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Your continued donations keep Wikipedia running! Good Charlotte From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Good Charlotte Origin Waldorf, Maryland, United States Years active 1996–present Genres Pop Punk Pop Rock Labels Epic Records/Daylight Records Members Joel Madden Benji Madden Billy Martin Paul Thomas Good Charlotte is a pop/rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed on the 1st April 1996. They took the name 'Good Charlotte' from a children's book: Good Charlotte: The Girls Of Good Day Orphanage by Carol Beach York. The band maintains that there is no significance to the name Good Charlotte, and have claimed on many ocassions that they now hate the name. They have released 3 albums, most notably 2002's multiplatinum seller The Young and the Hopeless, which spawned the chart topping singles, "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," "The Anthem," and "Girls and Boys." The band's third and most recent album is 2004's The Chronicles of Life and Death. The band is fronted by twin brothers Benji and Joel Madden. Other members of the band include their friends Billy Martin and Paul Thomas.
Contents [hide] 1 Band members 1.1 Former members 1.2 Temporary 2 Biography 2.1 Early Years 2.2 Getting Noticed 2.3 Debut Album 2.4 The Young & The Hopeless/Mainstream Success/Backlash 2.5 The Chronicles of Life & Death 2.6 The Future 3 Albums 4 Singles 5 External links
[edit] Band members Joel Madden: Vocals Benji Madden: Guitar, Vocals Paul Thomas: Bass Billy Martin: Guitar and Keyboard Dean Butterworth: Drums [edit] Former members Aaron Escolopio - Drums Chris Wilson - Drums [edit] Temporary Derek Grant -Drums (Chronicles of Life and Death 2005) Josh Freese - Drums (The Young and the Hopeless album) Cyrus Bolooki - Drums (Vans Warped Tour 2001) Dusty Brill - Drums (Vans Warped Tour 2001) [edit] Biography [edit] Early Years After attending a Beastie Boys concert at the age of sixteen, Benji and Joel Madden decided to start their very own band, although Joel had never sung before, and Benji had never played guitar. Nevertheless, they started Good Charlotte in 1996 after recruiting childhood friends Paul Thomas (bass) and Aaron Escolopio (drums). Paul taught Benji some guitar chords and they instantly began writing songs. The band was equally inspired by many popular artists of the 90's alternative and punk scenes (such as Green Day, Nirvana, Oasis, Weezer, Rancid, Goldfinger, AFI, and MxPx) and early 80's punk and post-punk acts (such as The Clash, Minor Threat, The Cure, The Smiths, Morissey and Depeche Mode). While their music was off to a good start, things were not all well in the Madden's teen years. Their father walked out on their family on Christmas Eve of the same year. This forced the twins to start working at various jobs to help their family stay stable. This frustration with their father is displayed lyrically on many of the songs the band would go on to later write. Between their various jobs, the Madden twins heart and soul was still with their music, and they played many local gigs in their hometown of Waldorf, Maryland. They soon moved to Annapolis, Maryland after realizing that it had a greater music scene than the one in Waldorf. In Annapolis, they were introduced to their second guitarist Billy Martin by a friend. Although Martin was more influenced by industrial rock and nu-metal artists such as Marilyn Manson and Korn, he wanted to join Good Charlotte because he claimed "Every one of these songs sounds like it could be a radio hit". Once Martin joined, they recorded and released an EP titled "Another EP" in 1999.
[edit] Getting Noticed Eventually, Good Charlotte garnered a lot of popularity by playing clubs and small venues and caught the attention of rock band Lit (whose song "My Own Worst Enemy" was a chart topper at the time). Good Charlotte filled the opening slot on Lit's east coast tour in 1999. Soon after, Good Charlotte played some dates with blink-182, who had just experienced huge mainstream success with Enema of The State. The band's demo started getting passed around and eventually ended up in the hands of now defunct modern rock radio station Y100. Y100 spun Good Charlotte's song "Little Things", and it ended up being a big success on the station, so big ,in fact, that on Y100's nightly "Cage Match" competition (where new songs where pitted against each other and listeners could vote on which was better), "Little Things" won seven nights in a row (beating out big names such as Limp Bizkit in the process) and had to eventually be retired. All of this caught the attention of major labels. In the end, Good Charlotte signed with Epic Records in 1999.
[edit] Debut Album Good Charlotte released their first self-titled album in 2000, which was not a huge commercial success, but did garner some play on modern rock radio, and was especially big on the band's hometown rock station WHFS. Singles released from that album include "Little Things", "Motivation Proclamation," and "Festival Song". Although it was not Good Charlotte's biggest commercial success, it remains to this day a fan favorite, with many claiming that this album was Good Charlotte's "only respectable release".
In 2001, Good Charlotte took part in the movie Not Another Teen Movie, as the band who performs during the prom scene. They contributed many 80's covers to the movie's soundtrack, such as "If You Leave", "Put Your Hands On My Shoulder", "I Want Candy", and "Footloose". The movie Dude, Where's My Car?, featured the band's song "Little Things" on its soundtrack.
Aaron Escolopio, the band's drummer since 1996 and on their debut album, Good Charlotte, left the band in early 2001 to join the band Wakefield with his brother, Ryan. He was replaced with Dusty, merely a temporary drummer, who left the band before the recording of their second album, The Young and the Hopeless. As a result, veteran professional studio drummer Josh Freese (who also played for The Vandals and A Perfect Circle played for the album.
