Songoftheday 6/16/19 - Like the latest fashion like a spreading disease, the kids are strappin' on their way to the classroom getting weapons with the greatest of ease...

"Come Out And Play" - Offspring
from the album Smash (1994)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: unable to chart
Billboard Hot 100 Airplay peak: #38 (one week)
Weeks on the Hot 100 Airplay chart: 2

Today's song of the day comes from the pop-punk band The Offspring, who came together in the early 80s with lead singer and guitarist Dexter Holland and bass player Greg Kriesel. Taking on the name Manic Subsidal, they went through member until landing on guitarist "Noodles" (Kevin Wasserman) and James Lilja, both from the band Clowns of Death. Changing their name to the Offspring, the band released a single, "I'll Be Waiting", before Lilja quit to finish school. He would be replaced by Ron Welty, who would be their drummer through the rest of the 1990s. They signed to small label Nemesis, and released their self-titled debut album, which included the aforementioned single. It didn't hit any charts, but buzz around the band got them upgraded to Epitaph Records, at that time the biggest punk-oriented label around, with NOFX and Bad Religion among its acts. They took on producer Thom Wilson and recorded their sophomore effort, Ignition. Again, neither the album or the singles from it made the charts (at first), but it increased their buzz wildly while giving them a more national platform although California was their base. And the momentum paid off in 1994 when the Offspring released their third album Smash. The lead single from the set, "Come Out And Play (Keep 'Em Separated)", was a raucous party song with an undeniable guitar hook that led many a people (ahem) to jump around pantless to it, with the unPC Spanish tag of "Keep 'Em Separated" guaranteeing them you'll remember this well...

Since "Come Out And Play" wasn't released as a commercial "single" in America, it was unable to be on Billboard's pop Hot 100 chart; however the song got enough airplay to reach the top-40 on the airplay portion of that list in August of 1994. It would be their only song to do so. The track was their first #1 on the Modern Rock chart, spending two weeks, while also making it up to #10 on their Mainstream Rock format list. Internationally, the single peaked at #8 in Australia, and reached the top-40 in France (#14), Sweden (#23), and the Netherlands (#32), while just missing the mark in Canada at #43, and only slipping on to the British chart at #98.

The Offspring's next single, "Self-Esteem", hit the top ten on both the Mainstream (#4) and Modern (#7) Rock radio charts in Billboard, but stopped at #45 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart (it was also not released as a single). However, the song was a much bigger success internationally, topping the charts in Sweden and Norway, and making the top ten in Denmark (#2), Finland (#3), Germany (#4), Austria (#4), the Netherlands (#4), Australia (#6), and Belgium (#7/#8). That was followed by "Gotta Get Away", which hit #6 on the Mainstream Rock chart, #15 on the Modern Rock/Alternative list, and climbed the airplay chart to #58 on the pop side (again, since not released physically). The single managed to go to #6 in Finland, #18 in Norway, and #26 in Sweden. Because the hit songs were only available on the album, Smash would go on to sell over six million copies in the U.S., setting a pattern for many more sets to come until the dawn of iTunes.

With the success of Smash allowing them to buy their old material back, resulting in the re-release of The Offspring, while Ignition single "Kick Him When He's Down" got some love at rock radio, rising to #22 on the Mainstream Rock tally in 1995. Later that year, their contribution to the movie soundtrack of Batman Forever, "Smash It Up", climbed the pop airplay chart to #47, while hitting #16 on the Mainstream Rock radio list. But during that time, the Offspring would leave Epitaph for the wide-spread label Columbia.

Two year later in 1997, the band returned with their fourth full-length record, Ixnay On The Hombre. The second single from the set, "Gone Away", became their second #1 rock hit (this time on the mainstream chart for two weeks, and getting to #4 on the Modern Rock tally. However the song, not available again as a single, got it relegated to the Hot 100 Singles Airplay chart at #50. In 1998, the Offspring would release their most recognizable single, "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)" from their fifth album Americana. With the rules changed for album tracks to chart, the song hit #53 on the pop chart, but took two weeks at #3 on the Mainstream Rock list. Their next record Conspiracy Of One in 2000, still made the albums top ten at #9, but the track "Original Prankster" hit #2 for two weeks that year. But after the promotion of the record they saw the departure of Welty on drums.

Coming back in 2003 with their Splinter set featuring new drummer Atom Willard, which landed the band a third #1 rock radio hit with "Hit That". Willard would only last this album and a hits set, breaking ranks to join the Blink-182 side-act Angels and Airwaves.

Pete Perada from Saves The Day joined as their most recent drummer, the band returned in 2008 with Rise To Fall, Rage and Grace, which spun off three rock radio top tenners, including the Modern Rock eleven-week #1 "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", which also hit the Hot 100 at #63 and hit the top-40 in Canada at #25.

The group's most recent full-length album, Days Go By, was put out in 2012, and from it the single "Days Go By" reached the top ten on the Mainstream (#2) and Modern Rock (#7) charts, while "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #117. They are still in the process of recording their tenth album, but in the meantime in 2015 their single "Coming For You" topped the Mainstream Rock list.

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Here's the band appearing live in concert in 1994...