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How Punk Became Punk: Watch This Documentary

Author adam12
(Photo by Angela Deane-Drummond/Getty Images)

How Punk Became Punk starts way back in 1964 and takes you on a rock journey all the way through the late ’70s.

 

If you listen to my show on the regular, you know I’m a big fan of punk rock music. In fact, I can think of a recent Monday when I was feeling a bit blah after having a killer weekend. I needed a kick in the seat of the pants, so I put together this short, three-song set: Ramones “Blitzkrieg Bop” into Green Day “When I Come Around” into The Clash “Should I Stay Or Should I Go.” It did the trick.

 

Speaking of the Ramones, one of the greatest shows I’ve ever attended was their last-ever Boston show. It was Valentine’s Day, 1996, and I had to cop a fake ID to get in. I tell the whole story here. And on the Green Day tip, I finally got to catch them live at Fenway park in the summer of ’21. I brought my youngest and it was an all-timer of a gig. You can read about that here.

 

I could go on and on about the bands from the Boston scene, too. I played plenty of them during my college radio days at Northeastern’s WRBB and when I was starting my radio career at WFNX. Hell, I even got Dropkick Murphys, Darkbuster, and Street Dogs on the air at WBCN when I was there. But enough about my history. Let’s get into some real rock history.

 

How Punk Became Punk: Watch This Documentary

YouTube channel Trash Theory posted this doc back in 2022, but it’s timeless. It digs into protopunk and talks about how musical movements like the British Invasion and the U.S. garage rock scene gave birth to the bands that would set the stage for the bands we know and love today. Check it out.

Adam 12's Top 12 Dropkick Murphys Songs, For St. Patrick's Day

Not the Top 12 Dropkick Murphys songs, but my Top 12 Dropkick Murphys songs. Happy St. Patrick’s Day, you punks.

 

I have a special connection to the band. They formed in Boston in 1996; I started my radio career in Boston in 1996. I even played one of their early singles on my college radio show at WRBB. Obviously, I’ll share it on my Top 12 below. Shout out to my fellow WRBB DJs Hal and Punk Rock Steve for wising me up to the Murphys. Proud punks all around.

 

I became a full-fledged, on-the-payroll, part-time DJ at the late WFNX in 1998. That’s the same year the Dropkick Murphys released their debut full-length on Lars Frederiksen’s Hellcat Records. I’d sneak “Get Up” from Do Or Die onto my show when I hosted the overnight shift. I would literally speed through my talk breaks as fast as I could just to have two minutes left at the end of the hour to play it.

 

In the early ’00s, I introduced radio listeners in Albuquerque and Salt Lake City to the Dropkicks via Sing Loud, Sing Proud. I worked as a DJ in both of those cities, programming a Sunday night new music show called Burning Sensations. The Southwest didn’t know what hit ’em. And when I came back home to Boston, I was the DJ who debuted “Tessie” on WBCN during the magical 2004 Red Sox season.

 

Adam 12’s Top 12 Dropkick Murphys Songs, For St. Patrick’s Day

So yeah, the parallel is kind of cool. I’m proud to say I’ve championed the band since they became a band over a quarter of a century ago. And, in doing so, I’ve made them part of the soundtrack of my life. If you’ve listened to me on the radio, they’ve become the soundtrack to your life, too. So let’s get into my Top 12. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

  • Barroom Hero

    If memory serves, the first time I heard or played Dropkick Murphys was from this split 7″ with the Ducky Boys on WRBB in 1996.

  • Get Up

    This is the song I used to sneak onto the playlist at WFNX. Maybe my all-time fave Dropkicks song.

  • Pipebomb on Lansdowne

    An all-timer of a song title and a fan favorite.

  • The Wild Rover

    One of DKM’s best takes on a traditional Irish tune. I would play this for my son and sing along when he was a little fella and he would laugh and laugh and laugh.

  • The Fields of Athenry

    Another Irish standard the lads just crush.

  • The Auld Triangle

    Are you picking up on the theme here? I love when DKM embrace their punk roots, but I’m always here for when they embrace their Celtic roots.

  • The Burden (Live on WBCN)

    Live on my radio show! I produced this one, baby!

  • Echoes on "A" Street

    This one’s for Pixie.

  • Sunday Hardcore Matinee

    If you’re old enough to have been at those old school shows, you love this one, too.

  • Rose Tattoo

    See? The Murphys craft a fine ballad, too.

  • Blood

    “Trouble underground in Kenmore Square…”

  • Turn Up That Dial

    Dropkick Murphys love when I play The Clash on the radio, too.

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