Operation Ivy were a band that existed for roughly two years in the mid-eighties. They played a combination of third-generation ska and Californian fast punk.

The name Operation Ivy was one of Isocracy's¹ previous names but originally comes from the project name the American government gave to the hydrogen bomb development and testing.

The Members

Jesse Michaels was frontman and vocalist for Operation Ivy and was also the one responsible for the cover and t-shirt art for all of the bands cud's and apparel. After Operation Ivy broke up he became a Buddhist monk for six months and learned the deep spiritual truth 'that it is cold as s*** at four am'

Dave Mello joined the band with little drumming ability but quickly got the hang of it.

Lint (aka Tim Armstrong) played guitar and was great friends with Matt Freeman with whom he'd previously been in many bands. When Operation Ivy broke up he and Matt later formed Rancid, a very well known punk band.

Matt McCall (aka Matt Freeman) played bass for the band and would also go on to play in Rancid. Although not as prominent in Operation Ivy as in Rancid, Matt is considered by many to be a very skilful bass guitar player.

The Band

Operation Ivy were formed in March 1987 in the East Bay part of California specifically centred around the Gilman Street club/punk collective in Berkeley. Very soon after joining up, they played a show in Dave Mello's garage with about 30 people showing up to watch. The next day they played at Gilman Street and continued to play there for the majority of their shows. In 1988 they released their Hectic EP and in 1989 they released their full-length Energy LP. The day after the release of Energy, Operation Ivy played their last show at Gilman. In total they had played 185 shows.

Discography

Although there are a number of lesser known EPs and LPs, the two most well known albums the group came out were Hectic and Energy. The Energy CD contains all the songs from Hectic plus the songs Officer and I Got No while the LP does not.

'Energy' (LP)

• Knowledge
• Sound System
• Jaded
• Take Warning
• The Crowd
• Bombshell
• Unity
• Vulnerability
• Bankshot
• One Of These Days
• Gonna Find You
• Bad Town
• Smiling
• Caution
• Freeze Up
• Artificial Life
• Room Without A Window
• Big City
• Missionary

'Hectic' (EP)

• Junkie's Running Dry
• Here We Go Again
• Hoboken
• Yellin' In My Ear
• Sleep Long
• Healthy Body

Lookout! Records

The record label that recorded Operation Ivy was Lookout! Records. Lookout! was formed by Larry Livermore, a friend of Tim and says on their website: 'I kind of doubt we'd even be here without them.' It still exists to this day and was also the label that Green Day started on.

Miscellaneous Information

• On Rancid's And Out Come the Wolves album there is a song called 'Journey To The End of The East Bay' about Operation Ivy.

• Operation Ivy once played a show in a laundrette.

Most of the information here was obtained from operationivy.com where you can find more a more extensive discography and greater detail about the band in general.

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¹ Isocracy were another East Bay/Gilman Street punk band, who also had a record released by Lookout!