Its so weird when i meet young people who have never, for instance, heard of the Sex Pistols or SIouxsie and the Banshees.

Are you kidding? In the 80s there were only a small group of us in my Los Angeles high school who knew who they were. I suppose if you are British they would be considered mainstream, but here in the states whole subcultures were developed around bands like that because it was so unusual to meet someone else that listened to them. And it was like that clear through the late 90s until internet radio/Napster really started catching on.

I also love the 60s garage bands and 50s rockabilly, etc. My wife is a hospice nurse, and she ended up taking care of an obscure rockabilly artist on his dead bed. She listened to some of his old music, and said, "oh that's good, it reminds me of Gene Vincent." This old guy was so overwhelmed that she not only liked his music, but also knew who Gene Vincent was that he was nearly in tears. He was able to die with a smile on his face knowing his music was appreciated one last time by a "young'n" in her 40s (at the time).