Bob Seger once said, “Rock and Roll Never Forgets.” Unfortunately, the youth of today apparently does.

Ever since I saw Joan Jett and the Blackhearts at the Kern County Fair, I’ve gotten flack because most Rip staffers have no clue who they are. I realize I work with individuals a bit younger than myself, but before I take that “Highway to Hell” and start reviewing Raffi concerts or perhaps that purple dinosaur, “I Love You, You Love Me” it’s time for “Iron Man” to get his revenge.

Before you start thinking, “Has he lost his mind?” understand my eyes are wide open. This town needs an enema, and I’m pointing the tube in the direction of local radio stations.

Every Sunday, while growing up in Southern California, I could look forward to “Breakfast with the Beatles,” which was four non-stop hours with the most influential musicians of the 20th Century.

In Kern County, I tune into KRAB and hear some guy screaming, “Disorder, Disorder, Diisssorrrdeerrr!” So I switch to The FOX, the supposed classic rock station and get 40 minutes of ’80s hair bands.

My only reminder of Southern California radio in Kern used to be listening to Mark and Brian, a nationally syndicated morning show. I say used to because now even that has been taken from me.

The children are our future, and what kind of future will it be without some inkling about the past. If the only movies we watch are those that were made after 2000 and the only music we listen to right now has to be on the Billboard 100, then I weep for tomorrow.

Remember, kiddies, you won’t remain young forever. Remember when Britney Spears was on the Mickey Mouse Club? She recently got married and before long she’ll be a mother with stretch marks. A middle-aged MILF trying to make a comeback by performing at the Kern County Fair.

Just as we remember past presidents, we too should remember our pop culture icons, for they provide us with entertainment, not just foreign policies and war.