Get Your Freak On Fridays

Greetings,

Another day, still no dollars. Such is life.

On the plus side of the equation, Friday's marks the beginning of the working weekend for this Looch. Work = music, either live, acoustic style sets in comfortable, cozy environs, or as a roving host for a karaoke show here in my town. Times are good; the repertoire continues to expand, as do the crowds of adoring regulars.

There's a band I know (I used to play with 75% of its members, back in "the day") who describe their own adoring fans as "children of the 80's". This distinction really hadn't sunk into my thick skull until long after the fact, perhaps due to some chemical imbalance or another. The eternal truth that these fine gents have discovered, and are readily capitalizing on, is really rather simple: as much as we don't like to admit it, even the music we didn't much like during our formative years has been ingrained in us, in an amazingly persistant way. I mean, come on; who in their right mind will say that they really do enjoy the collected works of Def Leppard? (One age-old joke I know goes thusly: What's got 9 arms, and sucks?)

That being said, I heard the aforementioned band one night, not too long ago, and without a doubt, the most stirring, exciting, and audience-response-inducing selections they played was "Pour Some Sugar on Me", in an acoustic style. Couple guitars, a bass, a tambourine, and a lot of voices: what a wonderful frickin' arrangement!! In search of that particular track one evening, I found out that STP ALSO performs this song, featuring much the same fare, albeit with a decidedly familiar groove (its almost a New York groove, almost!). The eternal truth continues to dawn upon the minds of us children of the 80's... Its not dead yet, nor does it truly suck.

Here's really my first call for feedback, then: what songs would you consider "essential" to the 80's - mid 90's rock/alternative experience? My short list would have to include:

• Mr. Brownstone, G n' R, from Appetite for Destruction; also
• Used to Love Her, from G n' R Lies (the acousitic R side!)
• Jeremy, from Pearl Jam's debut "Ten"
  
• Down Under, by Men at Work
• More than Words, by Extreme
• Hunger Strike, by Temple of the Dog
• We're Not Going to Take It, by Twisted Sister
• Walk LIke an Egyptian, by the Bangles. (Really rather cool when 5 guys do a cover of it)
  
• For you Canadians out there, anything by the Tragically Hip. And I mean, anything.
• Anything from the soundtrack for the movie "Cocktail"... just check it out and see.
  

I really have to admit, sometime in 1992 I turned in my credentials as a full-blown 80's kid, and moved myself back a generation: the Doors, anything crossing the line of 1965-1980 became my true love and forte, and I really haven't looked back too much.

Enough rambling on from me. Anyone has song selections that make the cut for kids of the 80's, feel free to add 'em here. Hell, I'll even learn, record and post the muthas if there's response. ;)