Green Day Bio
Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt are the actual founders of the band Sweet Children, which we know today as Green Day. When they were ten years old (1982), the two met in the cafeteria1 of John Sweet High School in California. During sleepovers2 at each other's houses, they played old heavy metal3 warhorses4 by musicians such as Ozzy Osbourne, Def Leppard, and Van Halen. Billie Joe was 14 when he wrote his first song, “Why Do You Want Him?”, a song about his mother and stepfather. In 1987, Billie Joe and Mike recruited5 drummer John Kriftmeyer and formed the band Sweet Children. Soon, they started playing at clubs.
As Green Day, they recorded their first EP6, “1,000 Hours”, in two days when they were 17 and seniors7 in high school. Soon, Mike graduated. However, Billie Joe dropped out one day prior to his 18th birth day. Their official debut album came in 1990, a combination of all the previous8 EPs, and named “1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours”. The album was released by the local Lookout Records9. Soon after, John Kriftmeyer decided to leave the band to attend college, so Billie and Mike recruited Tre Cool. Tre had been playing in the band The Lookouts, since he was 12. Tre debuted on Green Day's second album, “Kerplunk10!”.
By 1993 Green Day had sold about 55,000 copies of their first album, a huge amount for the independent punk scene11 in those days, and attracted a great deal of attention from the major labels12. Eventually they decided to sign a deal with Reprise Records13, leaving Lookout on friendly terms, and spent the greater part of the year recording their major label debut, “Dookie,” which proved to be an almost instant sensation14.
On their next few albums, “Insomniac15” and “Nimrod16”, Green Day has managed to stay true to the punk attitude. By this time, the members were starting families, and it was becoming apparent that they were maturing as individuals and as a band. They wanted to take some time off to be with their families and enjoy life. So after the success of “Good Riddance17 (Time of Your Life)”, Green Day took a two-year break.
In 2000, Green Day hit the music scene once again with their album “Warning”. The album is a different sound for the band, a more mellow18 punk if you will. Unfortunately, the album wasn't very well accepted by critics and fans alike. The biggest hit from the album was the song “Minority”.
So after another four years with a few tours, but no new material from Green Day, fans were hit with the September 2004 release of “American Idiot”, an album which lashes out19 against the American government and the media. “American Idiot” was the first Green Day ever to debut at No.1 on the Billboard Charts, and other music charts around the world. The album's title track was an instant success. The follow-up single, “Boulevard20 of Broken Dreams” experienced a much greater success. “American Idiot” was nominated for seven Grammy awards, and took home one, “Best Rock Album”. The release and success of this album proved that Green Day are indeed the biggest rock band in the world.
绿日小传
