2000 Great Songs #1375: Hey! Little Child

After the sad dissolution of the legendary Big Star, Alex Chilton largely eschewed that band's brand of chiming power pop in his eccentric, frequently frustrating solo career. One of the few exceptions was "Hey! Little Child," on 1980's otherwise frenetically eclectic Like Flies On Sherbert (which ranged from sloppy 50s doo-wop to sloppy proto-punk to a sloppy cover of the disco hit "Boogie Shoes"). It's a three-chord power pop frenzy over a military march, like some long lost mid-60s b-side from The Who, the thrill of the simple tune balanced by, let's face it, a problematic leering ode to an underage Catholic schoolgirl which was already past its due-date in 1980. But, hey, if you close your eyes and imagine it's being sung by a young boy rather than a grown man, you can just enjoy an innocent little pop song. 

All that said, I greatly prefer Tommy Keene's 1984 cover, which gave a cleaner, jangly power pop sheen to the raggedy original.

Live Chilton:

Alex live with Teenage Fanclub, 1993:

Definitive Tommy Keene version:

Slightly gothed-up cover by These Immortal Souls:

Cover by Vancouvers:

Tommy Keene live:

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