Songoftheday 2/26/22 - She left me roses by the stairs, surprises let me know she cares...
"All The Small Things" - Blink-182
from the album Enema Of The State (1999)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #6 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 14
Today's song comes from the pop-punk band Blink-182,
who came together in the San Diego suburbs in the early 1990's, with
guitarist Tom DeLonge, bass player Mark Hoppus, and drummer Scott
Raynor. After putting out a few demos, the trio was signed to indie
label Cargo Records, where they released their debut album Cheshire Cat
in 1995. The local success of the record caused a "bidding war" between
major labels trying to sign the act, with MCA winning out, co-signing
with Cargo on the release of their next record Dude Ranch in 1997. Lead single "Apple Shampoo" was a minor hit in Australia, before the first American offering "Dammit" was put out in the fall of that year. Sporting a cute music video that MTV took to, the song went to #11 on Billboard
magazine's Alternative Rock chart, #26 on their Mainstream Rock list,
and despite not being released as a retail "single" got to #61 on the
Hot 100 Airplay monitor. The Dude Ranch album peaked at #67 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, going on to sell over a million copies.
But despite that success, there was trouble lurking, as Raynor's alcohol
issues led him to be booted from the band after their tour, to be
replaced by Travis Barker from the Aquabats. With Barker on board, the
trio recorded their third effort Enema Of The State, which came
out in the late spring of 1999. The lead single from the record was
"What's My Age Again?", a crass slice of Bart Simpson on crack antics,
with writer Hoppus spinning off scenarios where he'd rather watch TV
than concentrate on the woman he's with, preceding to dubiously
homophobic territory where he prank calls her mom to tell her her
husband's in jail for sodomy. Nevertheless, the song was a big rock radio hit, spending eleven weeks at #2 on Billboard's Alternative Rock chart and making it to #19 on the Mainstream Rock list, and even made it on to the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format chart at #36, but it stalled down at #58 on the all-genre "pop" Hot 100 in the fall of 1999.
For the second single from the record, "All The Small Things", was written by the trio's Tom DeLonge, who dedicated it to his future wife, and produced by Jerry Finn. An uptempo yet ten times more accessible tune than "What's My Age Again", the track was deliberately written for radio airplay, and with its simple yet textured structure, it did the trick. But what really sold the song was its music video, which had Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, and DeLonge mimicing videos from the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Britney Spears that was an instant smash on MTV. That probably more than anything drove "All The Small Things" to be their biggest success...
"All The Small Things" became Blink 182's first and only top-40 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 pop chart, reaching the top ten in February of 2000. The song spent two months (eight weeks) at #1 on the Alternative Rock chart, while making it to #29 on their Adult Top-40 format list. Internationally, the single reached the top ten in the UK (#2), Austria (#4), Italy (#6), Romania (#6), Sweden (#7), Ireland (#7), Australia (#8), New Zealand (#10), and Portugal (#10). It also made #11 in Germany and #18 in Canada. The Enema Of The State album, released in June of 1999, crested at #9 on the Billboard 200 sales tally, spending 86 weeks on the list and selling over five million copies.
The third offering from Enema was "Adam's Song", which was written by Hoppus and Delonge, that went to darker and more meatier lyrical content, as Mark sings about suicide in terms that young kids can definitely understand. While the song spent seven weeks at #2 on Billboard's Alternative Rock chart, the subject probably hindered it at "mainstream pop" radio, and it only "bubbled under" the Hot 100 at #101, just missing the chart by a notch. It's a shame, since it's the best thing they've ever done.
The trio followed this album up with a live release, The Mark, Tom, and Travis Show, which had one new studio recording with "Man Overboard", which was a thinly veiled recount of the troubles with alcoholism from departed drummer Raynor. The song took two weeks at #2 on the Alternative Rock chart, while "bubbling under" the pop Hot 100 at #117 in the fall of 2000. The album did well for a live set from a group with just one "big" album reaching #8 on the Billboard 200 and selling over a half million.
