| The Offspring |
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| Written by Megan Ullom | ||||||
| Thursday, 21 August 2008 | ||||||
 The Offspring was formed in 1984 by guitarist Brian Keith "Dexter"
Holland and bassist Greg K., two friends who met on their high school
cross-country team and formed the band "Manic Subsidal." The decision
to form a band came outside of a Social Distortion concert, when both
were refused entry into the show. Doug Thompson was soon added for
vocals, and Kevin 'Noodles' Wasserman, the school janitor, was welcomed
into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol
for Holland and Kriesel, both of whom were under the legal drinking
age. The band used Thompson's friend, Jim Benton, as their drummer
however Thompson was later forced out of the band, while Benton made
the choice to leave. This led to Holland taking over on vocals, and
James Lilja joining as the drummer. The band changed their name to "The
Offspring" in 1985.
In 1988, just one year after releasing their first single,
"Blackball/I'll Be Waiting," on their self made record company, The
Offspring signed a recording deal with the small-time label Nemesis
Records. With the help of producer Thom Wilson, the band recorded their
debut album, simply titled The Offspring, which was released in 1989.
The album was released in limited amounts by the label, only in a 12"
Vinyl format. The CD release of the album would not surface until 1995.
The band continued with another album, released in 1991, but never found mainstream success until 1993, when they released "Smash," the album that would eventually become their best selling album to date. After the release of Smash, and armed with a newly expanded income, the band decided to buy out the rights to their first album. Holland and Greg K then created their own record label, Nitro Records, and started signing bands. One of their first releases was a re-release of their first album The Offspring. The label also signed a number of punk bands including AFI, The Vandals, and Guttermouth. Soon after Nitro Records became solely Dexter's responsibility. After 'Smash' and two years of touring, Wilson, who during the Smash studio sessions criticized the direction of the band's music as straying away from punk, was fired. Around the same time, the band left Epitaph and signed with Columbia Records, allegedly because they were offended by an insurance policy that Brett Gurewitz had taken out on the band. Epitaph sued, claiming that the band had not fulfilled its contract. The settlement was an estimated $2 million and the rights to all European single sales. Most fans of The Offspring thought that the move to Columbia was purely for financial gain; to this day the band still denies that charge. The Offspring began writing and recording their fourth album, titled "Ixany on the Hombre," in 1996. The album came out on February 4, 1997, which happened to be Noodles' 34th birthday. This album was not as successful as Smash, although it did sell 4 million copies. This album was the first step the band took to band move away from the political-punk themes common to many Epitaph bands, and more into mainstream rock. Over the next decade, The Offspring released 3 more albums, lost and gained three different drummers, and performed at Woodstock 1999. Now the guys are back in the studio recording an album rumored to be released sometime next year.  Quote this article on your site
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