If You Liked School, You're Gonnnnna Lovvvvve

I Saw The Ramones, Early On At A Country-rock Palace In Denver. They Were Opening For Some Record-company Band, So The Local Music Establishment, And I Emphasize The Word "establishment," Was There In Force, And The Handful Of Us Who Knew The Ramones Were Up In Front. And Half The Fun Was, You Know, Not Only Were The Ramones The Most Powerful Band I Had Ever Seen At That Point, But They Made It Look So Simple - That Anyone Could Do It, Hell, Even I Could Do It. This Is What I Should Be Doing.

No Matter What I Do, My Songs Come Out In A Certain Style, And If That Sounds Like Dead Kennedys, Then There's Probably A Reason For It. Don't Forget, I Wrote Most Of Those Songs, Music And Lyrics.

I Got Out Of That Immediately Was That Now, All Of A Sudden, Rock Music Had Become A Spectator Sport, That Corporate Labels And Their Bands Were The New Establishment, And Punk Was There To Fight Them The Way The Activist Hippies Must Have Fought What The Establishment Must Have Been Ten Years Before. And It Was Interesting To See The Reactions In Different Parts Of The Country.

I'm Appalled At How Many People My Age, Or Even Five Or Ten Years Younger, Have No Tangible Memories Of Important History That Happened When We Were Growing Up.

Don't Hate The Media, Become The Media.