Good Charlotte is the debut studio album by American rock band Good Charlotte, released on September 26, 2000 through Epic and Daylight Records. Despite receiving favorable reviews, the album undersold expectations, charting at number 185 on the Billboard 200. The album's first single, "Little Things" reached the top 30 on the Mainstream Top 40 and the Alternative Songs charts.
The band formed in 1996 with twin brothers Joel on vocals and Benji Madden on guitar, along with Billy Martin on guitar, Paul Thomas on bass and Aaron Escolopio on drums. A demo of "Little Things" received airplay from two radio stations and by early 2000, Good Charlotte had signed to Epic Records. Recording sessions with producer Don Gilmore for the debut album took place in four studios in California and New York.
A music video for "Little Things" started getting airplay in November 2000. In March 2001, "Little Things" was released as a single, which was followed by a music video for "The Motivation Proclamation". Between March and May 2001, the group went on tour with MxPx and appeared at HFStival, where a music video for "Festival Song" was filmed. After this, Escolopio left the group and was replaced by Nate Foutz of Vroom. Foutz remained with the group for six weeks before Dusty Bill replaced him. The group participated in Warped Tour between June and August. Also in August, "The Motivation Proclamation" was released as a single and was followed by "Festival Song" in 2002. The album was subsequently certified silver in the UK and gold in the US.
Background
The band Good Charlotte was formed in Waldorf, Maryland, in 1995, after identical twin brothers Joel (vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar) had seen a Beastie Boys show. Following the brothers' graduation in 1997, instead of going to college they worked full-time on the band. The Madden brothers focused on getting the band signed, reading books and magazines that would aid them to achieve this goal. They made promotional packages and sent them to record labels. Joel Madden learned that the girl he took to homecoming was a sister of bassist Paul Thomas. Thomas met the brothers and was unimpressed with their performance skills. Soon afterwards, the brothers recruited their fellow high-school pupil Aaron Escolopio as a drummer and began playing clubs in the D.C. metro area. The Madden brothers moved to Annapolis, Maryland, and performed acoustic shows.
Guitarist Billy Martin went to one of these shows at the insistence of Jimi HaHa of Jimmie's Chicken Shack. Martin became friends with the Madden brothers and let them move in with him after they were evicted from their apartment. Martin joined Good Charlotte after the trio learned they had a shared interest in the Australian rock band Silverchair and the break up of Martin's band Overflow. They wrote new songs, and recorded and performed demos. The band began building a following by performing at HFStival in 1998, and support slots for Blink-182, Lit and Bad Religion. In 1999, Good Charlotte opened for Save Ferris in Philadelphia. After the performance, they left a demo of "Little Things" that soon got airplay on local radio station Y100. Benji Madden was certain of the song's potential hit status with its high-school theme and the reality of its lyrics.
A Sony Music employee passed the band's demo to regional promotion manager Mike Martinovich, who was impressed by the group's writing ability and the autobiographical nature of the songs. He contacted talent manager Steve Feinberg, who flew to Annapolis to watch the group perform and later began working with them. Around the same time, WHFS also began playing the demo. As the track became a hit in the area, record labels began showing interest in Good Charlotte. By the end of 1999, the band went on an east-coast tour with Lit. Representatives from several major labels attended the New York City show of the tour. Starting in 2000, the band became a full-time touring act, performing support slots for Lit, Goldfinger, Sum 41 and Mest. Following a showcase in New York City, the band met with people in the music industry. Within a week, everyone that saw the performance wanted to sign them. David Massey, executive vice president of A&R at Epic Records, signed the band to the label in May 2000.