I'd only add The Clash after the Ramones, but it's almost scary how every one of those was in my mind for a second post...
I remember hearing "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" As this kid raised in blues, R&B, Soul, and Funk with dashes of Folk, Classical, World and Standards...
And Punk music just lit my hair on fire.
I didn't want to BE punk, but I liked lots of the music.
Quick story. I shaved my head after 11th grade. I joined the Sea Cadets (until I realized I had to pay for my own uniforms out of my own pocket. They were expensive and I was saving for a very expensive racing/touring bike, a Bob Jackson 753 with 753 fork and full Shimano 600. On my budget, that was like getting an Audi on layaway.) I quit the Sea Cadets, but they kept the hair, lol. I worked at the old Brentwood Theater on Wilshire and 26th in Santa Monica in Santa Monica where we showed art films and had real butter on the popcorn. I paid for everything myself, which is how I ended up with a shaved head and black low top Doc Maarten knock offs walking home up Wilshire Blvd past a club that catered to punk bands called Madame Wongs West. Now, if I had my hair and was all geeked walking by in some nice clothes, I'm certain someone there would have kicked my ass. But, I looked like them except for the tats and I'd just stand outside and dig the music for half hour or maybe longer until I felt like leaving. I walked by enough that the regulars recognized me as someone who worked a ton for crap wages. The fact that I was walking home, unafraid at 1am showed I wasnt a sheltered kid from North SaMo. No one bothered me and I got to hear some really good music.
I later heard that they used to beat up lots of folks walking by the club and it was dangerous. Guess they liked me.
