“Scream at me until my ears bleed/I’m taking heed just for you” was a line that Billie Joe Armstrong wrote for a girlfriend, and it showed a sensitivity that made him stand out from his peers. So did feminist lines like “She’s figured out/All her doubts were someone else’s point of view/Waking up this time to smash the silence with the brick of self-control.”
RepriseWelcome to another edition of Today in Boston ROCK, where I, Adam 12, spotlight Very Important Days In Rock History. February 1st is one.
1950
February 1, 1951: Michael Wayne Campbell is born in Panama City, Florida. Before turning 20, he'd embark on a life-long songwriting partnership with Tom Petty, and not just as a member of the Heartbreakers. Oh, and he co-wrote Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer," among other things. What a legend. Here he is with Tom at the Garden back in 2017.
1971
February 1, 1971: Ron Welty, drummer of the Offspring, is born. Here he is with the band on Top of the Pops in 1998.
1994
February 1, 1994: Green Day releases Dookie and the whole wide world of rock changes again. Do you know about the 7 rock references on the album's cover?
Green Day had been around for five years by the time they *cough* dropped ‘Dookie,’ but this is the song and video that brought them into the homes and hearts of America. Like their peers from the north in Seattle, Green Day had their share of angst. But unlike those guys, they actually had some fun with it.
