~BJ's Blink 182 Site~

(Today is ) The new-school punk trio Blink-182 was formed near San Diego, California around guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Scott Raynor. Originally known as simply Blink, the band debuted in 1993 with a self-released EP, Fly Swatter. After releasing the album Buddha in 1994, the trio signed to Grilled Cheese/Cargo and released Cheshire Cat the following year. The threat of a lawsuit from a similarly named Irish band forced them to change their name to Blink-182, but the group earned a higher profile touring the world with Pennywise and NOFX on the 1996-97 Warped Tour, plus appearing on innumerable skate/surf/snowboarding videos. The third Blink-182 LP, Dude Ranch, was released in 1997. Dude Ranch expanded the group's audience and won the attention of major labels. Blink 182 wound up signing with MCA, who released the band's fourth album, Enema of the State, in the summer of 1999. -- John Bush, All Music Guide So what's the background of this wondrous trio you ask. Well for one, not all three members have been there from the start. The drummer Travis Barker has only joined Blink fairly recently after the previous drummer, Scott Raynor, left the band. The alleged reason being Scott wanted to go back to school. But I'm happy with Travis as the replacement anyway. Where did the name Blink-182 originate from you ask?...well most people probably already know and have read this info in other places but I thought I'd just tell you anyhow. Well the truth is that their original name was Blink, but someone had beaten them to the name and they were taken to court over it.....and so their name originated into Blink-182, with 182 meaning absolutely nothing. There have been previous rumors that 182 was Mark's ideal weight or the amount of times the "F" word is mentioned in Pulp Fiction, but there both wrong. But Blink 182 wasn't always the title given to this trio...names like Duck Tape and Figure 8 were also tossed around. What bands were they playing in before Blink? Mark was in a band called Pier 69, and then a band called Of All Things. Tom was in a band called Big Oily Men and Travis was in a band called Aquabats. Both Tom and Mark are from San Diego but I'm unsure where Travis is from. Blink 182 are now responsible for four main albums Cheshire Cat, Dude Ranch, Enema of the State and Take Off Your Pants and Jacket... and they have released a number of ep's. In Enema of the State they certainly matured in their lyric writing, but they are still writing about that same old things... girls and toilet humour filled songs. Well I'm sure many of you will know who Scott Raynor is, but for those newbies out there here's a little more info... Scott Raynor performed for blink182 as the drummer for Flyswatter, Buddha, Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch. Scott left the band after the release of Dude Ranch in 1997 to go back to college and gain his degrees. Despite numerous different rumors, Scott was not kicked out of of the band. He now plays with a local band and is supported by the members of Blink182. Travis Barker (band member of the Aquabats) joined blink182 to record for Enema Of the State. According to Tom, Travis stepped into the breach at and emergency, when they had nobody to play the drums for one of the concerts, Travis learnt all the songs with in 45 minutes. And went on to play for the band permanently. - The guy on the back of Cheshire Cat is actually called Brian - Mark has water on his cereals! - Prior to joining the band, Travis played in a group called "The Aquabats" - At every Blink show, Mark writes a different message on his speaker with white duct tape. Anything from "Hi Mom!" to "I have no idea where I am". Once he even wrote a message to his girlfriend after they had been fighting over who loved the other more. He wrote "I love you more". - Have you had the volume up loud enough to hear Mark whisper "Here we go mother fuckers" at the very beginning of The Party Song? - Travis has multiple piercings and around 50 tattoos. All together they cost around $7,000. Well, that's pocket money on his wages! - Tom is a trekkie. He believes in aliens and alien conspiracies etc. He also believes that he has "been abducted and probed in the anus... on purpose". - In the video for 'Dammit' there is a poster for the Italian movie "Farinelli". Its the touching story of a man who had his testicles removed so he could sing soprano. - In the chorus to the Party Song they are actually singing "Vagina Vagina Vagina". - If you listen very carefully, towards the end of "Degenerate" you can hear either Tom or Mark fart and say 'excuse me'. - American Pie messed up in the credits from 'American Pie' it says 'Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, Scott Raynor'. Its actually Travis Barker in the movie, not Scott. - In the scene of the video 'All the Small Things' where Mark is doing his Ricky Martin imitation and getting wax poured on his chest, if you look in the background you'll see a couple making out. Its Tom and his girlfriend, Jen. - Prior to joining Blink, Tom worked at a fast food joint called "Gary's Chicken and Ribs" in Poway, CA. - Tom paints his fingernails (on his left hand only) black. - If you look at the inside of Enema of the State CD (the part with the eye) and then look at the inside hinge of the CD in white letters it says "Viking Wizard Eyes: Wizard full of Lies. This is because Viking Wizard Lies was supposed to be the name of the album before Enema of the State was thought up. - Some other names thought up for 'Enema' were "Turn your head and cough' and 'Blink-182: Electric Boogaloo'. Let's Get Naked! Yes... Blink was actually naked for the making of "What's my Age Again?"