Editing Cheshire Cat (Blink-182 album) (section)

==Release and reception==
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 | quote  = "[''Cheshire Cat''{{'s}}] off-kilter bounciness immediately caught the ear of kids who were already starting to wander from the [[Epitaph Records|Epitaph]]/[[Fat Wreck Chords|Fat Wreck]] flock. ''Cheshire Cat'' isn’t radically different from your typical Fat release from 1994, but there was a refreshing sloppiness and wide-eyed exuberance to it that augured lucrative things to come."
 | source =&nbsp;—Jason Heller, ''[[The A.V. Club]]''<ref name="av">{{cite news|title=1994 rocketed Green Day and The Offspring from punks to superstar punks |newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]] |url=http://www.avclub.com/article/1994-rocketed-green-day-and-the-offspring-from-pun-200573 |date=December 3, 2013 |access-date=December 3, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204224056/http://www.avclub.com/article/1994-rocketed-green-day-and-the-offspring-from-pun-200573 |archive-date=December 4, 2013 }}</ref>
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''Cheshire Cat'' was released through Cargo Music on February 17, 1995, on [[Compact cassette|cassette]]. Initially, Goodis bet DeLonge the album would only sell 3,000 copies; by 2001, over 250,000 copies of the debut were sold.<ref name=p30/> A [[CD]] release of the album occurred in 1995, and a [[gramophone record|vinyl]] version was released in small quantities in 1996. Along with the re-release of ''Buddha'' in November 1998, ''Cheshire Cat'' was re-released and received national distribution for the first time. ''Cheshire Cat'' has been called an iconic release by bands and fans.<ref name="MTV influence">{{cite web|title=How Did Blink-182 Become So Influential? |author=James Montgomery |publisher=[[MTV News]] |date=February 9, 2009 |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604639/20090209/blink_182.jhtml |access-date=February 9, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025200846/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604639/how-did-blink-182-become-so-influential.jhtml |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As an independent release, very few reviews were published upon initial release. Retrospective reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine of [[AllMusic]] gave the album three out of five stars and wrote that "the group is rather scattershot here, hitting the target as often as they miss it," noting that the release is better suited to more involved fans.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|title=''Cheshire Cat'': Review |author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |website=[[AllMusic]] |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/cheshire-cat-mw0000124799 |access-date=March 3, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315205247/http://www.allmusic.com/album/cheshire-cat-mw0000124799 |archive-date=March 15, 2013 }}</ref> ''Rolling Stone'' would rate the record at two and a half stars in 2001, describing it as "slapped together lilting melodies and racing beats in an attempt to connect [[emo]] and [[skate punk]], a sort of pop hardcore."<ref name="newrs"/> Website AbsolutePunk called ''Cheshire Cat'' a "good early indicator of what Blink-182 would turn out to be. Their sound wasn’t quite as polished, but they were certainly miles ahead of a lot of their peers at the time."<ref name="abpunk">{{cite web|title=''Cheshire Cat'': Review |website=[[AbsolutePunk]] |url=http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=314623 |access-date=March 3, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717000411/http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=314623 |archive-date=July 17, 2012 }}</ref> At [[Fuse (TV channel)|Fuse]], it was list as one of the "strongest" [[pop-punk]] debut albums by Marie Sheyman, who added "they made the punk rock they loved even catchier".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fuse.tv/2015/07/strongest-pop-punk-debuts-of-all-time#6 |title=The 11 Strongest Pop-Punk Debuts of All Time |work=Fuse |access-date=August 8, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801214449/http://www.fuse.tv/2015/07/strongest-pop-punk-debuts-of-all-time |archive-date=August 1, 2015 }}</ref>
[[File:Blink CC poster.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Cargo promoted the album with adverts in skateboarding magazines, such as ''[[Thrasher (magazine)|Thrasher]]''.]]
''Cheshire Cat'' was a strong seller for an independent band, despite the fact that popularity grew in the form of unauthorized CD copies across the country.<ref name="p38"/><ref name=p49>Hoppus, 2001. p. 49</ref> The band were acquiring legions of new fans and radio play, and the buzz created by the album inspired manager Rick DeVoe to call Hoppus, wanting to manage the band. DeLonge threw together a crude "press kit" for DeVoe, which included photocopies of fanzines, reviews, and some cartoons drawn by DeLonge.<ref name="p38"/> The band members were ecstatic when DeVoe signed on with the band, as he promoted larger bands such as Pennywise, NOFX, and [[The Offspring]].<ref name=p39>Hoppus, 2001. p. 39</ref> The attention also brought forth calls from Rick Bonde, of the Tahoe Agency, a booking agency based out of Lake Tahoe that worked with big punk and ska names such as [[Sublime (band)|Sublime]]. The husband-and-wife team of Rick and Jean Bonde, who owned and operated the company, began arranging shows for the band and minitours that gave Blink their first promotion outside of San Diego.<ref name="p39"/>

Mike Halloran, disc jockey at [[XETRA-FM]] (branded on-air as 91X), made "[[M+M's]]" a regular part of his radio show playlist, which Hoppus cites as the first person to play the band.<ref name="p35"/> When DeLonge first heard their song on the radio while driving in his car, he rolled down his window, "yelling at everyone to turn their damn radios on."<ref name=p36>Hoppus, 2001. p. 36</ref> The single was a local success and Cargo offered the band a small budget  ($10,000) to film a music video. Darren Doane, who had previously worked with [[MxPx]] and [[Pennywise (band)|Pennywise]], directed the clip. "We weren't planning on doing anything with that video except hoping it got on a surf video or something," said Hoppus.<ref name="p36"/> A Cargo Music employee presented the video to [[MTV]], but network executives "threw the tape out" upon seeing guns in the film.<ref name=p38>Hoppus, 2001. p. 38</ref> Meanwhile, the record also drew the attention of an Irish [[techno]] band, also named Blink. Unwilling to engage in a legal battle, the band agreed to change their name.<ref name="p39"/> Cargo gave the band a week, but the trio put off the decision for more than two afterward. Eventually, Cargo called the band, demanding to "change the name or [we'll] change it for you," after which the band decided on a random number, 182.<ref name=name>{{Cite episode |title=Episode 4-4-11 |series=Hoppus on Music|network=Fuse |airdate=April 14, 2011 |season=2}}</ref><ref name="rstruth">{{cite magazine|last=Edwards |first=Gavins |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-half-naked-truth-about-blink-182-20000803 |title=The Half Naked Truth About Blink-182 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=August 3, 2000 |access-date=July 18, 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203033034/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-half-naked-truth-about-blink-182-20000803 |archive-date=February 3, 2013 }}</ref>

The band also received their first profile in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' in December 1995, which praised the album but questioned their authenticity and "punk" label. "I mean, is it the retro rock of England's [[The Exploited|Exploited]], the anarchy of the [[Ramones]] or the political focus of [[Bad Religion]]? Punk has gone off in so many different directions that you can't really classify it anymore," DeLonge said. "People said [[Elvis Costello]] was punk when he first came out."<ref name="lat95">{{cite news|last=Roos |first=John |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-12-21-ca-16336-story.html |title=OC LIVE : POP MUSIC : Punk Evolution: Blink-182 Adds Melody, Humor |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 21, 1995 |access-date=May 25, 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526000530/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-12-21/entertainment/ca-16336_1_pop-music |archive-date=May 26, 2014 }}</ref>