Operation Ivy

A

merican punk rock band Operation Ivy was from Berkeley, California, and formed in May 1987. They were critical to the emergence of 'Lookout Records' and the so-called "East Bay Sound." The band was named after the code of a 1952 American nuclear weapons testing program, and had previously been the original name of the contemporary Berkeley punk band Isocracy. Although the band released just one EP in the form of Hectic (1988) and the full-length album Energy (1989) under the sole membership of Jesse Michaels (lead vocals), Tim "Lint" Armstrong (guitar/backing and lead vocals), Matt "McCall" Freeman (bass/backing vocals) and Dave Mello (drums/backing vocals) before breaking up in May 1989, Operation Ivy cemented their legacy as the direct antecedent of popular band Rancid and for wielding a lasting stylistic influence over numerous other bands in what became the third wave ska movement.

The band break-up occurred in May 1989, only two months after the release of the album, and their last official live performance was on the 28th of May. Coincidentally, this date was was also Green Day's first performance under the name Green Day at a friend's private residence, at what was supposed to have been Operation Ivy's record release party. Operation Ivy played one more unofficial performance the following day, mostly for friends and family, in Robert Eggplant's backyard in Pinole, California. In two years, the band performed 185 shows and recorded a total of 32 songs (28 released officially, 4 on the bootlegged EP Plea for Peace), as well as songs which were recorded only as demos.