蜜孩儿，即今天我们所知的绿日乐队，是由比利·乔·阿姆斯特朗和麦克·邓特创办的。10岁的时候（1982年），他们俩在加利福尼亚的约翰·斯维特中学自助餐厅里认识了。他们在对方家留宿的时候就一起演奏重金属乐手奥兹·奥斯本、戴夫·莱帕德和范·海伦等人的一些老歌曲。比利·乔14岁时创作了《你为什么要他》，这是他的第一首歌，是关于他的母亲和继父的。1987年，比利·乔和麦克邀约鼓手约翰·克雷夫迈耶加盟，成立了“蜜孩儿”乐队。不久后，他们开始在俱乐部里表演。
成立绿日后，17岁那年他们还在上高中的时候，用两天的时间录制了首张密纹唱片《1000小时》。麦克很快毕业了，而比利在满18岁生日的前一天退学。1990年他们正式推出首张歌碟，这是把以前所有的密纹唱片合在一起的碟子，命名为《平静快乐的1039个小时》，碟子由当地的了望唱片公司发行。不久之后，约翰·克雷夫迈耶决定离开乐队去上大学，于是比利和麦克招来了特里·库尔。特里从12岁起就一直在了望乐队里演奏。加入绿日后，特里在该乐队的第二张专辑《扑通一声》里首次露面。
到1993年，绿日的首张歌碟已经售出55,000张，这对于当时的独立朋克乐坛来说是一个巨大的数目，因而引起了各大唱片公司的注意。最后，他们决定与了望公司友好分手而与年金唱片公司签约，并且把那一年的大部分时间用来灌制该公司旗下的首张大碟《渡客》，该碟推出后立刻引起轰动。
在随后的几个歌碟里，例如《失眠者》和《猎手》中，绿日努力保持朋克音乐的姿态。这时，队员们开始成家了，显然，无论就个人还是乐队而言他们都成熟了起来。他们想抽些时间与家人在一起，享受生活。因此，在《见好就收》获得成功后，他们开始了为期两年的休假。
2000年，绿日带着新碟《警告》重返乐坛。这个歌碟的乐风与该乐队以前的音乐颇有不同，不妨说，这是更柔和的一种朋克音乐。遗憾的是，对这个歌碟，评论家不欣赏，歌迷们不买账。歌碟中最受欢迎的是一支单曲《少数人》。
四年下来，除了几场巡回演出，绿日乐队没有能够推陈出新，直到2004年12月他们推出《美国傻瓜》才令乐迷们耳目一新，该碟抨击美国政府和媒体，成为绿日乐队登上美国流行音乐排行榜以及全球其他各音乐排行榜榜首的第一个歌碟。该碟的同名单曲获得即刻成功，而后续单曲《破碎的梦大街》则更加成功。《美国傻瓜》获得7项格莱美提名，捧回一项“最佳摇滚专辑”奖。该专辑的成功证明绿日是世界上最棒的摇滚乐队。
1． cafeteria n． 自助餐厅
2． sleepover n． 留宿，过夜
3． heavy metal：重金属音乐，由布鲁斯音乐和摇滚乐杂糅而成，以吉他和鼓为主要乐器，突出特点是强节奏、大音量、刺耳的声音，通常配有尖声叫喊的歌词。
4． warhorse n． 老兵，陈词老调
5． recruit v． 征募
6． EP: extended－play record的缩写：密纹唱片
7． senior n． 中学或大学的四年级学生
8． previous adj． 早先的，以前的
9． Lookout Records: 以加利福尼亚的伯克利为基地的唱片公司，由Larry Livermore和David Hayes于1987年创办，以扶持朋克乐队为宗旨。
10． Kerplunk n． (拟声词)扑通声
11． scene [si?蘼n] n． 场所，地点
12． label n． 标签，（此处转义指）唱片公司
13． Reprise Records: 是Frank Sinatra为了追求录制唱片中更大的艺术自由于1960年创办的一家唱片公司，它现在是华纳音乐集团的一个分支。
14． sensation n． 引起轰动的人或事
15． insomniac n． 失眠症患者
16． Nimrod n． 是圣经《旧约》中一个英勇的猎人，是海姆的孙子，诺亚之曾孙。
17． riddance n． 摆脱，解脱
18． mellow adj． 柔和的
19． lash out 讽刺，抨击
20． boulevard n． 林荫大道
Eight reasons why Green Day rocks|绿日队声震四方的八大理由
Busted and McFly love them and they've had a No. 1 album, but what makes Green Day so cool?
1) They＇re really rock＇n＇roll2
Green Day were once booted3 out of two hotels (in one night) for throwing TVs out of the window.
Singer Billie Joe got his bum4 out on stage once, and then got thrown in jail for a bit.
2) Without them, there＇d be no Busted or McFly
…or Good Charlotte, Blink 182 and Sum 41. When Green Day first made it big5, they kicked open the door to the Top 40 for all your favourite pop punk6 bands. As James Busted says, “Billie Joe is the coolest person in the world at the moment.” Enough said7.
3) They＇re minted8 but still like to keep it real
Over the years Green Day have pocketed loads of cash, but the boys don't flash their dosh9 around. “It's good to know I've bought my mom a house, and that my little sisters don't live in a trailer10 any more,” explains Billie Joe.“While I still wear the pants I had in eleven grade.” Stinky11!
4) They have massive12 mud fights!
At the soaking wet13 Woodstock festival in America in 1994, they started a mud fight with the entire crowd, which ended up14 with so many fans on stage that bassist15 Mike had a few teeth broken by a security guard who thought he was one of the intruders16.
5) Their drummer is bonkers
Tre, the drummer, has weird eating habits. “I love chewing gum and drinking coffee at the same time—I know it's kind of messed up.”
