During junior high school I started finding new music. New to my anyway. First was the discovery of the licorice pizza records store next to a movie theater that I would go to. My first 
musical purchase was Ian Hunters “welcome of the club”. Followed by the Byrds “Turn Turn Turn”, The Knack “Get the Knack” and the Runaways “And Now the Runaways”. These four artists set me up perfectly for what was to come next. The great thing about records stores at this time was that the people working there were into music. A few were musicians. Licorice pizza was where I learn about rock music.
I found little likable music on the radio during 1978 – 1979. I found myself getting deeply into the Byrds and 60’s garage rock. When I get asked the Beatle or Stones question, I answer the Byrds.
The summer between freshmen and sofamore years in high school marked a big change. A friend and I discovered a punk rock shop in Pomona called Toxic Shock. This was during the Toxic Shock tampon scare, so it was always uncompartable to ask our mothers to drive to Toxic. Toxic was a new experience, there was something raw about the place. I remember a poster of Debby Harry and Devo but there were was quite a bit of new punk rock 7 inches. This was also where we found out about locate punk band shows at the PAL boxing ring, Arts Building and the Little theater in Ontario.