The Naked Truth About Blink 182
From MTV Asia
By Joel Du Bois
Blink 182's latest video, "All The Small Things" is a good indication of what this band is about -- pop-punk, a juvenile sense of humor, and gratuitous nudity. In fact in their previous video, "What's My Age Again?" the trio cavort naked around the streets of San Diego with a porn star. Not that this kind of behavior has hurt their popularity -- on the contrary, it's brought them straight into the public eye.
The band hails from southern California, the heartland of punk (Green Day and Pennywise, amoung others, are based there too). They formed soon after Mark Hoppus (vocals, bass) met Tom DeLonge (guitar, vocals) in 1991, and, together with Scott Raynor (drums), started playing at clubs around San Diego under the name of Blink. The band's risque antics started here, with wet T-shirt contests on stage. During this time, they made friends with another punk group, the Vandals, whose indie label Kung Fu released Blink's debut recording "Buddha" in 1994.
In 1995 Blink got a one-album deal with Cargo Records and released their first album, "Cheshire Cat". It wasn't very exciting, but nevertheless there was growing interest in them as a live band, especially in Australia. MCA Records were impressed, and signed Blink -- but in the process they grew three digits to Blink 182. And no, in case you were wondering, 182 has no significance, except to differentiate between them and an Irish techno outfit who were threatening to sue.
The band released "Dude Ranch" in 1997 and things started heating up. The first single from the album, "Dammit (Growing Up)" skyrocketed to the top of key radio playlists. In some places, the song was being played (not 182), but over 1,400 times. Blink 182 embarked on an arduous touring stint that lasted from Summer 1997 to Christmas 1998, including headlining at the annual Warped Tour and going overseas with other punk groups -- Homegrown, Unwritten Law, and Less Than Jake.
"Dude Ranch", meanwhile, hit gold in Canada and the States and platinum in Australia, and the band's fanbase was growing all over the world. Also during this period, in the summer of 1998, Scott Raynor left the group (amicably) and was replaced by the Aquabats' Travis Barker.
The trio began work on their new album. Recorded between January and March 1999, "Enema of the State" was released in July to popular acclaim, confirming their status as a punk-pop staple around the globe. As the album climbed up the charts, Blink 182's stage antics finally got noticed -- accusations of misogyny soon followed. But there's no such thing as bad publicity, and the band went ahead and make their nude music videos anyway.
And it looks like only bigger things are in store. The band appeared in the film "American Pie". They've been back on the road again, this time with Silverchair. They have also embraced corporate endorsement, being sponsored by companies like Billabong for their clothes. On the rare occasions that they're wearing any.
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