Weekend Listomania (Special Les Syllables de Sinatra Video Edition)

Well, it's Friday, and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental danse de recouvrement consultant Fah Lo Suee and I will be off to....well, I'm not at liberty to say, but it involves Sen. Joe Lieberman (Ferengi-Conn.), several Great Danes, the chairman and board of Aetna Insurance, Vanessa del Rio and an IMAX film crew.

So posting by moi will necessarily be sporadic for a day or two.

But in the meantime, here's a hopefully fun little project for us all:

Best or Worst Post-Elvis Pop/Rock Song or Album with the Words "Do" or "Don't" in the Title!!!

No arbitrary rules of any kind, except it's got to be, uh, the words "do" or "don't." Not "does." And not "doesn't." Sorry -- I realize that disqualifies a bunch of good songs, but that way lies anarchy.

And my totally top of my head Top Eight is:

8. The Police -- De Do Do Do De Da Da Da



Hey, what can I tell you -- I just don't think that Sting is the devil. Sorry.

7. Liquorice John Death -- Everything I Do is Wrong




Yup, that's Procol Harum in 1970; producer Chris Thomas got them drunk and then took them into the studio one evening to cut an informal bunch of the rock and r&b songs they had played in sleazy early 60s dives when they were billed as The Paramounts. The droll song itself is by Charlie Rich, from his Sun Records rockabilly period, BTW.

6. Marshall Crenshaw -- What Do You Dream Of?




An overlooked pop gem from an equally overlooked gem of a 90s album. I defy you not to sing along with the chorus.

5. Dionne Warwick -- Don't Make Me Over



Along with "You Don't Own Me," I suspect this is the way every teenage girl in the 60s really wanted to talk to her boyfriend. And probably should have. In any case, yet another brilliant Bacharach/David song.

4. The Animals -- Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood




A Nina Simone cover and, dare I say it, an improvement on the genius original. I actually do a pretty decent solo piano and vocal version of this, although I'd have to have a couple of drinks in me before I'd dare to do it for anybody.

3. The Rolling Stones -- Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)




Goats Heads Soup is pretty weak beer compared to the three Stones albums that preceded it, but this track from it holds up pretty well, I think, and I bet some smart modern band could get a hit out of a remake. Send the royalties to me care of our PayPal account. And I don't want to hear any crap about the extra "o"'s.

2. The Killers -- Don't Shoot Me Santa



As I've said for the last few weeks, I think these guys are basically mediocre, but this way I get to post something recorded in this century, which I think is a good idea. Plus, it does seem there isn't a Listomania theme so obscure that we can't find one of their songs to exemplify it. Hey -- better them than Billy Corgan's pretentious cueball noggin again, right?

And the numero uno doobie doobie do(o) song of them all, it's blatantly fricking obvious, has got to be...

1. The Move -- Do Ya




The original, of course, and none of that ELO shit. Seriously, I'm glad Jeff Lynne ultimately had a hit with this, but it's criminal that the Move didn't get it first.

Alrighty then -- what would your choices be?

[Shameless Blogwhore: My parallel Cinema Listomania -- theme: next disreputable genre film Quentin Tarantino should remake -- is now up over at Box Office. As always, it will really help me out with management if you could go over there and leave a comment, snarky or otherwise. Thanks!]