Being a “Punk Rocker” in the 80’s was not easy.

in punk •  6 years ago  (edited)

Particularly with my parents, and growing up in Arizona. My father you see is, well let’s say he is politically progressive but, also born in the 1930’s in Maryland. Ya know he was aware of a really amazing history of the family, and I did have some full on, shaved the sides of my head, mohawks, skull on the back of my leather jacket, tryna be a tough guy at 16 years old kinda shit goin on. Boys will be boys, I guess.

I don’t have a lot left from those times. Old friends of mine from Tucson will instantly recognize me, but at 48 years old, I feel like very few would recognize me. Word to Lenny Mental, who of course looks exactly the same, I ran into him, I look a thousand times different, he knew exactly who I was.

So, first of all, you might look at this old photo of a young man in a city. Well, that young man was me, it was the summer of 1985 and I was (apparently already showing signs of a bad back) sitting down, in “The Bowery” right outside a club called #CBGB and OMFUG.

Now, look ... I coulda played football. I liked to slam dance instead. Same thing, sometimes people get hurt, but you never intend to get anybody injured. There’s even kinda like a rule where if someone falls down, and people don’t help him back up, you are allowed to kick the asses of the guys that did not help him up. You are also not supposed to be wearing spikey bracelets, bad idea to have any earings in, but, in general, basic safety rules. So, in this photo I was about as clean as you would find me back then. Hair isn’t spiked up. Not wearing my leather jacket.

Ready to slam. Hang out with some friends. I didn’t officially move to NYC until 1994. Lived in Downtown Manhattan and Hoboken until 2005.

I was a computer geek too. Very early on the internet. I should write an article about my #IRCwarrior days. Maybe that will be next. Jon Stewart ... the fantastic and funny star I miss so much from the Daily Show. Please come back Jon. Not to the West Village where I am used to,politely nod at you, like a normal person ... you know that West Village, “look away, it’s a celebrity” ... that’s how WE DO in the West Village. Yer just a normal person. It must be like home to Jon, because I remember back in the day, when that neighborhood was home to me and Jon and I both liked the same kinda of music, so to him I am just that dude ... he has forgotten about, he used to see around the neighborhood. To me? Yeah, that’s so cool that kid got really famous. I shoulda tried harder to be his friend.

1985 or 1986 ... not sure.60E44EE3-BB79-41E3-90E1-1032D37EE174.jpeg

Sorry if I didn’t look very #punkrock ... I was there to #slamdance.

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!
Sort Order:  

You have a minor misspelling in the following sentence:

Word to Lenny Mental, who of course looks exactly the same, I ran into him, I look a thousand times diffrent, he knew exactly who I was.
It should be different instead of diffrent.

Fixed.

Also not a time travelling Vitalek Buterin.

Actually not sure.Finger getting pushed in the back at 2 minute ... might be me.

Ginger,,I meant to type “ginger”

Thank you so much for sharing this amazing post with us!

Have you heard about Partiko? It’s a really convenient mobile app for Steem! With Partiko, you can easily see what’s going on in the Steem community, make posts and comments (no beneficiary cut forever!), and always stayed connected with your followers via push notification!

Partiko also rewards you with Partiko Points (3000 Partiko Point bonus when you first use it!), and Partiko Points can be converted into Steem tokens. You can earn Partiko Points easily by making posts and comments using Partiko.

We also noticed that your Steem Power is low. We will be very happy to delegate 15 Steem Power to you once you have made a post using Partiko! With more Steem Power, you can make more posts and comments, and earn more rewards!

If that all sounds interesting, you can:

Thank you so much for reading this message!

Congratulations @cryptoninja1! You received a personal award!

Happy Birthday! - You are on the Steem blockchain for 2 years!

You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking

Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!

Yeah, it was a challenge being punk in the eighties. Adults thought punks were devil worshipers, police thought we all belonged to a big anarchist organization looking to destroy society, and your typical jock/frat boy wanted to beat us up just because we were "weird faggot freaks". You had to seriously be committed to endure all the abuse.