Green Day

From: Pinole, California

Active: 1989-present

I first heard them: when Live 105 started playing "Longview" incessantly. I didn't like that one, but I liked "Welcome to Paradise" enough to buy the Dookie album (and discovered that the liner notes had been done by the guy who lived across the hall from me freshman year).

Sound: circa 1994, extremely simplistic punk with vocals by a California kid trying to sound British. They've gotten more sophisticated since then.