boy”, “Castaway”) hysteria (“Basket Case“, “Panic Song”, “American Eulogy“), girls (“She”, “80″ “Only of You”,”Maria” “She’s a Rebel“), growing up (“Longview” and “Welcome to Paradise“), and the effects of doing drugs (“Geek Stink Breath“, “Green Day”, “Give Me Novacaine“). The Ramones had similar lyrical themes such as hysteria (“Anxiety”, “Psycho Therapy“), alienation (“Outsider”, “Something To Believe In“), girls (“I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend”, “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker“), and drugs (“Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue”, “Chinese Rocks“). Green Day has covered Ramones songs several times, including recording “Outsider” for the tribute album We’re a Happy Family, and performing “Blitzkrieg Bop” and “Teenage Lobotomy” when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
Most Influential Folk Artists (Part 2)
- Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe spearheaded the Bluegrass movement of the 1950s. Along with his Blue Grass Boys, he set a precedent for all bluegrassers. He integrated some aesthetics of country-western with vocal harmonies, bluegrass instruments, and his high lonesome tenor voice. Many bluegrass bands today compare themselves to Monroe’s original line-up, and several of his bandmates (Del McCoury, Earl Scruggs) have gone on to forge successful careers of their own.
Bill Monroe was born in Rosine, Kentucky, in 1911. He started playing mandolin as a small child, and was part of his Uncle Pendleton Vandiver’s backup band at local dances. He was orphaned at the age of 16, at which point he moved to Chicago to live with his brothers Birch and Charlie.
After several years of playing with his brothers, Bill formed his own band in 1938. In honor of his home state, he called them “The Blue Grass Boys.” By the time the 1940s rolled around, Bill had added lyrics to his Bluegrass tunes, and was revered as the grandfather of Bluegrass. In 1965, Bill was the main act at the first multi-day Bluegrass festival. He also started his own festival in rural Indiana.
In 1970, Bill was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He won the National Endowment for the Arts’ Heritage Award. In 1989, he was awarded the first ever Grammy award for a Bluegrass record, and in 1995, Bill Clinton awarded him with the National Medal of Honor. A year after his death in 1996, Monroe was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
- Pete Seeger
The question here is really: is there a folksinger alive that hasn’t, in some way, been influenced by the work of Pete Seeger? Chances are the answer is no. Seeger’s cannon of work is so vast it’s hard to even pin down a number of songs he’s sung, written, or popularized over the years. His impressive skills as a sing-along man helped inspire a generation into activism in the 1950s and 60s, and his topical songs have inspired artists from Bob Dylan to Dan Bern to keep the legacy going.
Peter Seeger was born in May, 1919, in New York City. His father, Charlie, was a musicologist, and both of his siblings, Mike and Peggy, also became musicians (Mike Seeger was a founding member of the New Lost City Ramblers).
Pete spent two years studying Journalism at Harvard University before dropping out to perform music. During the late 1930s, he met Woody Guthrie at a benefit concert for migrant workers, which was inspired by the novel Grapes of Wrath.
The two found they had plenty in common both musically and ideologically, and they soon formed a group that came to be known famously as the Almanac Singers.
Pete was also a founding member of the Weavers, who enjoyed extensive success until being blacklisted for being Communists during the McCarthy Era. Seeger himself refused to testify in the McCarthy hearings, citing that it would violate his first ammendment rights.
In the late 1950s, Seeger began his solo career. He became well-known as a topical songwriter and activist folksinger. He reworked the African-American spiritual to popularize “We Shall Overcome,” and also penned “Turn, Turn, Turn” and “If I Had a Hammer,” which have all become anthems for peace movements and civil rights.
Seeger has released dozens of records during the course of his extensive and inspiring career, and has received the Kennedy Center Honor Award, National Medal of Arts, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. He continues to perform with his grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger.
