Don't you give me any orders, for people like me there is no order

Wow, has it really been over 25 years since my brain was infected with Punk Rock? Over 25 years since my mother told me to turn that shit down or turn it off? Over 25 years since scaring my elders with bands like the Dead Kennedys, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Damned, Dead Boys, etc? Over 25 years since my mother uttered "I know what you are like when you are on something!" I can almost smell the shoe stores on Melrose where you had to travel to buy Dr. Martens or the stench of Vinyl Fetish record shop. The smell of clove cigarettes are as nostalgic to me as a Gigantor lunch box. For any of you whippersnappers, punk accessories and music weren't available at the mall back then. There was no Hot Topic or neatly packaged punk rock one-stop. Possibly even more unbelievable to you was that punk rock wasn't cool, hip, or sexy. Unlike the "punk" of today (Blink/Green Day/etc) the bands never made any money regardless of their legendary status over 25 years later. Jocks, jarheads, and to a degree Stoners affectionately called punks "fags", "weirdos" or "freaks". It was especially charming stuff coming from guys with sweaters wrapped over their shoulders. Apparently Journey sounded much better in their BMW's tape deck than Black Flag.

The mid to late 70's where the scene was born (The UK and on the East Coast of the US) are captured nicely in Don Letts' "Punk: Attitude". I won't bother you with a history lesson of punk rock. I could list a family tree of the essential players and their impact throughout the 80s and into Nirvana's reign, but if you are interested spend an hour and a half with this documentary. It's well worth the purchase, rental or NetFlix queue. More importantly to me this movie reinforced a question I've been asking for the last 5 years. "Where in the fuck is the punk rock attitude?"

Punk rock was not born without reason. Without spelling out a history lesson it's safe to argue that there has never been a better time than the present for a little punk rock spirit. It doesn't even need to be musical (but it would help). My wife is a high school English teacher and it shocks me to hear the attitudes of kids today. Most of these kids are robots for the Fox News/White House propaganda machine. Where are Elvis' hips? Jerry Lee Lewis' dry humping on a piano? Lenny Bruce's wit? Johnny Rotten's middle finger? Jello Biafra's Mayoral run? I see little or nothing today. I'm not talking about TPing the neighbors house, date rape, taking X, wearing black eye-liner, shoegazing, getting shitty grades, tagging and just being an asshole youth. I'm talking about questioning authority and thinking for yourself. Has Paris Hilton fucked up our youth to this extreme? Lyrically Green Day's "American Idiot" was a pretty good start but it was far from any kind of movement.

Let's face it, the heavy lifting of societal change has to come from our youth. I'm 39 years old trying to earn a living and make ends meet. I can't run around with my middle finger in the air anymore. I do what I can to impose...I mean express my views but I (we) could use a little help from the kids. Lastly, to all you thumpers out there I'd like to quote a line from one of your favorite books that is often ignored, "the meek shall inherit the earth". Look it up.

Where have you gone Jello Biafra, a nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.