Blink 182

T H E B A N D : P A S T , P R E S E N T & F U T U R E


Biographies: Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, Scott Raynor.

Who (plays) what?
Tom DeLonge is the group's guitarist. Mark Hoppus plays the bass. They both share the lead vocals. Scott Raynor is the former drummer of the group. When he leaves the band in 1998, Travis Barker is the one taking over.

Starin' at the past
Back in late 1992. Tom DeLonge gets kicked out of school for playing a basket game drunk. He wanders San Diego and eventually dates Mark Hoppus's sister, Anne (which would later in 2001, release a book entitled "Tales from beneath your mom" relating the creation and history of the band). She notices common points between her brother and her date's personality, the most obvious ones being the like for imature jokes and the passion for music. She introduces one to another and witnesses "love at first sight". Tom is the foundator of the group and the one who finding Scott Raynor to be their best drummer at the time. Tom chose 'blink' because 'dixit' he likes short verbs.

Man overboard
Performing on small clubs, they were mostly on tour trying to promote their demos. In 1998, Mark and Tom grew tired of Scott getting drunk most of the time and asked him to leave. Other bands were co-headlining their gigs at the time, amongst which: the aquabats; which drummer was Travis Barker. It is unclear as to what exactly happens, but fact is that Travis leaves the aquabats and joins blink-182 (also see: The Scott story).

Meanwhile
In between 1995 and 1996, the laywer of an Irish techno band contacts the group and claims property over the "blink" bandname. He therefore asks them to change it in order to prevent lawsuits. 182 would eventually pop-out. The number has no peculiar, or maybe countless meanings (also see: Why 182?).

The neverending story
As of today, blink-182 released 5 studio albums: Cheshire cat (1995), Dude Ranch (1997), Enema Of The State (1999), The Mark Tom And Travis Show (Live album, 2000), Take Off Your Pants And Jacket (2001). The first two albums were published whilst Scott was still in the group. Flyswatter and Buddha were both unreleased demos, respectively done in 1994 and 1995. The latter has been digitally remastered in 1998.

W H Y 1 8 2 ?

Mark's ideal weight (in lbs). He explains that at the time this techno-band lawer contacted the band, he was having problems with his weight and that his doctor told him that this was hiw ideal weight. Mark had these post-its splatered all around his appartment with "182" tagged on them, reminding him to lose weight.
The police code number for homicide.
There was this plane-crash in california where hundreds of people died in. The flight number was 182.
The number of times DeNiro says f*ck in the Scarface movie.

F A C T S

- Travis was once a trashman in Laguna Beach.
- Mark's sister, Anne Hoppus, is currently dating Damon from Fenix TX.
- 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 chose the name [Blink] simply because he likes short verbs
- Other names considered for Enema of the State were: Turn your head and cough, Viking Wizard Eyes and blink 182: Electric Boogaloo
- Adam's song was inspired by a magazine article about a teenager who committed suicide.
- Used to call themselves "Sexual Monkey" as a joke.
- Appears 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 1,000,000 copies.
- The band's favorite movies are: Fletch, Three amigos, and Vacation.
- Now, the band runs their own on-line retail skate shop called Loser Kids.
- The store has music, clothing, and boarding/skating items.
- Tom uses his right hand to paint his nails on his left hand.
- Tom worked at a place called Gary's Chicken and Ribbs in his home town Poway, California.
- I've heard numerous things about Tom's lip piercing, like he doesn't have his lip pierced and its fake.
- I've also heard that its real and he has the scar to prove it.
- He has a big obsession with Aliens, claiming the only reason he got a computer was to look up UFO sites. His big belief in Aliens also formed the song, Aliens Exist.
- Tom formed Blink
- Tom, grewing up in Poway, California.
- His mom, Connie, is now a real estate agent.
- His dad, Tom, is a energy company executive.
- He has a sister, Kari, and brother, Shon.
- Tom once got expelled for a year for drinking alcohol.
- Tom has 8 tattoos.
- Tom works out every day on tour.
- Tom Doesn't smoke.
- Tom's favorite CD of all time is Less Talk, More Rock by Propaghandi.
- Tom appears in the movie Idle Hands as a fast food employee, who wears a sombrero. He only has one line.
- The very first album Tom ever bought was a DI album.
- Tom attended Poway High school in California.
- Tom was voted homecoming king by his friends to piss of administrators because they all hated him.
- Tom's girlfriend, Jennifer got mad about the line from Dumpweed, "I need a girl that I can train..."
- [Tom's]Favorite movies are: Karate Kid, Back To The Future Trilogy, Die hard Trilogy, and Braveheart Last Of The Mohicans.
- Mark wrote "Going away to college" on Valentine's Day after watching can't hardly wait.
- 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 appeared on-stage nude, at MTV's Castaway Countdown, during the band's performance of What's My Age Again?
- Mark hates playing any tour dates in Europe
- Mark appeared on-stage nude, again, at KROQ's 1999 Weenie Roast.
- 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 is a former member of the Aquabats.
- Travis' Stage name for the Aquabas 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 he has a cowboy hat to prove it.
- Travis grew up in Fontana, California, which is located in San Bernadino county.
- Travis tried taking up Tatoo drawing because he got board in high school.
- Travis' favorite cereal is Lucky Charms.