Many years ago when I was doing college radio I remember having conversation with a good friend about punk rock. We agreed that punk rock was great because it never really changed. There are different styles and you can always slip in some ska, but overall, punk rock is punk rock. Thematically, politically and stylistically you pretty much knew what to expect from, say, a punk rock show.

And then something really awful happened. First you had the crossover acts like Green Day. They were, at one point, of of the all time great 90s era punk bands. And when they grew up and started branching out I couldn’t have been happier. But then Disney got involved. They started pushing these pseudo punk bands through their various outlets – movie soundtracks, TV shows, Disney radio, etc. And it wasn’t just Disney, but they are an easy target for pointing fingers.

I say pseudo punk because they had the three chord energy all right, but there were two big problems with most of these acts.. First, the singers did this whining little kid voice thing that was really irritating. Second, they sang sappy love songs and lamented third period math. WTF? Joe Strummer must be rolling over in his grave.

I see these kids with their iPods cranked to Bowling for Soup or Good Charlotte and I can’t help but wonder where we all went wrong. The entertainment industry screws everything up. Even punk.

But there is hope. You can make a difference. Go out there and find some of the great punk rock records and go to school…old school. Yeah, there’s the Ramones and the Sex Pistols and The Clash, but check out Black Train Jack or Face to Face, The Descendants and All, NOFX and The Mr. T Experience, Elastica and Magnapop. Seriously, you won’t be disappointed.