When I first heard Green Day in 1994, I was fascinated by everything about them, and I was very curious about their roots. Other bands from the Gilman St. scene of the early 90s and late 80s were a tantalizing glimpse into a whole creative universe that had to be pretty special in order to be the magical cookpot that simmered and seasoned the likes of Green Day.

So, here’s a selection of songs that are some of the tasty morsels in that stew. With a couple of possible exceptions, none of them have the bright, crackling melodies that are Green Day’s trademark. The aesthetic sensibilities of the punk scene were, and are, ragged and raw. But compared to the serious lyrics and aggressiveness of hardcore punk, these bands represented something new at the time: politics and ideals, but also love, creativity, and lots of silliness.

Billie Joe (talking to Larry Livermore in 2001) said: “Everything we were doing, we were being heartfelt about it, we were singing love songs because that’s what we felt like. That’s what was in my heart…. Of course, there were always a lot of hardcore bands, I mean we were one of the only bands who were that poppy at that time, besides maybe Sweet Baby or Mr. T Experience…” Larry Livermore: “Sewer Trout…” Billie Joe: “Yeah, and maybe even Crimpshrine.” [ Source ]

Mr. T Experience - Gilman Street

This is not the best Mr. T Experience song, but I couldn’t resist the topic, and it’s from their early period, when they were playing Gilman St. with Green Day. (I really like this band, but get their later stuff…) Dr. Frank said, in 1995: “My intention was always to make a… basically a cross between the Buzzcocks and the Ramones, but it didn’t ever really come out that way, because we weren’t talented enough to accomplish it, and so it turned out to be something else…. Ironically, there are a lot of people who like the old inept band to the current, more ept.” [ Source ]

Sweet Baby - She’s From Salinas

Larry Livermore said: “Sweet Baby, along with some help from their friends in the Mr T Experience, pretty much invented East Bay pop punk.” [ Source ]

Crimpshrine - Summertime

Crimpshrine, which was formed by Aaron Cometbus and Jeff Ott, is often mentioned as a seminal band in East Bay punk. People get misty-eyed talking about them. Ben Weasel of Screeching Weasel calls them “the heart and soul of the East Bay.” [ Source ]

Isocracy - Rodeo

Isocracy, as you probably know, is the band that John Kiffmeyer was in. Their goofiness gets a mention in the Mr. T Experience song about Gilman St. (posted above): “Isocracy made a mess, we demand nothing less.”

Pinhead Gunpowder - Future Daydream

You’ve probably all heard this song, but I put it in because in this context, it sounds so similar to the other songs here: you can see (hear) the direct thread from the other bands to a project that Billie Joe was (and is still) a part of.

Blatz - Learning How To Smile

I don’t know much about Blatz beyond this song, which I think is wonderfully silly. Billie Joe played with them sometimes. Here’s a photo. Their Wikipedia entry tells a good story: lots of influential people from the scene were involved in Blatz.

Operation Ivy - Sound System

Again, everyone has probably heard this, but I couldn’t leave out Operation Ivy! Billie Joe said: “Jesse Michaels was so great on stage, so charismatic, good looking, with insanely great lyrics… that’s what I was into about him. And I always thought he had that sort of sensibility, that he could work both sides of the fence, the people who were into them because they had great music, and the people who were into them because of the things they stood for.” [ Source ]

Screeching Weasel - Hey Suburbia

Screeching Weasel are actually from Illinois, not the East Bay, but they were signed to Lookout Records and had a lot of influence in that scene, and on Green Day, though Ben Weasel modestly says otherwise: “Those guys were influenced by the Kinks and The Who, and by the heavy metal they’d listened to as teenagers (just like us), and by the bands that played Gilman in the early days, like Operation Ivy and Crimpshrine and Isocracy. I’d be shocked to learn that they’d ever heard those [Semi-Famous Old-Time Punk] bands prior to around their own third record.” [ Source ]

I’m not a completist, I’m not a record collector, and I’m certainly no expert on East Bay punk. I tend to pick out songs and bands to listen to haphazardly. I tried to keep this list short, but if you have any requests I can add them, or if people are interested I can make future posts with more songs?

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