When I look back, I really consider the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter” to be the first punk rock song I ever heard. Obviously, there was no preconception of punk rock the first time “Helter Skelter” crossed my ears…all I knew was that this song was jarring, sort of unpleasant, and
somehow instilled both fear and curiosity. I listened to it over and over. Bonus adolescent points were accrued, as this being the only record I ever owned that was forbidden by the folks: If you grew up in L.A.’s San Fernando Valley under a cloud of Charles-Manson-as-real-life-Boogieman, it was almost guaranteed to be banned. The idea that playing a song could somehow conjure up murderous hippies obviously made those few minutes of bizarre-land McCartney as desirable as all get-out. I loved it.