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I Was A Punk Before You Were A Punk by Chris Walter

“Ronald Reagan had recently been elected president, and now the youth of North America had something to be genuinely afraid of. Ironically, if it hadn’t been for Ronnie, Hardcore might never have exploded the way it did. I had never concerned myself much with politics, especially American politics, but there was something about the doddering old fool that really scared the fuck out of me. And I wasn’t alone. Punks the world over were afraid Bonzo would mistake real life for the movies and set the nuclear birds in flight at the first wrong message from his Ouji board.”

The year is 1981, and the dangerous phenomenon known as Hardcore has arrived in Winnipeg. The new bands, with names like the Unwanted, Personality Crisis, and the Stretch Marks, are an aggressive and rowdy bunch who vow to smash things up at all costs. What could possibly be better than punk rock? Why, speeded-up punk rock, of course.

Take a beer soaked, nihilistic journey––back to a time when danger drove a Trans Am, and a day with-out a fight or a foot chase was rare indeed. Take a trip back to the day when punk rock was not available at the shopping mall; when a Mohawk and a black leather jacket was a standing invitation to rumble.