Operation Ivy (band)

Operation Ivy was an influential ska punk band that originated from the East Bay of San Francisco. The band consisted of frontman Jesse Michaels (vocals), Tim Armstrong (Credited as "Lint") (vocals/guitar), Matt Freeman (Credited as Matt McCall) (bass/backing vocals), and Dave Mello (Drums/backing vocals). Their name was derived from the Operation Ivy series of nuclear tests; the name was one of many previously abandoned by another Gilman band, Isocracy.

History

The band existed between May of 1987 and May of 1989, as was chronicled in the lyrics of Rancid song "Journey to the End of the East Bay", which appeared on Rancid's ...And Out Come the Wolves:

Started in '87 / Ended in '89 / You got a garage or an amp, man we'll play anytime / It was just the four of us, / Yeah man, the core of us, / Too much attention unavoidably destroyed us

Their first show was performed on May 16, 1987 in Dave Mello's garage. The next day began a tradition of performances at the Berkeley ska/punk collective center 924 Gilman Street. They were unique for probably being the first Ska-core band to not include a horn section, and began playing alot of gigs which led to their almost immediate cult-following. Later in 1987 they made their debut on a Maximum Rock'n'roll compilation called "Turn it Around". In January 1988, they signed to Lookout! Records, and released Hectic, their first E.P., which became one of Lookout!'s strongest sellers. They began getting many gigs and set out on a tour across The United States. By mid 1988 they began selling out larger areas, and the pressure to sign to major labels began to rise. They released 'Energy on Lookout! Records in May 1989. The band broke up the same month, and their last official show was on May 28, 1989. It was also Green Day's first show with the name "Green Day" at Gilman, at what was supposed to have been their release party. They played one more show the following day, mainly for friends and family, in Robert Eggplant's backyard in Pinole, California. In two years, the band had performed 185 shows and recorded a total of 28 songs.

The lyrics and tone of music by Operation Ivy reflect social justice to mainstream or conformist culture.

Green Day did a cover of the Operation Ivy song "Knowledge" on the 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours album and to this day play the song at every show, calling members from the audience to play the drums, guitar, and bass, with frontman Billie Joe Armstrong singing. They tend to make the song last for about ten minutes, supposedly so people can go to the bathroom or have a smoke break. Many other artists have covered Operation Ivy songs: Reel Big Fish covered "Unity", Area-7 covered "Healthy Body", and Millencolin also covered "Knowledge".

In 1991, after their breakup, Lookout! put together a compilation of all recorded studio material ever released, and released it as a reissue of Energy (sometimes called Operation Ivy). It contains 27 songs, following the band's recorded history.

Post-Operation Ivy careers

Two of their members, Armstrong and Freeman, also perform(ed) with the bands Rancid (their current, and biggest project), Basic Radio, Downfall and Shaken 69. Armstrong also went on to perform with The Transplants and contribute to Dance Hall Crashers. Additionally, Freeman has performed with Auntie Christ, Generator, MDC, and Social Distortion. Mello went on to perform with Schlong, and currently The Bowel-Tones and Jewdriver. There was a great deal of speculation regarding the fate of Michaels, with many fans believing that he had moved to Nicaragua or became a Buddhist monk. Michaels eventually resurfaced into the music world with a project band, Big Rig, and later with a more active band, Common Rider, which included bassist Mass Giorgini (of Screeching Weasel) and drummer Dan Lumley (of Squirtgun). Common Rider released two full-length albums and did some nationwide touring in the United States before eventually disbanding.

Leaving Lookout!

On 4 May 2006, it was announced that Energy had officially been removed from Lookout! Records' catalog. The album had been, after Green Day's first two albums, the label's biggest-selling album. No reason was given for the sudden pullout; however, Operation Ivy is the latest in a series of bands like The Queers and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists who have left Lookout! in recent months. No label has yet picked up the distribution rights for the album, and a reunion of the band is not planned for anytime in the future. ^*

Discography

LPs and EPs

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1988	Hectic	Lookout! Records	Debut EP
1989	Energy	Lookout! Records	Original 19-song LP
1991	Energy	Lookout! Records	27-song reissue including "Hectic" and "Turn it Around" tracks

Compilations

Note: these are compliation albums featuring multiple artists. Most of them contain only one or two Operation Ivy songs.

Year	Song Title	Album Title	Label	Other information
1987	--	Turn It Around	Maximum Rocknroll	2 7" Vinyl compilation
1988	Hangin' Out	The Thing That Ate Floyd	Lookout! Records	Compilation
?	Officer	Gilman St. Block Party	For the Fans by the Fans	Compilation
2004	Unity	Rock Against Bush Vol.2	Fat Wreck Chords	Compilation

Live Recordings

Year	Title	Label	Other information
1987	Unreleased Energy	?	Live demo tracks from original Energy LP recordings
1987	69 Newport	Very Small Records	7" Vinyl Bootleg
1989	Lint Rides Again	Slashout!	Operation Ivy's last show at Gilman St.
1992	Plea For Peace	For the Fans by the Fans
1993	Lint: The King of Ska	Squamosal	First Operation Ivy Bootleg
1994	Gilman St.	Berkeley Archive
1995	East Bay EP	57 Ink
1996	Seedy	Karma Kredit	Second full-length album
1996	Unity: The Complete Collection	Berkeley Archive	Compilation of several 7" Bootlegs
1999	Radio Daze	Spiked Belts and Beer	Live KSPC Radio recording from March 17, 1988
2000	Sound System	Gilman St. Records	Live Radio Show recording, Feb. 1988

Members

Jesse Michaels, vocals
Tim Armstrong ("Lint"), guitar and vocals
Matt Freeman (Matt McCall), bass and vocals
Dave Mello, drums and vocals

Samples

BadTown.ogg of "Bad Town" from Energy

External links

American musical groups | Later punk groups | Third-wave ska groups | California musical groups

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