1.06.09: New York City

5 Ways That Ron Asheton Touched My Life (among many)

--In 1977 I bought "Raw Power" for my high school girlfriend Michelle. I knew she was into "punk" and when I saw the record over at Rhino Records on Westwood Boulevard (can we talk about ways that store has changed my life? Another blog, another time) I knew it was a good way to score some big points in our budding relationship. Now, I was musically adventurous and my favorite bands at the time were Roxy Music and The Who so I wasn't afraid of volume, anger and dissonance but this was a whole new thing. I heard the opening notes of "Search and Destroy" at her place and it knocked me out, threw me against the wall, felt like a good version of electroshock therapy, wiping out much of what I thought and knew about music and beginning the end of my sportswriting dreams and paving the way for the string of bands I began playing in later that year. Now, I KNOW that Asheton "only" plays bass on this album and I KNOW that you really can't hear the bass but he was still the heart and soul of that band. Oh, Michelle dug the record and later appeared in the LA punk documentary "The Decline of Western Civilzation." We broke up six months...>>>>