Operation Ivy was an American band that formed in , and was often credited with spurring the 1990s punk revival in California. It is well-known as one of the first bands to "mix" with elements of , known as ska-core. The band consisted of (), (credited as "Lint") (, vocals), (credited as "Matt McCall") (, vocals), and (). Although Operation Ivy had little mainstream success during its career, the band had a large underground following and influenced bands such as and . Its only studio album, , has been cited as one of the greatest punk rock albums of all time. The band's name, previously used by the punk band, , was derived from the series of .

History

The band existed between May 1987 and May 1989, as was chronicled in the lyrics of the song "Journey to the End of the East Bay", which was featured on (1995):

Started in '87, Ended in '89, Got a garage or an amp, we'll play anytime. It was just the four of us, Yeah man the core of us, Too much attention unavoidably destroyed us. Four kids on tour, 3,000 miles, in a four door car, not knowing what was going on. We got a million years, of tourin' out like this, Hell no, no premonition could have seen this!

The name "Operation Ivy" was the original name of the punk band . Prior to the formation of Operation Ivy, Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman had been playing in the ska punk band with Michael Valladares and Jeff Kamalian who would later go on to form the ska band . Its first live performance was on May 27, 1987 in Dave Mello's garage. The next day began a tradition of performances at the Berkeley punk collective center . Operation Ivy began playing a number of performances which led to its almost immediate cult-following. Later in 1987, the band made its debut on the Maximumrocknroll compilation album . In January 1988, the band signed to and released its debut extended play , which became one of Lookout!'s best-selling records. By this time, Operation Ivy, along with and , was one of the most successful punk bands from punk scene at 924 Gilman Street. The band began playing a number of performances and embarked on a tour across the . By mid-1988, it began selling out larger venues and the pressure to sign to major labels began to rise.

The band released its only studio album through Lookout! in May 1989. It broke-up the same month, and its last official live performance was on May 28, 1989. It was also 's first performance with the name Green Day at 924 Gilman Street, at what was supposed to have been its release party. Operation Ivy played one more performance the following day, mostly for friends and family, in 's backyard in . In two years, the band had 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, such as "Hedgecore" (about a favorite pastime of the band which involved artfully jumping into manicured bushes), "Hangin' Out", "Sarcastic" and "Left Behind". Recordings from its aborted attempt to record Energy at 924 Gilman Street also exist, and include early versions of songs which appeared later on the final studio version of Energy, such as "6 to 10" which evolved into "Vulnerability", and an early version of "Unity" with horn accompaniment and a different chorus. All of its known demos and unreleased recordings are available on bootlegs.

The lyrics and tone of Operation Ivy's music portray a vociferous desire for and a strong distrust of culture. released a cover of the song "Bad Town" in 2010, recorded a cover of the Operation Ivy song "Knowledge" for its extended play and was later released on the compilation album . Green Day have continued to play the song live (where the band picks members out of the audience to play its instruments). A number of other artists have covered Operation Ivy songs, most of which are featured on Glue Factory Records Operation Ivy tribute album, Take Warning: The Songs of Operation Ivy (1997). The most notable bands on the tribute are: covering "Take Warning", covering "Unity", covering "Yellin' in My Ear", covering "Sound System", covering "Freeze Up" and with a "campfire-style" cover of "Knowledge". Other bands to cover Operation Ivy songs include a rendition of "Healthy Body" by , "Sound System" by , "Caution" by and more covers of "Knowledge" by both and Evergreen Terrace. A number of local bands from around the U.S. have covered Operation Ivy songs. Additionally, have played Operation Ivy songs at its live performances.

In 1991, two years after its break-up, Lookout! released a compilation album consisting of Energy, Hectic, and the songs "Officer" and "I Got No" from Turn It Around!. It was released as a complete discography (sometimes referred to as a re-release of Energy). It contains 27 songs, following the band's recorded history.

In the liner notes to the 1991 reissue of Energy, Jesse Michaels expressed the philosophy of the band:

Two of the band's members, Armstrong and Freeman, also perform(ed) with the bands (their current and biggest project), The Ljs, , Generator, , , , and . Additionally, Freeman has performed with , and .

Drummer Dave Mello went on to perform in the punk band Schlong with his brother Pat and singer Gavin.

Michaels eventually resurfaced with a project band, , which released a four-song EP titled Expansive Heart. In 1999 he formed , which included bassist (producer and bassist for ) and drummer (of Squirtgun and , among others). Common Rider released a seven-inch EP and two studio albums and toured nationwide before disbanding in 2003. B-sides from its second album were used in a split EP with the Florida skacore band .

During Rancid's US tour in 2006, Armstrong and Freeman played select tracks from their previous bands catalog. At a performance at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco on December 17, 2006, Michaels reunited with Armstrong and Freeman to perform the tracks "Unity" as well as "Sound System". It was his first time on stage with the two in over 15 years.

In 2008, Michaels collaborated with the indie/punk group Hard Girls to form a punk band called . The band plays traditional punk rock with Michaels serving as the band's lead vocalist. They have a 6 song EP released on Asian Man Records.

On May 4, 2006, it was announced that Energy had officially been removed from Lookout! Records' catalog. The album had been one of the label's best-selling albums, after 's first two albums. Operation Ivy followed such bands as , , , and in leaving Lookout! and taking back the rights to their back catalog due to unpaid royalties.

Energy was later reissued on November 6, 2007 by subsidiary as a self-titled compilation album. Hellcat Records is former band member 's label. While the Epitaph reissue's tracklist is identical to the 1991 Lookout! release, the 2007 re-release features remastered audio and new packaging.

A reunion of the band is unlikely to happen. Michaels addressed reunion issues in a Myspace blog citing the legal and logistic difficulties in getting the 4 members together for a reunion, as well as the fact that the band "never belonged in a big rock club in a one to two thousand seat joint." He concluded the post with the following:

Michaels' sentiment was later echoed by Tim Armstrong: