Bob Dylan was and is one of rock n’ roll’s great punk rockers. From being howled at for going electric at Newport to being called “Judas” for turning it up to 11 with The Hawks at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall, Dylan hasn’t really given a rat’s ass about what people think. And that continues to be true right up to the present as Dylan re-sculpts his songs into all kinds of weird and fascinating new shapes. A Dylan concert is never without a shitload of surprises, often brilliant and just as often frustrating.

In this clip from a March 1984 episode of the Letterman show, Dylan, backed by L.A. Chicano punkers the Plugz,  gives his tune “Jokerman” a primitive power pop punch that signaled Dylan’s return to the secular world of rock n’ roll. Again, reborn. But this time Jesus ain’t driving the tour bus.
 

 
More Dylan with the Plugz after the jump…