Song · The Wolfgang Press
“Mama Told Me Not To Come” by The Wolfgang Press
From the album Queer (1991)
“Mama Told Me Not To Come” by The Wolfgang Press appears on 1 radio countdown from 1 station in 2002. It was first released in 1991 on the album Queer. Its best result is #1066 on the Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #5,433 alternative song of all time.
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The Wolfgang Press went digging in Randy Newman's songbook for "Mama Told Me Not to Come" and brought it home to Queer, their 1991 album. Newman has said the song grew out of his own wry, lighthearted view of the late-'60s music scene in Los Angeles, and its narrator is a green newcomer who wanders into a wild party and finds himself surrounded by pot, whiskey and deafening music.
There's more hiding under the surface than the tune lets on. One music professor reads a couple of the lyric's innocent-sounding props as coded drug references, and Newman biographer Kevin Courrier points out the sexual double meaning packed into the title, which doubles as the chorus. The melody, by that same professor's account, is spare and close to speech.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1066 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
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