Operation Ivy (band)

Operation Ivy
Operation Ivy performing live at 924 Gilman Street in 1988
Background information
Origin	Berkeley, California, United States
Genres	Ska punk, punk rock
Years active	1987–1989
Labels	Lookout, Hellcat
Associated acts	Basic Radio, Classics of Love, Crimpshrine, Common Rider, Dance Hall Crashers, Devils Brigade, Downfall, Rancid, Shaken 69, Tim Timebomb, Green Day
Past members	Jesse Michaels Tim Armstrong Matt Freeman Dave Mello

Operation Ivy, sometimes called "Op Ivy," (op Iv) was an American Ska punk band, from Berkeley, California formed in May 1987. The band was stylistically important as one of the first bands to mix the elements of hardcore punk and ska into a new amalgam called ska punk and was critical to the emergence of Lookout Records and the so-called "East Bay Sound."

The band's name was derived from the Operation Ivy series of nuclear tests in 1952. Although the band released just one full-length album before breaking up in May 1989, Operation Ivy is well remembered as the direct antecedent of the popular band Rancid and for wielding a lasting stylistic influence over numerous other bands.

Operation Ivy was formed in May 1987 and was named after the code name of a 1952 American nuclear weapons testing program. The name had previously been the original name of the contemporary Berkeley punk band Isocracy.

The band consisted of Jesse Michaels (lead vocals), Tim "Lint" Armstrong (guitar, vocals), Matt "McCall" Freeman (bass, vocals), and Dave Mello (drums). Prior to the formation of Operation Ivy, Armstrong and Freeman had played together in the Berkeley ska punk band Basic Radio.

Operation Ivy's first live performance was on May 27, 1987 in Dave Mello's garage. The next day began a tradition of performances at the Berkeley punk collective center 924 Gilman Street. Operation Ivy began playing a number of performances which led to its almost immediate cult-following.