For me, it was probably reading about punk rock in the pages of Phonograph 
Record Magazine in 1977.  I was endlessly intrigued by The Ramones, Blondie, The 
Sex Pistols, The Dictators, et al. long before I heard a note of their music. 
 When I heard the Pistols' "God Save The Queen" on the radio in the summer of 
'77 (on an AOR station, WOUR-FM in Utica, NY), it intrigued me further.  When 
I arrived at college that fall, I pestered the jocks at the campus station to 
play as much punk and new wave as possible (alongside other requests I made 
for Kinks, Monkees, Dave Clark 5 and Rubinoos); all this clearly set me apart 
from the then-reigning Southern rock/Grateful Dead soundtrack at my school, but 
I increasingly discovered that I didn't give a damn about what anyone else 
thought about my music.
       Finally broke down and bought the import 45 of "God Save The Queen," 
as well as another single that I'd read about but hadn't yet heard:  "Sheena Is 
A Punk Rocker" by The Ramones.  THAT single lifted my freakin' head off, and 
I was a goner from that point on.
       (The whole mess was reinforced in January of '78, when I saw The 
Flashcubes for the first time, and when the power pop issue of Bomp! magazine came 
out shortly thereafter.  And here I am.)

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