! Well... most of it. For some scenes they wore flesh coloured speedos. - The '182' in Blink-182 actually has no significance at all. There have been several rumors surrounding what 182 means but there really is nothing behind it. It's just a number. - The different purple coloured songs at the end of 'Cheshire Cat' mean that they are joke songs. - The stuff Mark says at the end of Depends is actually a clip from the film Airline - In England, blink 182 is usually pronounced "blink one EIGHT two", as opposed to the American way, "blink one EIGHTY two". But does it really matter? No. - During the last day of production for Cheshire Cat, Mark got locked out of the studio and had to smash open a porta-loo with a spade to use the toilet - Mark's sister, Anne Hoppus, is currently dating Damon from Fenix TX. (Anne is the one that introduced Mark and Tom) - Mark's father's name is Tex, his mother's name is Carrie, and his younger sister is Anne. - Tom's mother's name is Connie. - Tom has a very short part in the movie: Idle Hands. - The band has a short cameo in the movie: American Pie. - Their album, Dude Ranch, is certified gold in both the U.S. and Canada, and is certified platinum in Australia. Enema of the State, is certified gold in the U.S. - 'Viking Wizard Eyes, Wizard Full of Lies', was a consideration for the name of the album, instead of 'Enema of the State' - Enema of the State' has sold over 4,000,000 copies - Now, the band runs their own on-line retail skate shop called Loser Kids. The store has music, clothing, and boarding/skating items. - Tom worked at a place called Gary's Chicken and Ribs in his home town Poway, California. - Tom's mom, Connie, is now a real estate agent. His dad, Tom, is a energy company executive. - Tom has a sister, Kari, and brother, Shon. - Tom has 8 tattoos. - Tom works out every day on tour. - The very first album Tom ever bought was a DI album. - Tom was voted homecoming king by his friends to piss of administrators because they all hated him. - Tom's wife, Jennifer got mad about the line from Dumpweed, "I need a girl that I can train..." - Mark wrote "Going away to college" on Valentine's Day after watching can't hardly wait, in under 5 minutes on a napkin. - Mark has his nipple pierced. - Mark's hero of all time is none other than Homer J. Simpson. - Mark has 0.0 tattoos on his most of the time naked body. - Mark actually hates the taste of beer, no lie. - Mark At a show in Boston, he took an inflatable sheep, shoved a drum stick up it's ass, and tossed it into the crowd. - Mark thinks Disney Movies kick ass! - Mark attended Burroughs High School in Ridgecrest, California. - Mark wrote Dammit in just 5 minutes, about a break-up that never actually happened. - Mark owns a pet beagle, named Ahi. - Travis' Stage name for the Aquabats was "Travis Baron von Tito." - Travis has 40 - 50 tattoos on his body, including a giant boom box on his stomach. - Travis is really big collector of muscle cars. - Travis also played in a band called Feeble. - Travis loves leopard prints, as seen with this cowboy hat in All The Small Things - Travis grew up in Fontana, California, which is located in San Bernardino county. - Travis tried taking up Tattoo drawing because he got board in high school. - Travis' favorite cereal is Lucky Charms. - Marks first band was called "Of All Things" - Travis was engaged on Christmas Eve - and didn't tell his band mates for a while. - Mark wore sneakers at his wedding. - Rejected names for Take Off Your Pants and Jacket: "We're good in bed;" and "What Rhymes with Venus?" Basically, "182" in Blink-182 has no meaning what so ever. Because an Irish band threatened to sue them because their name was also Blink, they were forced to change it. They just threw on some numbers and we are stuck always trying to find the real meaning behind it when there is really is none at all! Being the funny guys they are every interview when they get asked the famous question "what does the 182 stand for" they also make up some story & people believe it. Other Idea's 182 stands for Mark's ideal weight. 182 stands for the number of times Mark masturbated over the paused image of Princess Leia in the pink bikini! 182 stands for the number of times Tom masturbated over the paused image of the little dwarf thing at the end of Jabba the Huts tail. Many, many years ago Mark's grandfather was in the Navy, and they were attacked, or they crashed the ship or something, anyway. All the Navy men get into to separate lifesaver boats, luckily Mark's grumps got back to shore and lived, along with everyone else in the boat, although none of the other boats returned! So Mark's grumps and the other survivors graced themselves lucky and decided to tattoo the number of the boat on their arm, and can you guess the number??? Yup u got it! (This is interesting as in the 'All the Small Things' video, Mark has a fake 182 tattooed on his arm! Interesting! 182 stands for the number of times Al Pachino says "F**k" and other swear words in the movie, Scarface! Nicked from the movie Turk 182