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Pennywise (band)

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Pennywise

Background information
Origin	Hermosa Beach, California, United States
Genre(s)	Punk rock Melodic hardcore Skate punk
Years active	1988—present
Label(s)	Theologian (1989-1990) Epitaph (1990-2007) MySpace (2007-)
Associated acts	Con 800 One Hit Wonder
Website	Official Website
Members
Jim Lindberg Fletcher Dragge Randy Bradbury Byron McMackin
Former members
Jason Thirsk

For the Stephen King creature, see It (monster).

Pennywise are an American punk rock band that was formed in 1988, and is named after the monster It from the Stephen King novel, It. Since Pennywise's 1991 self-titled debut, the band had released an album every two years on Epitaph Records, a label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. To date, Pennywise have released eight full-length studio albums, one live album, two EPs and one DVD. A new album, Free for the People, will be released on March 25, 2008 by their new label MySpace Records. Pennywise have had their current line-up, consisting of Jim Lindberg (vocals), Fletcher Dragge (guitars), Randy Bradbury (bass) and Byron McMackin (drums), since 1996. The band kept their original line-up until former bassist Jason Thirsk committed suicide in 1996, after which Bradbury joined as his replacement.

1 Biography
2 Discography
3 Members
4 Trivia
5 References
6 External links

Biography

Early career (1988-1992)

Pennywise were formed in 1988 in Hermosa Beach, California by singer Jim Lindberg, guitarist Fletcher Dragge, drummer Byron McMackin and bassist Jason Thirsk. To date, this line-up is considered a classic. They released two EPs A Word from the Wise and Wildcard (both 1989). Each of the band members had played in other bands in the Hermosa Beach area and attended the same high school. The group signed to Epitaph Records in 1990 and released their first album Pennywise (1991). The album quickly spread throughout the punk community, earning the band some nation-wide recognition. Lyrics in the album endorsed a positive mental attitude, helping promote progressive ideals for Generation X. Lindberg left the band soon after the debut record. Thirsk took his place on vocals and Randy Bradbury stepped in on bass. The Vandals lead singer Dave Quackenbush took over on vocals for a brief stint in 1992 when Thirsk returned to bass.

Increasing popularity and aftermath of Thirsk's death (1993-2003)

Lindberg got married and returned to the group in 1992 in time for their second album Unknown Road (1993), an underground hit that established the band as a force in punk music. By 1995, punk bands The Offspring, Green Day, the Cast Outs and Rancid hit the mainstream and Pennywise refused invitations to join several major labels. About Time (1995) was another indie hit. In 1996, Pennywise began recording their fourth album. Thirsk left the band in an attempt to conquer alcoholism. He was successful but relapsed and died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest on July 29, 1996. Following Thirsk's death, Bradbury rejoined the band and recorded their next two albums, Full Circle (1997) and Straight Ahead (1999). This was followed by a live album, Live at the Key Club (2000), as well as Land of the Free? (2001) and From the Ashes (2003).

Recent history (2004-present)

Home Movies, the band's only video, was re-released on DVD for the first time in 2004. The video was originally released in 1995 and had been out of print since 1997. More footage of Pennywise can be seen on 45 Revolutions: A Slice of XVI St. Life, XVI St. being the place where Jason and Fletcher hung out in Hermosa Beach. The band's eighth album, The Fuse, was released in Europe on June 27 and in North America on August 9, 2005. The band's Australian tour was cancelled leading to breakup rumors, which Lindberg denied. Also that year, digitally-remastered versions of the first four studio albums were released. Pennywise recently recorded a cover of Sick of It All's "My Life" for the band's tribute album Our Impact Will Be Felt. The band has been in the studio recording their ninth album, Free for the People, which is due for release on March 25, 2008. [1] In a interview with Fletcher, the band had written nearly 60 songs and are currently trying to decide which ones to record for their new album. In November 2007, it was revealed that the band would release their next album for free through a partnership between MySpace Records, and Textango, a mobile music distributor ^[1]. In addition the album would be for sale in stores through Epitaph.

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak^[2]	Format	Other information
1991	Pennywise	Epitaph	Uncharted	CD/LP	Debut release. Remastered on March 8, 2005. The 2005 remastered version features a bonus track "Psycho 89".
1993	Unknown Road	Epitaph	Uncharted	CD/LP	Remastered on March 8, 2005. Though not yet credited as a member of the band, current bassist Randy Bradbury contributed songs on this album.
1995	About Time	Epitaph	#96	CD/LP	Remastered on March 8, 2005. Last album recorded with original bassist Jason Thirsk before his suicide in 1996.
1997	Full Circle	Epitaph	#79	CD/LP	Remastered on March 8, 2005. First release with current bassist Randy Bradbury. Contains "Bro Hymn Tribute", a re-recording of "Bro Hymn", which is dedicated to the late Jason Thirsk.
1999	Straight Ahead	Epitaph	#62	CD/LP
2001	Land of the Free?	Epitaph	#67	CD/LP
2003	From the Ashes	Epitaph	#54	CD/LP
2005	The Fuse	Epitaph	#78	CD/LP
2008	Free for the People	MySpace	Not yet released	CD/LP	The album will be offered as a free download via MySpace. According to an recent interview with guitarist Fletcher Dragge, the band had written about 60 songs for this album.

EPs

Year	Title	Label	Format	Other information
1989	A Word from the Wise	Theologian	EP	First EP. Re-released in 1992 on the Wildcard/A Word from the 'Wise, along with the second EP.
1989	Wildcard	Theologian	EP	Second EP. Re-released in 1992 on the Wildcard/A Word from the 'Wise, along with the first EP.

