In 1986, the Pursuit of Happiness had a minor hit in its home country of Canada with "I'm an Adult Now.". A couple of years later, the song was re-recorded and appeared on their debut album, the Todd Rundgren-produced 'Love Junk.' "I'm an Adult Now" beacame part of the regular rotation on MTV's '120 Minutes,' and it peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. Alternative Airplay chart. I was never quite sold on the song. It felt like a novelty or an anthem wannabe, and the tune has aged badly. On the other hand, another single from the album, "She's So Young," was a beauty with a timeless melody.
She's So Young
Speaking of Rundgren, his name has popped up on a couple of my favorite blogs in the last week,
here and
here. Rundgren's Utopia was the first band I ever saw live. Talk about the time of my life! It was the last day of middle school. Class got out early, and I swam all afternoon with my friends without a care in the world. We listened to a tape of 'Oblivion' on a boom box and talked about girls and music. This was back among the corn fields of Illinois, and we didin't get the likes of Rundgren (or anyone else, really) in our rural part of the state. Even today, I remember the show so vividly. Rundgren wore a beret and shades, and he did the pogo while playing a tiny Casio keyboard held in one of his hands. I wore the latest craze, parachute pants. Shudder.
At the time, I had two Utopia cassettes, 'Oblivion' and 'Adventures in Utopia.' Here's one from the latter, released in 1980. In 2001, a few live performances from the band were released as full albums, including 'Oblivion Tour,' the one I saw in 1983. I'll include a taster from that one too.
Set Me Free
Crybaby (Live)
6 comments:
I'd forgotten all about the Pursuit of Happiness, a band briefly popular in the Melody Maker.
They were but a brief moment over here as well, but I think those in the Great White North might disagree with that assessment.
As Adam, I also forgotten all about TPOH although I have a copy of their superb debut album on CD. This song wants me to listen to their album soon. Thank you for bringing them back to my memory Brian.
You're welcome, Walter. Interests me to know a bloke from Germany was into these guys back in the day. Perhaps they made a bigger mark than I remember. Take care.
I've been saving Rundgren for my dotage. I'm going in...
More gems. I keep meaning to dig deeper into Rundgren's back catalogue, beyond the obvious stuff.
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