Blame it on the music. Punk has been fueling my desire to burn shit down and question just for the sake of questioning for as long as I can remember. I was 12ish (the fall of 1987) when a friend of mine handed me a cassette tape- The Dead Kennedys "In God We Trust Inc" on side A and The Misfits "Walk Among Us" on side B (I was to learn later that I only had half of Walk Among Us). Punk wasn't the only music I was listening to at the time but it certainly flipped a switch in my brain like no other music had before. If I have ever had anything close to a religion, it's been punk music.
This is what hard core punk looked like when I was a kid. No tattoos (I have plenty now) no fancy clothes, no mohawks, just something to say and shitty instruments. I miss this level of sincerity, the commitment to the message. It's still out there, but you have to weed through the fashion to find it now. Religious Vomit is one of my all times favorites. The Dee-Kay's in their prime had a message that still resonates to the core of some of the current sociopolitical movements. Here's a few of my favorites that still ring as true today as the day they where released.
Bad religion, You Are The Government from the Album Suffer released in 1988.
T.S.O.L., Abolish Government/Silent Majority from the T.S.O.L. E.P. released in 1981
Black Flag, Rise Above from the Album Damaged released 1981
Agent Orange, America from the Blood Stains E.P. released in 1980
Most of these songs are more then 25 years old, and most of them still carry the feeling I would like to convey to my kids. The feeling that action must be taken, that the time for politeness is done. Shit has got to change and we have to get with it! My wife and I still go to shows, but the perspective has changed. It's more about how I can make a positive change in my immediate surroundings, how do I make my street, my neighborhood, my city better. Changing the world is for the youth. Giving them the tools to do it, now that's right up my alley! When I was my daughters age, we read fanzines and went to shows to share ideas with like minded kids, it's way different nowadays! The funny thing is the way they share ideas and information is vastly superior to the way I did it 25 years ago. They get world perspective, 24/7 at their finger tips. They get the raw data and process it themselves. They are so much better geared to fight the revolution that is clearly on the horizon (and by fight, I'm more than certain that they will figure a way to do it with less bloodshed then ever before.) These were my songs, the seeds that grew into the ideals and views I still hold dear to this very day. Enjoy.
Oh there were still lots of mohawks and other quasi-theatrical attire in 80's. Watch UK DK or the Decline of Western Civilization (although to be fair that one was filmed in '79 and '80). I feel like politics didn't really hit the punk scene with much vigor until the early to mid-80's, and really dominated as far as anarcho punk and crustpunk until the late 80's through mid-90's.
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