Talk:Come Out and Play (The Offspring song)

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Origin of "Keep 'em separated"[edit]

I've moved this explanation here, because absent a source it seems pretty questionable:

The famous You Gotta Keep 'Em Separated line in the song came to his mind when Dexter, the singer and songwriter, was working in a lab. His job was to grow bacteria to infect viruses. When he had to sterilize two flasks in order to put in the bacteria, he heated them and put them under a hood to cool them off. But it took a very long time, thus the line: "You gotta keep 'em separated" (to make the flasks cool off much quicker).

--Delirium 07:02, 25 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Relation to "Bloodstains" by Agent Orange[edit]

I had heard a long time ago (and have recently seen on several reviews sites) that the main riff in "Come Out and Play" was based on the riff of "Bloodstains" by Agent Orange. Some of the sources I've found say that the Offspring openly professed being fans of Agent Orange, others say that they have stated that the "Come Out and Play" riff was inspired by "Bloodstains", and a few even say that they admitted to lifting the riff from "Bloodstains" (it's also worth noting that The Offspring covered "Bloodstains" in 2000 for the Ready to Rumble soundtrack). I seem to recall hearing that there had been some controversy about this around the time that "Come Out and Play" was a hit; something to the effect of the Offspring saying in an interview that they were big Agent Orange fans, followed by Mike Palm of AO claiming that they had completely ripped off the "Bloodstains" riff. The Vandals have a song about this on their 1996 album The Quickening called "Aging Orange" in which they showcase the riff in question and make fun of Palm. I wrote The Quickening article a long time ago with the following section:

  • "Aging Orange" (Warren Fitzgerald & Joe Escalante)

This song is a jab at the Fullerton, California punk band Agent Orange, who had a minor hit on local rock radio in the early 1980s with the song "Bloodstains." Although the band still perform together, they have not had a significant hit since that song. "Aging Orange" parodies frontman Mike Palm, who claimed in interviews in the 1990s that Agent Orange had inspired many of the newer bands becoming popular at the time. A request had been filed in 1994 by Robbie Fields, owner of Posh Boy Records who controlled rights to the album on which "Bloodstains" appeared, claiming that The Offspring had lifted a riff in their hit song "Come Out and Play" from "Bloodstains" and that he should be paid royalties for its use. Although a lawsuit was never formally filed, Palm had stated that the claims were valid and that the riff had been stolen from Agent Orange. In "Aging Orange" the Vandals break into this riff and the song's chorus mocks Palm's claims, making him sound like a whining child crying "I invented socks/and I invented gravy/I made up the cotton gin/but no one ever paid me." It goes on to call him names such as "palm palm/ape drape/poodle head."

Looking back, I can't remember where I found the information about Robbie Fields and the request for royalties (it was 2 years ago and I hadn't yet caught on to the notion of providing references). It seems like a very plausible connection, given that The Quickening was released on Nitro Records which was started by Dexter and Greg K of The Offspring and that The Vandals & The Offspring were fairly close at the time. If Mike Palm had made claims about the "Come Out and Play" riff being lifted from "Bloodstains", it seems reasonable that The Vandals would have heard about the claim and then mocked it in "Aging Orange". And then, of course, there's the fact that The Offspring released a cover of "Bloodstains" in 2000. Does anyone else have any knowledge of this? Can anyone provide some references that might allow us to include this discusion in the "Come Out and Play" article? It seems like a relevant subject to address if the proper sources can be found. --IllaZilla (talk) 03:56, 3 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

3 years later, I found a source! http://www.ocweekly.com/2001-09-06/music/it-s-all-a-blur/ Mike Palm talks about what happened between Robbie Fields and The Offspring, and The Vandals' song. I'll come back to it later & try to write something for the article. --IllaZilla (talk) 00:03, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

And here's another: http://articles.latimes.com/1995-04-04/entertainment/ca-50818_1_agent-orange --IllaZilla (talk) 00:08, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

And a review that briefly touches on it: http://www.allmusic.com/album/living-in-darkness-r70639/review --IllaZilla (talk) 00:18, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

This one's probably not citeable because it's a forum, but it's from Robbie Fields: http://www.offspring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32551&page=2 --IllaZilla (talk) 00:25, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Here's an LA times one specifically about the Vandals song: http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-29/entertainment/ca-4067_1_agent-orange --IllaZilla (talk) 00:30, 7 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"Gotta Keep 'em Separated"[edit]

Anyone know who says this line? He's not in the band, right? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.178.128.174 (talk) 11:52, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

According to the spoken commentary on the "Come Out and Play" video from Complete Music Video Collection, it's Jason "Blackball" McClean, who would also say the "Gotta Keep 'em Separated" line at Offspring concerts as well. Alex (talk) 19:33, 12 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

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