I'll Be Waiting/Blackball

"I'll Be Waiting"/'Blackball" is the first release by punk rock band The Offspring. It was released as the 9th (and 10th) tracks on their debut self-titled album which was released in 1989 (and re-released in 1995.) It was also the first single to be released by the band. The single was released in 1986, three years before the release of the studio album. The single is a double A-Side single, featuring "I'll Be Waiting" and "Blackball" and is the only double A-side released by the Offspring. A demo version of "I'll Be Waiting" (then-known as "Fire and Ice") can be heard on the long-out of print Subject to Blackout compilation tape, which was also released in 1986^[2] (this version is also available for free to download from the European Offspring website^[3]).

"I'll Be Waiting" and "Blackball" both failed to chart, therefore the tracks were also omitted from their compilation Greatest Hits album which was released in 2005.

The shadows from the cover of this single can also be seen on the back cover of The Offspring CD.

Track listing^[4]

Release

The band itself released "Blackball" on Black Label Records (which the band named after a brand of beer), as a 7" vinyl record. Only 1000 copies^[1] of this record were made. 500 of these were released with a sleeve and 500 without, and it took the band two and a half years to sell them all.

Personnel

• Dexter Holland (credited as B. Holland or Bryan Holland) – lead vocals
• Noodles (credited as Child C-2017) – guitar
• Greg K. (credited as Greggor) – bass
• James Lilja (credited as James Frederick Lilja) – drums

In popular culture

• "Blackball" was featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} offspring.com
2. ^ killfromtheheart.com
3. ^ The Offspring 1986 Demos (ReMastered By ANDiTKO)
4. ^ discogs.com