Green Day’s ‘Dookie’: 7 Hidden Musical References on the Cover
Green Day’s Dookie was released on February 1, 1994. The album remains both timeless and a snapshot of the rock world as grunge’s popularity started to wane. Simply put, Dookie helped turn…
Green Day’s Dookie was released on February 1, 1994. The album remains both timeless and a snapshot of the rock world as grunge's popularity started to wane.
Simply put, Dookie helped turn Green Day into a household name. The album was the band's major label debut and third album overall. It went on to sell over 20 million copies worldwide. In the United States, Dookie has been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 10 million copies. That certification was awarded in February 1999. (It would be interesting to see how many more copies have sold since.)
To paraphrase "The Iceberg That Sank the Titanic" from Saturday Night Live, Dookie is 14 tracks, "no skips, swear to God." (Well, it's technically 15 tracks when you count the hidden track "All By Myself,", but you get the idea.) The album yielded four singles: "Longview," "Basket Case," "Welcome to Paradise" and "When I Come Around." Each of those songs is a stone-cold classic. In fact, Setlist.fm notes that "Longview" and "Basket Case" are the two most-performed Green Day songs in the band's history. Overall, "Longview" has been featured on 1,008 setlists, while "Basket Case" has been featured on 965. Not to be outdone, popular album track "She" is third with 829.
While the album is a timeless piece of rock magic, the same can be said about the album cover of Dookie. Drawn by local East Bay artist Richie Bucher, the cover alone deserves special recognition. It’s full of all sorts of references to Berkeley’s punk scene at that time, but there are also a number of musical references even fans outside of the East Bay would know.
How many? Seven in total. Think you know what they are? Scroll through the gallery below to find out!
The University of California Marching Band
RepriseIn an interview with 'Willamette Week' in 2014, Bucher said of his inclusion of the UC Berkeley Marching band, "They were always marching around playing. I thought they were pretty great." Let us put an end to talk of marching bands being uncool. These musicians are often extremely talented. Sure, we don't know what inspires a person to decide to play the tuba. But hey, live and let live!
Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath"
RepriseThe image used to represent Sabbath is a hybrid of Ozzy Osbourne and the woman on the cover of the metal band's self-titled debut. For good measure, next to the image is the opening lyric to the album, "What is this that stands before me?" Perhaps, it's not so accidental it's next to a demonic figure. After all, seemingly every major hard rock or heavy metal band goes through an Aleister Crowley phase. Of course, Ozzy's ode would come in the form of "Mr. Crowley" from his 1980 debut solo album 'Blizzard of Ozz,' but we digress.
Ramones' 'Rocket to Russia'
RepriseThis is a significant deep cut. The Bad Year blimp's banner phrase "Eat at Chef Wong's" can be found on a t-shirt within the animation from the Ramones' third studio album 'Rocket to Russia.' Understandably, the Ramones' influence can be felt in pretty much any punk band that formed after they arrived. Truthfully, we'd love to know what musical references didn't make the cut on this album cover. It's such a bucket of random! (And we mean that in a good way.)
Patti Smith's 'Easter'
RepriseIn one of the open building windows on the cover of 'Dookie,' you'll find Patti Smith. The iconic punk is depicted in the same pose she struck on the cover of Patti Smith Group's 1978 album 'Easter.' If you look even closer, you can even see the shading of Smith's visible armpit hair. You can get lost in Smith's armpit hair if you're not careful. However, we prefer to just get lost in her catalog.
Angus Young
RepriseLocated just above Smith is Angus Young. He's posed on top of a building as depicted on the cover of AC/DC's 1977 album 'Let There Be Rock.' Bucher said in his interview with 'Willamette Week' that he was listening to that album a lot around the time he drew the 'Dookie' artwork. Let this serve as a reminder to revisit 'Let There Be Rock' if you haven't in a long time. That LP still holds up in a big way.
Alex Chilton
RepriseThere's no specific reason known as to why Big Star's Alex Chilton is featured in one of the open windows. Considering Bucher was listening to 'Let There Be Rock' at the time, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to think he was listening to '#1 Record,' too. Much like 'Let There Be Rock,' Big Star's '#1 Record' still holds up today, too.
Fat Elvis
RepriseBecause why not? Every other musical reference seems random AF, so just add "The King"! Also, when you look back, "Fat Elvis" really wasn't THAT fat. He just wasn't as svelte as he once was when he was a young guy in the 1950s. Also, those white jumpsuits didn't do him any favors. Had he opted for black, it would've been far more slimming.
