why punk isnt dead and never has been.

That punk isn't dead would i hope, be obvious to anyone reading this article, something i hope i can take for granted, but sadly its not so for everyone in the world.
Those who only ever hear about PUNK through what they read in the press would get a whole different idea, one that had punk's 'death' pretence kept up by writers of music who you expect would know their musical history, but in fact are either lazy or ignorant (or both).
If punk had really died, stopped, finished in late 78 early 79 like it is inferred, then PUNK'S death would of been nothing short of a musical phenomenon, a never before seen personal choice that happened to many thousands of people in different places and different countries all at the same time, one that has no precedent in the history of music, because music of certain styles have historically only ever died out when it has been suppressed, either by church and/or state, (see the history of Rome and christian song's (or psalms), or Germany during the Nazi period, and Nazi music in post war Germany, or the so-called 'heretical' music of medieval christian movements that didn't toe the papal line for example).
Never has a musical style, its musicians, its listeners and those connected with it abandoned their music so utterly and completely all together, ever.
By writing out the later (and present) punk bands that came to prominence after the 'first wave' bands had petered out from history, the writers/program makers etc, have shown an utter disregard for for the natural way that music progresses and grows, from opera to jazz to punk.
A quick example would be the decline of the poor castrato's in opera (the poor boys who had their knackers cut off and were then forced into a life of singing on the opera stage) when their use started to decline the result was the use of more women who also gained a wider acceptance and prominence for women in opera circles that grew into the opera world of today.
Another example would be 'the blues', if you applied the same attitude to blues music as that of punk then blues would of died 1930 and anyone who came after ROBERT JOHNSON would be an irrelevance, and people like BB KING and the BLUESBREAKERS would be nothing to do with blues, not being R.J'S contemporaries.
The same could be said for jazz, did the music that grew out in many ways from SCOTT JOPLIN and ragtime music mean nothing because it came later? according to the rules set down regarding punk, then it would of been. By that I'm mean that everyone from DUKE ELLINGTON to MILES DAVIS must of been just rolling out the same old stale music that had come a million times before it and was just an irrelevance to be ignored, all fans of jazz know this to be shit, but why apply it to punk?
Even classical music has gone through changes, and so has every other kind of music, yet no other musical style has been written off so completely and declared dead and the musicians ignored the way punk ones have, even the bands of today rarely get a mention if at all when ever there is a TV show or magazine article about punk.
Its as if there is a will to make people think that there is a musical void where punk bands and fans alike have disappeared into not to be seen evermore.
the people who promote this rubbish in books, TV and radio shows, films and magazines (and make money out of it) should feel ashamed of themselves for repeating such a blatant lie, surely those who are/were in the music world must know that punk, like many other musical styles didn't just stop dead and float away into the sky like a puff of smoke over the years, even just a casual glance into the history of punk would show you how much influence it has had on many musical styles that have partly or wholly grown out of punk, styles such as goth, hardcore, phychobilly, oi, emo, nu-punk, the list goes on.
Punk has done what every other musical style before and after it has done, it has changed, adapted, fragmented and carried on regardless of what the press and media have said about it and its fans.
It is true that attendance's at punk gigs did drop during the late 1980's and early 1990's but there was always certain gigs that never failed to sell out, THE RAMONES annual shows being one example, and it is also true that when the world was originally declaring punk to be dead, 'big' bands were selling out venues like the lyceum while newer ones and bands that had kept going like THE LURKERS, THE VIBRATORS and CHELSEA (to name a few) were busy filling up venues such as the old marquee, the 100 club and the fulham greyhound, all capable of pulling in a large crowd on a Monday or Tuesday night as easily as a 'half price a pint' disco could on a weekend night.
I Remember when the 'independent' chart was the most truth full chart about at the time in that it reflected musical sales on a national basis instead of just choosing certain shops, for years the charts were topped with bands such as DISCHARGE, CRASS and THE 4-SKINS taking their place up on the top spot with acts that were number one on the 'top of the pop' charts, yet these punk bands who were selling as many records if not more than the likes of BUCKS FIZZ were not even mentioned, yet now that chart has gone and the term 'indie' is slung around anyone's neck who has 'promise' even if they are on E.M.I.
I don't know if it is just laziness or hate of the music or genuine ignorance of music as a whole that has made the music world ignore the trails punk music has taken over the years, after all it is a big job, one that would have to take in politics, fashion, locations, social trends and the musical influences that punk bands themselves have infused into their own music for starters.
To say that punk is dead is to say that music is dead, well music that is not universally popular at the time (such as cheesy euro techno, rap or r'n'b).
Music does change over time as older musicians drop out and newer ones replace them, bringing with them new ideas on how that music should be played, and i have yet to hear of a musical style ever that has just stopped, died and never revived just because people stopped playing and listening to it out of free will and, all at the same time.
Punk is dead? BOLLOCKS, the media's interest in it is the only dead thing about punk.