"The Rock Show" | ||||
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Single by Blink-182 | ||||
from the album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket | ||||
Released | June 25, 2001 | |||
Format | CD | |||
Recorded | January–March 2001 Signature Sound (San Diego, California) Larrabee Studios West, Cello Studios (Hollywood, California) |
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Genre | Pop punk | |||
Length | 2:51 | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Writer(s) | ||||
Producer(s) | Jerry Finn | |||
Blink-182 singles chronology | ||||
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"The Rock Show" is a song recorded by American rock band Blink-182 for the group's fourth studio album, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (2001). It was released as the lead single from the album on June 25, 2001. The track was composed primarily by bassist Mark Hoppus about meeting a girl at a rock concert. It was inspired by the band's early days touring punk rock clubs, mainly Soma in their hometown of San Diego.
The song's creation stems from Blink-182 manager Rick DeVoe's opinion that the album lacked a catchy, "feel-good" song. Hoppus composed "The Rock Show" in response, while guitarist Tom DeLonge composed the album's second single, "First Date". The song was influenced by bands such as the Ramones, Screeching Weasel, and the Descendents.
The song peaked at number two on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart, making it the most successful single from the album. It also reached number 14 in the United Kingdom. The song's music video finds the band given an unusually large budget for the video, and spending needlessly on random things. In promotion of the single, Blink-182 performed the song live on late-night talk show Late Show with David Letterman.
Prior to recording the group's 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. The group had written a dozen songs after three weeks and invited the band's 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". 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!" 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.