121: Yes. No. Maybe. I Don't Know

121. "Boss of Me" by They Might Be Giants [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Boss of Me.}

"You're not the boss of me now, and you're not so big."

Ah, Malcolm In the Middle! The first season of Malcolm In the Middle was absolutely hilarious. I'd put that first season up on a list of one of the funniest seasons of television. Ever.

Unfortunately, some shows aren't built for the long haul. By the time the third season rolled around the plots were getting rehashed, Malcolm didn't seem as "smart," and the show got kind of stale. Some shows just burn bright for a season or two, then slowly flame out. (My Name Is Earl would be another great example of this. Also, if my memory serves me, Mork and Mindy had the same problem back in the day.) And, viewed as a whole, the later seasons can diminish the perceived quality of even those first, great seasons.

Can you repeat the question?

This is a fun song. It's great to sing along with. I know it. My wife knows it. My kids know it. We all sing along. (No, my kids have never seen Malcolm In the Middle. I don't want them to get any ideas.)

Also, this song is at a bit of a line of demarcation. Over the course of this list, I've talked frequently about all the "honorable mention" songs that just missed out on making the HondoJoe Top 200. There are a lot of songs worthy for consideration for this list. And, if you took any of the songs that have been on this list so far and replaced them with one of the 200 or so "honorable mention" songs, it probably wouldn't be such a big deal.

But, starting with this song, the rest of the songs on this list are pretty much unimpeachable. They would all make the Top 200 no matter which or how many other songs are nipping at their heels.

Does that seem a little rude towards the previous songs on this list and all those songs that might deserve to be on this list? Maybe. Do I feel a little bad for singling out Bourgeois Tagg's "I Don't Mind At All" as the last song that might or might not deserve to be on this list? Maybe.

But guess what? Life is unfair.

COMING UP NEXT: I'm thinking. I'm thinking.

122: I Said Goodbye to My Own Sanity

122. "I Don't Mind At All" by Bourgeois Tagg {#38; 10/87} [iTunes? No. (That's right, I said, "No.")] {YouTube: I Don't Mind At All. (The video looks like something "Afterglow" or some other Mormon-pop or Christian-rock band would put together. Or maybe John Tesh.) (Ha! I bet you hadn't thought about John Tesh for at least four months before I just mentioned his name. And now, he's all you'll think about for the rest of the day.) (Tesh!)}

This song definitely falls into the "I don't know why I like it so much, but I do" category. It wasn't a bigg hit, only making it to #38 on the charts. (You can't tesh me there were 37 better songs than this in late 1987!) It does have a very good sing-along-ability factor, but other than that I can't really explain my fondness for it.

Maybe I like them because the name of the group brings to mind "bourgeois pig," which makes me think of Karl Marx, the Russian revolution, and the song "Rasputin" by Boney M. Maybe I like them because of the superfluous second "g" in "Tagg." Or maybe it's just because several years ago I said goodbye to my own sanity. And I don't mind at all.

Or maybe it's the Tesh factor.

COMING UP TESH: You say "yes." I say "no."

123: Get Told by the Teacher Not to Daydream

123. "Be Good Johnny" by Men At Work [iTunes? Yes] {YouTube: Be Good Johnny.}

"Are you going to play football this year, Johnny?"

"Oh, you must be going to play cricket this year."

"You sure are a funny kid, Johnny, but I like you."

It's amazing how much Colin Hay looks like a wild-eyed, creepy-ish version of Sting, isn't it?

Hay!

Hay?

"Be Good Johnny" is a nice rocking song with some good guitar work and more than a hint of that Aussie eccentricity that we grew to love so much from watching The Paul Hogan Show. 

You know, I never counted how many times Colin sings "Be good." Maybe that's something to do on a cold, rainy day. (I bet there's a lot of "be goods.")

COMING UP NEXT: Tag, you're it!

124: All Things To Everyone

124. "Run Runaway" by Slade {#20; 4/84} [iTunes? Yes] {YouTube: Run Runaway  (My apologies to the Cars and the J. Geils Band. Slade most definitely has faces for radio, especially lead singer Neville "Noddy" Holder.) (And yes, he looks like a "Neville," doesn't he?)}

Rock singer? Hobbit? Rock singing hobbit?

"See chameleon lying there in the sun. All things to everyone, run runaway."

Usually I like a song that fires right out at you from the start. But, every once in a while a good, nice, long, slow build-up is good. This song is a good example of that. It's a full one minute and eight seconds until the first strains of a vocal "Oh yeah!" are heard, and a full one minute twenty-four seconds until the first actual lyrics come into play. And it's a great build-up of guitars and drums.

(Another great "slow-build" song is "Devil's Gun" by CJ & Company, which, I just found out, is not in my iTunes collection and is not available on iTunes. Facts to which I am left to say, "Fee-Fie-Foe-Fum.")

Of course, I had never heard of Slade before "Run Runaway," even though they were big in Britain for  "Cum On Feel the Noize," which was later stolen here in the states by Quiet Riot. (Here is a video of Slade doing the song: Cum On Feel the Noize: Slade, which is worth watching if for no other reason than the uninterested "dancing" girl in purple at just over the one minute mark.) So, in a way I guess we can thank Quiet Riot for bringing Slade to our attention here in America.

COMING UP NEXT: Heeeeere's Johnny!

125: You Can Have a Good Meal

125. "YMCA" by The Village People {#2; 10/78} [iTunes? Yes] {YouTube: YMCA }

When this song first hit the charts in October of 1978, I was twelve years old. And I didn't know that the Village People were gay. In fact, I'm not sure I even knew what "gay" was.

Is this because I was naive? Probably. Because I was sheltered? Definitely. Because I was a little stupid? Duh. Because I was a Mormon living in southeast Idaho in 1978? Of course.

Sure, I had heard the words "gay" and "faggot" and "queer" used as derogatory terms at school, but I didn't really know what they meant. (I was, on more than one occasion, called a "pussy" by some bullies, and I didn't know what that meant, either.)

As far as I was concerned, the Village People were a bunch of guys in cool costumes who sang fun songs. (I owned at least two of their 8-tracks.)

It's amazing how much gay culture has changed in the last 35 years. Back then, all I knew was that Freddie Mercury was fabulous, Paul Lynde was hilarious, and Billie Jean King was a better tennis player than Bobby Riggs. I didn't know and/or care what their sexual preferences were.

In one sense, it was better back then, because their sexual orientation didn't matter, just their talent did. Of course, that's looking back with rose colored glasses. The main reason the sexual orientation didn't matter is because they had to keep it hidden and not talk about it.

Things are different now. If the Village People were to start up today, everyone would know they were gay, even twelve year old Mormon kids in southeast Idaho.

Maybe we'll get to the point where sexual orientation doesn't matter, just the talent. It shouldn't matter. Talent is talent, whether it be Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Bono, Tom Brady, Angela Lansbury, Taylor Swift, Dave Barry, Arsenio Hall, Connie Chung, Robert Downey, Jr., Spud Webb, Kim Kardashian, Anderson Cooper, or Judge Judy, talent is talent and sexual orientation shouldn't matter. (Wait…Kim Kardashian? Talented?)

People

As far as the song is concerned, this is just a fun, fun song. Just a couple of months ago, at my niece's quinceanera, this was one song that the young kids and us old folks could all agree to get up and dance to. 

My question is, when I form the "C" from the "YMCA," do I do it so the "C" is turned so that I can see it, or so that people looking at me can see it? I really don't know.

COMING UP NEXT: Of lizards and long intros.