During the Vans Warped Tour in 2002, the band was introduced to Chris Wilson (thanks to their friends in The Used). Chris became an official member of Good Charlotte in 2002, and although he did not record drums on "The Young & The Hopeless", he was the drummer for all their touring throughout the next 2 years, and would go on to record drums on their third album.
[edit] The Young & The Hopeless/Mainstream Success/Backlash 2002's The Young and the Hopeless was much more popular and marked the band's peak of mainstream popularity. Their breakthrough single, titled "Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous", topped both pop and rock charts around the globe. Singles that followed from that album include "The Anthem" ,"Girls and Boys", "Hold On" and "The Young and The Hopeless". The album received a 3x-platinum certification from the RIAA, landing the band on Saturday Night Live as well as the covers of Rolling Stone and Alternative Press, and garnering them a two page feature in the New York Times and spots on CNN and The Today Show. Good Charlotte were also enormously popular on MTV, where the Madden Brothers once served as hosts on the late night music video show "All Things Rock". Their music videos were favorites on both MTV and MTV2, with "The Anthem" going on to receive the "Viewers Choice Award" on MTV's 2003 Video Music Awards (on which they also performed "The Anthem). It is also worth noting that after their mainstream explosion, Good Charlotte practically took over Hot Topic stores across America. It was virtually impossible to walk into a Hot Topic store and not see Good Charlotte t-shirts and memorabilia. In spring 2003, they embarked on an arena tour with fellow pop-punkers New Found Glory and Less Than Jake on the Honda Civic Tour. In fall 2003, they embarked on their own headlining tour with their good friends Mest and Goldfinger on "The Young & The Hopeless Tour".
Of course, with lots of success came a huge backlash. Common criticisms of the band focused on their "punk" image (most commonly, people referred to the band as "posers" or "fakes" wink how they "sold out", and of course their radio friendly pop sound in general. To see some of these criticisms, just simply go to Amazon.com and read all the 1-stars reviews for "The Young & The Hopeless".
[edit] The Chronicles of Life & Death Good Charlotte's third album, The Chronicles of Life and Death, was released in 2004. The album recieved mixed reactions from both the music press and Good Charlotte's fanbase. The album has been widely considered a departure from their previous two albums, mixing new elements into Good Charlotte's power-pop/rock sound. Benji Madden has recently claimed in interviews that he feels this record was "too selfish". Singles released from that album include "Predictable", "I Just Wanna Live", "We Believe" and "The Chronicles of Life and Death". In Fall of 2004, Good Charlotte embarked on a US tour with Sum 41. In May 2005, after much speculation from fans, it was officially confirmed that Chris had left the band for personal health reasons. Benji also told Kerrang! magazine that, for him, Chris leaving the band was the worst part of 2005. Chris now plays drums in the pop-rock band The Summer Obsession. Good Charlotte's most recent "Noise to the World Tour" with Simple Plan and Relient K featured Dean Butterworth, previously of Morrissey, as the band's current temporary drummer.
[edit] The Future NME reported on 14th July 2006 (http://www.nme.com/news/good-charlotte/23599) that the fourth Good Charlotte album is expected to drop in October 2006. The CD will be produced by Don Gilmore who worked on the self-titled record. The reason given for this production choice is said to be to get back to the "old school" style for the fans. The album is reportedly to be released October 16th, 2006.
[edit] Albums Album Cover Date of Release Title Label UK Album Chart Position UK sales US Album Chart Position (Billboard Top 200) US sales 26th September 2000 Good Charlotte Epic Records / Daylight Records 185 Gold 1st October 2002 The Young and the Hopeless Epic Records / Daylight Records 15 7 3 x Platinum 23 August 2005 The Chronicles of Life and Death Epic Records / Daylight Records 8 3 Platinum October 2006 N/A Epic Records / Daylight Records [edit] Singles Year Title Chart Positions Album U.S. Hot 100 U.S. Modern Rock U.S. Pop 100 UK Singles Chart 2001 Little Things - 23 - - Good Charlotte 2001 Motivation Proclamation - - - - Good Charlotte 2001 Festival Song - - - - Good Charlotte 2003 Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous 20 11 - 8 The Young and the Hopeless 2003 Girls and Boys 48 - - 6 The Young and the Hopeless 2003 The Anthem 43 10 - 10 The Young and the Hopeless 2003 The Young and the Hopeless - 28 - 34 The Young and the Hopeless 2003 Hold On 63 - - 34 The Young and the Hopeless 2004 Predictable - 28 - 12 The Chronicles of Life and Death 2005 I Just Wanna Live 51 - - 9 The Chronicles of Life and Death 2005 The Chronicles of Life and Death - - - 30 The Chronicles of Life and Death 2005 We Believe - - - - The Chronicles of Life and Death [edit] External links Official Site Good Charlotte on Epic Records Good Charlotte Official Site in Spanish Good Charlotte "We Believe" video on Roxwel.com GCNaptown - Largest Un-Official Message Board and Fan Site GC Chronicles - Fan Site and Chat Forum Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Charlotte" Categories: 2000s music groups | American pop music groups | Maryland musical groups | Pop punk groups
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dark_soul792 · Fri Aug 11, 2006 @ 04:16am · 0 Comments |
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