The following year, Hoppus, Delonge, and Barker returned with their fourth studio effort Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (yes, the puns). The lead single, "The Rock Show", scored their third consecutive #2 hit of the Alternative Rock chart, while stalling at #71 on the pop Hot 100 (it was bigger in the UK, hitting #14). The album topped the Billboard 200 for a week, spending over a year on the tally. While they were on a break in 2002, DeLonge and Barker recorded a harder-edged album with Finn producing as a side project Box Car Racer, which had a top ten Alternative Rock hit with "I Feel So" (#8 Alternative), and the album cresting at #12 on the Billboard 200.
Hoppus reunited with Barker and DeLonge in 2003 for their self-titled fifth album, which had them do the inevitable turn away from pop-punk to more emo-styled material. The first single "Feeling This" spent two weeks at #2 on the Alternative Rock chart, while missing the pop Hot 100 by two notches at #102. (It was a bit obtuse for pop radio.) The second try, the softer "I Miss You", which did better, almost making the top-40 on the Hot 100 at #42, while topping Billboard's Alternative Rock list for two weeks, and even was their biggest hit on the older-skewing Adult Top-40 format at #24.
After a Greatest Hits album, the trio split for a while, with Hoppus and Barker forming another band, (+44), and Delonge assembling the group Angels and Airwaves. Both released albums in 2006 that reached the top ten on the Billboard 200. (+44)'s When Your Heart Stops Beating, which peaked at #10 had the title track "When Your Heart Stops Beating" reach #14 on the Alternative Rock chart, and #89 on the Hot 100. Meanwhile, Delonge's Angels went to #4 with We Don't Need To Whisper, with its biggest track "The Adventure" climbing to #5 on the Alternative Rock chart, #55 on the Hot 100, and even went to #20 in the UK. Their second record as A&A, I-Empire, also hit the top ten on the Billboard 200 at #9., with lead single "Everything's Magic" just missing the Alternative Rock top ten at #11 while "bubbling under" the Hot 100 at #104.
Tragedy struck twice by the end of the decade, with Finn dying from a hemorrhage and Barker badly injured from a plane crash, but it was the latter that had the threesome come back together and formally reunite as Blink 182 in 2009. However, it took two arduous years to record their comeback album Neighborhoods, which went to #2 on the Billboard 200 in 2011. First single "Up All Night" spent six weeks at #3 on the Alternative Rock chart, and was a minor hit on the Hot 100 at #65, and the trio toured for a long while, but Delonge again left in 2014 to go back to Angels and Airwaves.
Instead of going back to (+44), Hoppus and Barker kept Blink-182 going, hiring on guitarist/singer Matt Skiba as a permanent replacement. Their next album, California, landed them their second #1 album on the Billboard 200 in 2016, and was nominated for a Grammy (their first nom) for Best Rock Album, losing out to Kentucky garage band Cage The Elephant's Tell Me I'm Pretty. Lead track "Bored To Death" was Blink's third and so far most recent #1 Alternative Rock hit, taking five weeks at the summit, while peaking at #6 at Mainstream Rock and stopping at #85 on the Hot 100. Their most recent album, Nine, came out in 2019, entering the Billboard 200 at #3. From it "Blame It On My Youth" just missed the Alternative top ten at #11, and follow-up "I Really Wish I Hated You" their most recent lead hit at Alternative at #13, though they guested on "Scumbag" by Canadian artist Goody Grace, which hit #28 on that list in 2020.
Meanwhile, DeLonge was more preoccupied with UFO's than music, though he kept Angels and Airwaves going, releasing four more albums, with their most recent album, Lifeforms, getting to #36 on the Billboard 200 and single "Rebel Girl" reaching #31 on the Alternative Rock radio chart. Hoppus and Barker recorded a single without Skiba (only due to the COVID restrictions), "Quarantine".
(8/10)
(Click below to see the rest of the post)
Blink 182 played "All The Small Things" at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000...
Also from that year, in concert at Reading UK...
In 2014, Irish twins and Eurovision Song Contest fodder Jedward covered "All The Small Things" for their Planet Jedward album. Released as a single, it went to #21 in Ireland and #80 in the UK. They recreated the Blink video using newer video references...
and lastly, Hoppus, Delonge, and Barker at a reunion concert...
Up tomorrow: A country singer honors his closest companion.
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