I had no idea Carol King was still alive. Not only is she alive and well, she has an iTunes celebrity playlist. So does Frank Black, and, in perhaps the most punk rock iTunes celebrity playlist ever, Mr Thompson has selected Burl Ives and only Burl Ives. The Bacon Brothers (Kevin and whatshisface) have one too. I saw Kevin Bacon on the street a couple weeks ago with his guitar. In his celebrity playlist he describes Rancid's "Time Bomb" as "classic punk." Which would be fine, except it's actually a ska song, albeit a hyphenated one, and debates about the construction of canons and the periodization of punk notwithstanding, it came out in like 1995, a good sixteen years after "post-punk," and treads on ground already covered by guitarist Tim "Lint" Armstrong's first band in the late 1980s, which was itself strongly influenced by both the 2-tone ska revival in the UK, the reggae-punk of the Clash (no, seriously, the clash influenced someone. Who'da thunk?) and the US disciples -- e.g., Bad Brains and Fishbone, for two. All of these bands were total genrefuckers. Maybe punk rock's at its best when it's hybridizing and diffusing and infiiltrating (not expropriatng and enclosing.) Which is to say that "classic punk" is a deeply problematic notion. What is "classic punk" anyway? The Stooges? The Ramones? '77? The first three notes of and only the first three notes of "Clash City Rockers?" It's 1:03 AM. Do you know where your univerdsity's endowment is?