Weekend Listomania (Special Where's My Walker, Damnit? Audio/Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental pants consultant princess Fah Lo Suee and I will be off to beautiful downtown Fort Thomas, Kentucky and the home of Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Senile Hypocrite), where we'll be objecting to the odious little reactionary just on general principles.

That being the case, further posting by moi will have to be sporadic for a day or two.

In the meantime, then, here's a hopefully fun little project for us all:

Best or Worst Post-Elvis Pop/Rock Song/Record About Growing Up And Its Attendant Issues!!!

No arbitrary rules at all for this one, and if I've done something similar in the past I crave your forgiveness.

In any case, my totally top of my head Top Eight is:

8. The Pussycat Dolls -- When I Grow Up



Say what you will about this piece of crap, but it's actually so bad it makes me kind of appreciate Lady Gaga.

7. Gary Puckett and the Union Gap -- Young Girl



I don't know what's creepier -- the nudge-wink sleaze the song is selling or Puckett's sub-Michael McDonald baritone.

6. Mad "Twists" Rock 'n' Roll -- When My Pimples Turned to Dimples





From 1962, the ultimate Clearasil classic, and I don't care that it's a genre parody -- it works taken straight as well. By the way, there are a lot of surprisingly great songs on this album; I've always been particularly fond of "Nose Job."

5. Bobby Vee and the Strangers -- Come Back When You Grow Up



This is actually a surprisingly well-written (and beautifully produced) song. Vee gets unfairly lumped in with all those manufactured early 60s whitebread teen idols, but he actually was one of the better Buddy Holly disciples. A genuine, if minor, rocker is what I'm saying.

4. The Pursuit of Happiness -- I'm an Adult Now




Boy, this one just resonates with me more and more the older I get. It's also, IMHO, Todd Rundgren's finest hour as a producer, as heretical as that opinion may be.

3. Any Trouble -- Growing Up




The Springsteen song, obviously; "I swear I found the keys to the universe/In the engine of an old parked car." I think we all know the feeling, but as much as I love Bruce's various versions of this over the years, I've always felt that Any Trouble owned the tune.

2. The Beach Boys -- When I Grow Up




Now and forever, the most heartbreaking farewell to innocence in rock history. And by heartbreaking, I mostly mean that it makes me want to cry when I think that Mike Love had a hand in crafting anything so beautiful.

And the numero uno Getting of Wisdom song, seriously it's not even a contest and I know I say that all the time but this time it's true, is --

1. The Godfathers -- Birth, School, Work, Death



Thoroughly depressing and yet it totally rocks. Quite an accomplishment, now that I think of it; one of these days, I really should check out the rest of these guys oeuvre.

Alrighty, then -- what would your choices be?

[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania -- a review of the totally awesome DVD of the restored The T.A.M.I Show -- is now up over at Box Office. As always, if you could see your way to going over there and leaving a comment or three, it would help me justify my exorbitant freelance rate to management. I thank you.]