First Date (Blink-182 song)

"First Date"
Single by Blink-182
from the album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket
B-side "Don't Tell Me It's Over"
Released October 8, 2001
Format
Recorded January–March 2001[1]
Signature Sound
(San Diego, California)
Larrabee Studios West, Cello Studios
(Hollywood, California)
Genre Pop punk
Length 2:51
Label MCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s) Jerry Finn
Blink-182 singles chronology
"The Rock Show"
(2001)		 "First Date"
(2001)		 "Stay Together for the Kids"
(2002)

"First Date" is a song recorded by American rock band Blink-182 for their fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). It was released as the second single from the album on October 8, 2001. The track was composed primarily by guitarist Tom DeLonge based on memories of his first date with spouse Jennifer Jenkins. The song's creation stems from Blink-182 manager Rick DeVoe's opinion that the album lacked a catchy, "feel-good" song. DeLonge composed "First Date" in response, while bassist Mark Hoppus composed the album's lead single "The Rock Show".

The song peaked at number six on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. The song's music video depicts the trio as hippies in the 1970s, parading around the suburbs in a Volkswagen van and visiting a water park. In promotion of the single, Blink-182 performed the song live on late-night talk show Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

Background

Prior to recording their fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, Blink-182 recorded demos at DML Studios, a small practice studio in Escondido, California, where the band had written Dude Ranch and Enema of the State.[1] The group had written a dozen songs after three weeks and invited their manager, Rick DeVoe, to be the first person outside Blink-182 to hear the new material, which the band found "catchy [but with] a definitive edge".[2][1][3] DeVoe sat in the control room and quietly listened to the recordings, and pressed the band at the end on why there was no "Blink-182 good-time summer anthem [thing]". DeLonge and Hoppus were furious, remarking, "You want a fucking single? I'll write you the cheesiest, catchiest, throwaway fucking summertime single you've ever heard!"[1][4] Hoppus went home and wrote "The Rock Show" in ten minutes, and DeLonge similarly wrote "First Date", which became the most successful singles from the record and future live staples.[3] The song's arrangement was worked in the Famous Stars and Straps warehouse in San Diego.[5]

"First Date" was inspired by DeLonge and wife Jennifer Jenkins' first date at SeaWorld San Diego.[3] "I was about 21 at the time and it was an excuse for me to take her somewhere because I wanted to hang out with her," said DeLonge. The track was written as a summary of neurotic teen angst and awkwardness.[3]

Music video

The music video for "First Date", the album's sophomore single, pays homage to the Bee Gees and is based in the mid-1970s, and is slightly based on the film Dazed and Confused, featuring the trio acting as long-haired hippie versions of themselves.[6] Clad in long wigs, bell-bottoms and butterfly collars, the trio drive around a quiet suburb in a Volkswagen van, making stops at a diner and water park.[7] The video, directed by The Malloys, was filmed over three days in Tsawwassen, British Columbia, and performance footage was filmed in a garage decorated with 1970s paraphernalia.[7] Singer Jordan Pundik and guitarist Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory, with whom the band were touring at the time, make cameo appearances in the clip.[7]

The video debuted on MTV's Total Request Live on January 18, 2002.[8]

Track listing

All tracks written by Blink-182.

First Date CD Single[9]
No.TitleLength
1."First Date"2:51
2."Don't Tell Me It's Over"2:34
3."Mother's Day"1:37
4."The Rock Show" (Video)2:55

All tracks written by Blink-182.

First Date DVD Single[10]
No.TitleLength
1."First Date" 
2."The Rock Show" (Video) 
3."4x30 Second Clips (1. The Rock Show (Live); 2. Backstage; 3. Say Hello to Travis; 4. Want a Ticket?)" 
First Date Single 7"[11]
No.TitleLength
1."First Date"2:51
2."Don't Tell Me It's Over"2:34

Charts

Chart (2001) Peak
position
scope="row"Australia (ARIA)[12] 50
scope="row"Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] 69
scope="row"Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[14] 15
scope="row"France (SNEP)[15] 81
scope="row"Germany (Official German Charts)[16] 74
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[17] 10
scope="row"Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[18] 48
scope="row"Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 92
scope="row"UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[20] 31
scope="row"US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[21] 6
US Hot 100 Airplay (Billboard)[22] 84
scope="row"US Alternative Songs (Billboard)[23] 6
US Rock Digital Songs (Billboard)[24] 33

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2013 Vinyl Reissue) (liner notes). Blink-182. US: Geffen / Universal Music Special Markets. 2013. SRC025/SRC026/SRC027/SRC028. This reference primarily cites the Mark Hoppus foreword.
  2. ↑ Roger Coletti (2001). "Blink-182: No Jacket Required". MTV News. Archived from the original on April 30, 2013. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nichola Browne (November 20, 2005). "Punk Rock! Nudity! Filthy Sex! Tom DeLonge Looks Back On Blink-182's Greatest Moments". Kerrang!. London: Bauer Media Group (1083). ISSN 0262-6624.
  4. ↑ Kyle Ryan (October 8, 2013). "Blink-182 took punk to No. 1 for the first time with a masturbation pun". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 8, 2013.
  5. ↑ Barker, Travis; Edwards, Gavin (2015). Can I Say: Living Large, Cheating Death, and Drums, Drums, Drums. William Morrow. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-062-31942-5.
  6. ↑ Shooman, 2010. p. 87
  7. 1 2 3 Corey Moss (August 22, 2001). "Blink-182 Return To '70s In 'First Date' Video". MTV News. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Episode 827". Total Request Live. January 18, 2002. MTV.
  9. ↑ Blink-182 - First Date (CD) in Discogs
  10. ↑ First Date (DVD AUDIO) at Amazon.com
  11. ↑ - First Date (Vinyl) en Discogs
  12. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  13. ↑ "blink-182 – Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  14. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/artist/298592/blink-182/chart?f=1085
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