Green Day
With alternative rock music going overground in the early '90s, few acts were better positioned to exploit the commercial possibilities than Green Day—Billy Joe Armstrong (vocals/guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass/vocals) and Tre Cool (drums). Armstrong and Dirnt had been playing together since the age of 11 in the refinery town of Rodeo, California, originally titled Sweet Children. Two indie albums followed for Lookout, the first of which, 1039/SMOOTH, was recorded in a single day. Like the subsequent KERPLUNK, however, it would sell 30,000 copies. That figure was dwarfed following their decision to move to Warner Brothers. Their major label debut, DOOKIE, gradually stalked the charts, going on to double platinum status in the band's native territory. Their arduous touring schedule was paramount in this rise, and was topped off by appearances on the 1994 Lollapalooza package and the revived Woodstock event. The other factor was the estimable quality of their songwriting, and a terrific simplicity of execution on numbers like Basket Case. As Dirnt would concede: 'We just figured out a formula and Billy Joe writes real good songs, that's all'.