6) They look on the bright side
“I've just had an elbow operation, my wisdom teeth out, and the chickenpox17,” says Mike. “But hey, it's cool. I'm alive, so I may as well enjoy it!”
7) They had a really cool tour bus
Because the lads were totally skint18 when they started out on the road, their first tour bus was an old mobile library. “People saw 'bookmobile' on the side and asked us if we had any books to sell,” laughs Billie Joe. “Books? We don't even read.”
8) They cause havoc19 with golf carts
At a festival, Green Day and the Beastie Boys had a race in the backstage golf carts20. “We almost killed each other,” Mike gasps. “We were going as fast as we could, and we missed their cart by one inch.”
霸子和小飞侠喜欢他们，他们有张排行榜名列第一的专辑，但是什么原因令让绿日乐队这样酷呢？
1. 他们真的又摇又滚
绿日乐队曾在两家旅馆里把电视机往窗外扔，一夜之间两次被勒令滚蛋。歌手比利·乔有一次在戏台上露屁股而进监狱潇洒了一回。
2. 没有他们，就没有霸子、小飞侠
… 也不会有狂野夏洛特，眨眼182和火箭41（均为乐队名）。绿日乐队一举成名，为人们喜爱的流行朋克乐队打开了前40名的大门。霸子成员詹姆士说比利·乔是当时地球上最酷的人。完全同意！
3. 他们钱多但不张扬
这些年来，绿日乐队赚得盆满钵满，但是这帮孩子并不到处显摆他们的钞票。“我感到高兴的是我已经给妈妈买了一幢房子，我的小妹妹们再也不用住在拖车里了，” 比利·乔说。“可是我穿的裤子还是我上11年级时候穿的。” 真过分！
4. 他们大打泥巴仗
1994年美国伍德斯托克音乐节上大雨倾盆，他们与全体观众打起了一场泥巴仗，结果许多音乐迷冲上舞台，害得保安把低音乐手麦克当作乱民打掉了他好几颗牙齿！
5. 他们的鼓手怪里怪气
他们的鼓手特里吃东西的习惯很古怪。“我喜欢一边嚼口香糖一边喝咖啡——我知道这样有点串味。”
6.他们遇事看好的一面
“我的胳膊刚刚动了手术，拔了智齿，出了水痘，”麦克说。“不过，嘿嘿，这很酷哇，我还活着，那么我就要活得开开心心。”
7.他们有一辆真正“酷”的旅行车
乐队刚开始做巡回演出的时候他们手头拮据，他们的第一辆旅行车是一个流动图书馆的车。“人们看到车的一侧写着‘流动图书’就问我们有没有书卖，” 比利·乔笑着说。“书？我们从来就不看书！”
8.他们坐高尔夫球车胡闹
在一个音乐节上，绿日和野兽男孩在后台搞了一场乘高尔夫球车比赛。“我们差一点互相撞死了，”麦克气吁吁地说。“我们开得飞快，跟他们的车只隔一英寸擦身而过。”
1． rock v． 双关语，既指摇滚乐意义上的“摇滚”，也指通常意义上的“摇动，震撼”
2． rock＇n＇roll: “rock and roll”的缩写形式。也是个双关，既指摇滚乐意义上的“摇和滚”，也指通常意义上的“摇动和滚动”。
3． boot v． 给…穿上鞋子，此处是让他们穿上鞋子离开的意思。
4． bum n． （俗语）屁股
5． make it big （俗语）出名，成功，赚大钱
6． punk n． 朋克，小阿飞
7． Enough said （俚语）完全同意。
8． mint [mint] v． 铸造钱币，这里指他们赚了很多钱
9． dosh n．： （俚语）钱
10． trailer n． 拖车
11． stinky adj． （俚语）过分的，极端的
12． massive adj． 大规模的
13． soaking wet 湿透的，这里指“下着大雨的”
14． end up 结果，结局
15． bassist n． 低音乐手，低音歌手
16． intruder n． 入侵者
17． chickenpox n． 水痘
18． skint [skint] adj． （俚语）身无分文的
19． havoc n． 大破坏，浩劫
20． golf cart 一种小型机动车，可供两个打高尔夫的人带着打球用具绕球场快速运动时乘坐，也指一般小型电动车。