Operation Ivy (band) - History

History

The band existed between May 1987 and May 1989, as was chronicled in the lyrics of the Rancid song "Journey to the End of the East Bay", which was featured on ...And Out Come the Wolves (1995)

Started in '87, Ended in '89, Got a garage or an amp, we'll play anytime. It was just the four of us, Yeah man the core of us, Too much attention unavoidably destroyed us. Four kids on tour, 3,000 miles, in a four door car, not knowing what was going on. Not in a million years, never thought it'd turn out like this, Hell no, no premonition could have seen this!

The name "Operation Ivy" was the original name of the contemporary Berkeley punk band Isocracy. Prior to the formation of Operation Ivy, Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman had been playing in the Berkeley ska punk band Basic Radio with Michael Valladares and Jeff Kamalian, who would later go on to form the ska band Critical Mass. Operation Ivy's first live performance was on May 27, 1987 in Dave Mello's garage. The next day began a tradition of performances at the Berkeley punk collective center 924 Gilman Street. Operation Ivy began playing a number of performances which led to its almost immediate cult-following. Later in October 1987, the band made its debut on the Maximumrocknroll compilation album Turn It Around!. In January 1988, the band signed to Lookout! Records and released its debut extended play Hectic, which became one of Lookout!'s best-selling records. By this time, Operation Ivy, along with Crimpshrine and The Mr. T Experience, was one of the most successful bands from the punk scene at 924 Gilman Street. The band began playing a number of performances and embarked on a tour across the United States. By mid-1988, the group began selling out larger venues and the pressure to sign to major labels began to rise.

Operation Ivy released its only studio album Energy through Lookout! in March 1989. The group broke-up two months later in May, and its last official live performance was on May 28, 1989. This was also Green Day's first performance with the name Green Day at 924 Gilman Street, at what was supposed to have been Operation Ivy's record release party. Operation Ivy played one more unofficial performance the following day, mostly 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 32 songs (28 released officially, 4 on the bootlegged EP Plea for Peace), as well as songs which were recorded only as demos, such as "Hedgecore" (about a favorite pastime of the band which involved artfully jumping into manicured bushes), "Hangin' Out", "Sarcastic" and "Left Behind". Recordings from their aborted attempt to record Energy at 924 Gilman Street also exist, and include early versions of songs which appeared later on the final studio version of Energy, such as "6 to 10" which evolved into "Vulnerability", and an early version of "Unity" with horn accompaniment and a different chorus. All of its known demos and unreleased recordings are available on bootlegs.

The lyrics and tone of Operation Ivy's music portray a vociferous desire for social justice and a strong distrust of mainstream conformist culture. Hollywood Undead released a cover of the song "Bad Town" in 2010, Green Day recorded a cover of the Operation Ivy song "Knowledge" for its extended play Slappy which was later released on the compilation album 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours. Green Day have continued to play the song live (where the band picks members out of the audience to play its instruments). A number of other artists have covered Operation Ivy songs, most of which are featured on Glue Factory Records Operation Ivy tribute album, Take Warning: The Songs of Operation Ivy (1997). The tribute album consisted or artists such as Long Beach Dub All Stars covering "Take Warning", Reel Big Fish covering "Unity", Blue Meanies covering "Yellin' in My Ear", Cherry Poppin' Daddies covering "Sound System", The Hippos covering "Freeze Up" and The Aquabats with a "campfire-style" cover of "Knowledge". Other bands to cover Operation Ivy songs include a rendition of "Healthy Body" by Area-7, "Sound System" by Buck O Nine, "Caution" by No Trigger and more covers of "Knowledge" by both Millencolin and Evergreen Terrace. A number of local bands from around the U.S. have covered Operation Ivy songs. Additionally, Rancid have played Operation Ivy songs at its live performances.

In 1991, two years after the group's break-up, Lookout! Records released a compilation album of 27 tracks including Energy and Hectic in their entirety and the songs "Officer" and "I Got No" from Turn It Around!. It was released as a complete discography (sometimes referred to as a re-release of Energy).