Mad Legacy of Punk Rock Weirdos
We are part of a rich tradition and we need support like everyone else
Lately I've been reading all these stories about how Joey Ramone was diagnosed with schizophrenia and OCD and locked up in psych wards when he was a teenager. I always figured there was some wild back story with songs like "Teenage Lobotomy", "Gimmie Gimmie Shock Treatment" and "Psychotherapy" but I never knew any of the details.
Walking down the street in Los Angeles in 2024 and I’ve been thinking about being 14 years old in 1989 and how when I first met the punks in Tompkins Square Park in New York City I immediately felt like I had found my people. I could tell that story in so many different ways, but one of them is that I was always an awkward kid that never felt comfortable in my own skin and I liked being around a bunch of other people who were also kind of weird and awkward. Being weird was a way of fitting into that old punk scene. We reveled in the weirdness.
Back then it was really important to me that I found some people that I actually felt comfortable hanging out with, my whole life I’d gone to school with kids who were overachievers, the children of overachievers, and I’d been pushed to be one of them. I never fit in where I came from. Some of the punk kids were from similar backgrounds as me, but it was all right just to be a fucking weirdo. Finding the punks was the best thing that ever happened to me.
All these years later the reality of my life situation is that I’m still a fucking weirdo, trying to be a grown-up, and sometimes I’m not very good at it. A bunch of my friends are dead, a bunch of them are scattered to the winds of time, but a bunch of them are very much still around and I’m grateful for our shared history.
I used to see Joey Ramone walking down Saint Mark‘s place late at night with his red sunglasses. I never actually talk to him, but just knowing he was around made me really happy. He made me feel like I was part of something larger than myself. This old photo of Joey Ramone with the still cat makes me really happy. He was definitely a fucking weirdo. And I’m part of the legacy of mad punk rock weirdos.
Epilogue: The other night I found out my old band was playing downtown so I went to see them and they invited me up to sing the chorus to a really catchy old song. A song we wrote 30 years ago and everyone is still singing along. If you watch the video you can hear Sturgeon say “Sascha Scatter wrote this bass line!” And it’s true! In another life! I’m glad someone remembers! Now I’m just a dad of small children with a therapy practice. If you know anyone who wants an old punk rocker therapist please send them my way cause I have a few openings…
Great piece that deeply resonated with me. I miss so many people. Living on the edge of society has its consequences, and sometimes the consequence can be death, but in a way it was all worth it for the incredible experiences I shared with the other freaks… whether on stage or at shows or at private parties. I feel like my life has been incredibly enriching. There isn’t a dead friend I have who didn’t influence me whose wisdom I don’t still carry. Punk is so much more than a musical genre.