I thought they would have had a better career...

Yeah, and the obscenity comparison honestly isn't far off.

There were a lot of elements to early punk. It had a DIY ethos. It was a minimalist reaction to big, overblown theatrical and/or corporate rock. It typically had a simplistic musical approach, often because the musicians couldn't play for shit. It had kind of an "art from the gutter" quality.

Green Day is none of that. (And again - I LIKE Green Day.) Green Day is essentially loud power pop with eyeliner and a spiked belt from Hot Topic.

There's no great catch-all definition. It's a tricky combination of music and aesthetic... and I know what it is when I see it.

 

Yes, now it is.

I mean, don't get me wrong. When push comes to shove I think that trying to categorize these acts gets kind of silly. But playing the game here, this seems to apply to the Ramones, as well. Their biggest influence is the damn Beach Boys.

 

The Ramones got there first. (Well, second, if you count The Stooges.) If The Ramones materialized in 1990, sure, but "Blitzkrieg Bop" was 1976. They essentially invented punk.

And it's not like Green Day has some huge artistic arch. They're kind of a better, smarter version of what they were when they started.

 

Tatum O'Neal -- but when you win an Oscar at 10, how do you top that?

 

It would be interesting to know how Green Day, Offspring, etc., would have been treated and remembered by music fans had they not been marketed as "punk" out of the gate and instead just permitted to ... be.

Different, I bet. More positively.

 

A Vandals reference?! Yes!

Their music made a great cameo in the Giovanni Ribisi X-Files episode.

 

Not a career, per se, but when I was 12 I was certain Demolition Man was going to be the next Terminator 2-esque blockbuster. Instead, it ended up a shell game.

 

Punk.

 

Could a band's music be played by pretty much anyone with a drum, bass and guitar, regardless of skill level one might have?
Was it rarely heard on radio?
Did the crowd slam and/or pogo to it?
Did KROQ ignore it?
And most of all, were the lyrics profoundly simple yet tapped into an anger?

If yes, then it's punk.

 

That link is a public service. Great song.

 

"Girlfriend" is always the album people talk about -- and it is a terrific album -- but "100% Fun" is my favorite of his by far. Love "Sick of Myself" and "Smog Moon."

 

"Blue Sky on Mars" is pretty good, too. And "100 Percent Fun."