The band formed in 1990 when high school friends Mike and Chad were joined by guitarist Renee, and named themselves the

The band formed in 1990 when high school friends Mike (vocals) and Chad (drums) were joined by guitarist Renee, whom they had met through a musician wanted ad. Their first bassist was a friend of Renee’s named Brendan. The new group named themselves the Blanks after finding their minds blank as to what to name the band. Shortly thereafter, another band informed them that the Blanks name was already taken; to avoid conflict, they added ’77 to their name in reference to punk rock’s canonically accepted year of origin.