Blink-182

Blink-182 performs for sailors, marines and their families in Bahrain

Blink-182 (formerly known as Blink) is a Southern-Californian pop punk band that was formed in 1992 by Tom Delonge and Mark Hoppus.

Biography

Blink-182 (One Eighty Two) is made up of three vital members: Thomas (Tom) Matthew Delonge on guitar, Markus (Mark) Allan Hoppus playing bass, and Travis Landon Barker, on drums. The band is greatly regarded worldwide for their catchy easy-to-relate-to punk-pop melodies as well as their satirical toilet humour. In 1992, when Mark moved to San Diego, California he was introduced to Tom whilst looking to start a band. Apparantly both 'fell in love at first sight' as they shared alot of things in common. In order to make the band complete, they decided that they needed to look for a drummer. Tom discovered a kid named Scott Raynor at his school who just happened to play drums. Although Scott was a religious Metallica fan, he agreed to join the band. After considering a number of names (such as Duct Tape) the band agreed to call themselves just 'Blink'. This would later have the numbers 182 added onto the end. Towards the end of 1993 Blink released an EP known as 'Flyswatter'. This demo was recorded using a boom box in Scott's bedroom, thus explaining the poor sound quality. Before the end of the year, the band released yet another demo cassette known as 'Buddha'. Around 1000 copies of this were produced by Cargo Filter Records. In early 1994, Blink released their first full-length debut album, 'Chesire Cat', released on Grilled Cheese Records. The album contained many new versions of songs that appeared on the Buddha demo.

Shortly after the release of Cheshire Cat, Blink were threatened with legal action by a techno band in Ireland of the same name. In order to avoid a lengthy lawsuit, Blink added the numbers 182 (One Eighty Two) to the end of their name. Althought there are rumours as to why these numbers were chosen, all band members have made it clear that they are totally random and donot represent 'Mark's ideal weight', as one fan claimed.

Due to the punk-pop boom of the 90s (due to bands such as Green Day and Pennywise) Blink-182 were signed onto record giants MCA. After moving to Encinitas, California, the band recorded the album 'Dude Ranch' with producer Mark Trombino. The album was a hit as two singles 'Josie' and 'Dammit' rose to the top of US airplay charts. Unfortunately, in 1998, a slight setback occured amongst within the band. Scott, who had a serious drinking problem at the time, was apparantly kicked out of the band and asked to go to rehab. Although some believe that he left Blink-182 to go to college and earn his degree, it is still unclear as to what exactly happened. When Scott disappeared midway through a US tour, the band needed a drummer to fill in for him at a show. Travis Barker who was playing with the band The Aquabats, who Blink-182 were on tour with, decided to play for them that night. After learning the entire Blink set in around 30 minutes and ripping through all the songs with ease, Tom decided that Travis was just the man the band needed and Scott was bid farewell.

(To be continued)

Discography

Flyswatter (1993)
Buddha (1994)
Cheshire Cat (1995)
Dude Ranch (1997)
Enema Of The State (1999)
The Mark, Tom, And Travis Show: The Enema Strikes Back (1999)
Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (2001)
Blink-182 (Untitled) (2003)

New untitled (not self-titled) album released November 18, 2003. The song 'Feeling This' is the first single on the new record.

Videos

Band

Tom Delonge - Guitars, Vocals
Mark Hoppus - Bass, Vocals
Travis Barker - Drums (original drummer Scott Raynor left after the Dude Ranch album. It is said that he decided to return to college to pursue his studies, however, rumours are that he was kicked out because of his drinking problem. The song 'Man Overboard' is supposedly about him.)