Compilation / Live albums

Year	Title	Label	US Billboard Peak^[2]	Format	Other information
1992	Wildcard/A Word from the 'Wise	Theologian	Uncharted	CD	Repackaging of the band's first two EPs. The first five tracks are A Word from the Wise. The rest of the tracks are Wildcard.
1999	Short Music For Short People	Fat Wreck Chords		CD	contribute the track "30 Seconds 'Till The End of The World".
2000	Live @ the Key Club	Epitaph	#198	CD/LP	The band's only live album to date. Contains a cover of "Minor Threat", originally written by the band with the same title.
2004	Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1	Fat Wreck Chords		CD	contribute the track "God Save The USA"

DVDs

Year	Title	Label	Format	Other information
1995	Home Movies	Epitaph	VHS/DVD	Originally released on VHS in 1995. Released on DVD on November 9, 2004.

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions				Album
Year	Title	US Hot 100	US Modern Rock	US Mainstream Rock	UK	Album
1993	"Homesick"	-	-	-	-	Unknown Road
1993	"Tomorrow" (7 inch)	-	-	-	-	-
1995	"Same Old Story"	-	-	-	-	About Time
1997	"Society"	-	-	-	-	Full Circle
1999	"Alien"	-	36	-	-	Straight Ahead
2000	"Victim of Reality"	-	-	-	-	Straight Ahead
2001	"Fuck Authority"	-	38	-	-	Land of the Free?
2001	"Divine Intervention"	-	-	-	-	Land of the Free?
2002	"My God"	-	-	-	-	Land of the Free?
2003	"Yesterdays"	-	-	-	-	From the Ashes
2003	"God Save the USA"	-	-	-	-	From the Ashes
2005	"Disconnect"	-	-	-	-	The Fuse
2005	"Knocked Down"	-	-	-	-	The Fuse

Members

Pennywise has had numerous line-up changes, Fletcher Dragge and Byron McMackin are the only two constant members.

Dates & releases	Members & prominent instruments	Notes
(1988-1991) A Word from the Wise, Wildcard and Pennywise	Jim Lindberg - vocals Fletcher Dragge - guitars Jason Thirsk - bass Byron McMackin - drums	First line-up of Pennywise. The classic Pennywise line-up.
(1991-1992)	Jason Thirsk - vocals Fletcher Dragge - guitars Randy Bradbury - bass Byron McMackin - drums
(1992)	Dave Quackenbush - vocals Fletcher Dragge - guitars Jason Thirsk - bass Byron McMackin - drums	Quackenbush filled in for Lindberg while he was on hiatus from touring.
(1992-1995) Unknown Road and About Time	Jim Lindberg - vocals Fletcher Dragge - guitars Jason Thirsk - bass Byron McMackin - drums	The classic Pennywise line-up. Although not yet credited as a member of the band, Bradbury contributed some tracks on the Unknown Road album.
(1995-present) Full Circle, Straight Ahead, Live @ the Key Club, Land of the Free, From the Ashes, The Fuse and Free for the People	Jim Lindberg - vocals Fletcher Dragge - guitars Randy Bradbury - bass Byron McMackin - drums	Randy joined the group in October 1995 when Jason was on hiatus to visit rehab. [2] Prior to Jason's suicide, Randy was supposed to switch to rhythm guitar when Jason returned, but this never happened. Thus, Randy became the band's permanent bass player.

Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

The band rerecorded the song "Bro Hymn" from their self titled LP as a tribute to fallen friends Carlos Canton, Tim Colvin, and Tom Nichols. It was released on the Full Circle LP as "Bro Hymn Tribute" to serve as a tribute to band mate Jason Thirsk who took his own life. The new version features Thirsk's little brother Justin, drummer for 98 Mute, singing one of the verses, in which he says "Jason, my brother, this one's for you!" At 3:25 of the track he takes over and finishes the drumming. The band plays this song at the end of each show, and encourage everybody in the crowd to come on stage.
"Bro Hymn" is the official goal song of the National Hockey League's Anaheim Ducks, and is played after each home goal. [3] When the Ducks won the Stanley Cup, the band played at the celebration as the Ducks took the stage. [4]
"Bro Hymn" is also the official goal song of the famous German soccer club VfB Stuttgart since the 06/07 season and is played after each home goal.
"Bro Hymn" is also the official goal song of the Holland soccer club Vitesse
"Bro Hymn" is also the official goal song of the United Hockey League's Bloomington Prairie Thunder since their inaugural season (06/07), and is played after every home goal.
A fan of the band, German Cervantes, asked his now wife to marry him on stage in San Diego on November 17, 2001

References

^ http://www.punkbands.com/news/13539/
^ ^a ^b Artist Chart History - Pennywise (HTML). Billboard.com. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.

This box: • • edit Pennywise
Jim Lindberg \| Fletcher Dragge \| Randy Bradbury \| Byron McMackin
Jason Thirsk
Discography
Full-lengths: Pennywise (1991) \| Unknown Road (1993) \| About Time (1995) \| Full Circle (1997) \| Straight Ahead (1999) \| Land of the Free? (2001) \| From the Ashes (2003) \| The Fuse (2005) \| Free for the People (2008)
EPs: A Word from the Wise (1989) \| Wildcard (1989)
Compilation albums: Wildcard/A Word from the 'Wise (1992) \| Live @ the Key Club (2000)
VHS/DVDs: Home Movies (1995)
Related articles
Epitaph Records \| CON/800 \| One Hit Wonder \| California punk scene