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I'm an Adult Now

{{About|the song by the The Pursuit of Happiness|the episode of the television show The Listener|I'm an Adult Now (The Listener)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}

{{Infobox song

| name = I'm an Adult Now

| cover = The Pursuit of Happiness I'm An Adult Now.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = The Pursuit of Happiness

| album = Love Junk

| released = 1986 (original version)
1988 (rerecorded version)

| format =

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Alternative rock

| length = 4:21 (original version)
4:30 (rerecorded version)

| label = Chrysalis{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=276}}

| writer = Moe Berg

| producer = Todd Rundgren{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=277}}

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

"I'm an Adult Now" is a song by Canadian band The Pursuit of Happiness (TPOH). It was written in 1985, produced independently,{{sfn|Quill|1988|p=D10}} and first released in 1986 as a 12-inch single.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} Later that year, the band released a self-produced music video.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=276}} As a result of the video viewership, all copies of the 12-inch single the band had pressed sold out.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} The song was nominated for "Single of the Year" at the 1987 CASBY Awards.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-RPM-IDX/IDX/80s/RPM-1987-05-02-OCR-Page-0003.pdf|title=CASBY Music Awards nominees are named|magazine=RPM|accessdate=January 26, 2024}} The band became an "independent success story" because of the song and video, and owing to this popularity was signed by Chrysalis Records in 1988.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=276}} In 1988, a rerecorded version of the song was released.

The record label managers asked lead singer and songwriter Moe Berg for a list of "dream producers" for the band's forthcoming album, and he asked for Todd Rundgren.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=276}} Berg was "shell-shocked" when Rundgren called him while the band was performing a soundcheck before a show in Winnipeg, telling Berg that he would be producing the band's album.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=277}} Rundgren flew to Toronto to see the band perform in concert at the Diamond Club.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} After a Canada Day concert, the band drove from Toronto to the Utopia Sound Studios in Lake Hill, New York, where they set up for recording the next day.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=277}} A preview concert was held at Lee's Palace on September 23 1988,{{sfn|Quill|1988|p=D10}} and the album Love Junk was released on October 26 1988.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=279}} By March 1990 it had been certified a platinum album by Music Canada, exceeding 100,000 units shipped throughout the country.{{sfn|Music Canada}} (Rundgren also produced the band's second album, One Sided Story.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=276}})

In January 1989, the Rundgren-produced remake of the song peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Alternative songs chart.{{sfn|Billboard}} It also peaked at number 22 on the Mainstream Rock chart,{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=279}} on which it was featured for 11 weeks.{{sfn|Whitburn|2002|p=113}}

Music video

Berg was a friend of director Nelu Ghiran, whom he hired in 1986 to produce a low budget music video for the song.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} Berg said that "the video cost [the band] almost nothing, just the cost of film processing".{{sfn|LeBlanc|1995|p=44}} It received immediate airplay on the Canadian music television station Much Music and the music video television show Toronto Rocks.{{sfn|LeBlanc|1995|p=44}}{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} The band released a 12-inch single on its own TPOH label, selling out 1,500 copies because of the greater exposure from airing of the video.{{sfn|LeBlanc|1995|p=44}}

{{sfn|Starr|Waterman|Hodgson|2008|p=309}} The song received airplay on Toronto alternative radio station CFNY and rock station Q107.

This drew the attention of executives at record label WEA Music Canada, which obtained rights to re-press the single for national distribution in 1987.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}}{{sfn|Quill|1988|p=D10}} The remastered single sold "about 10,000 copies".{{sfn|LeBlanc|1995|p=44}} A new video was also recorded.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} The label did not exercise its rights to sign the band to a recording contract.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}}

The US cable television station MTV at first refused to broadcast the music video because of its references to drug and alcohol use and sex, but that decision was later reconsidered and the video was aired.{{sfn|Myers|2010|p=279}}{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} The band later performed live at MTV studios.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}}

The Ghiran video was nominated for the Best Video award for the Juno Awards of 1987.{{sfn|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} It was included as one of "The Most Important 16 Videos in Canadian Pop" by John Martin in Shakin' All Over: The Rock'N'Roll Years in Canada published in 1989.{{sfn|Colombo|2001|p=172}}

Charts

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
scope="col"| Chart (1986)

!Peak
position

scope="row"|Canada

| style="text-align:center;"| 35

scope="col"| Chart (1990)

!Peak
position

{{single chart|Australia|39|artist=The Pursuit of Happiness|song=I'm an Adult Now|rowheader=true|access-date=September 7, 2022}}

Notes

{{reflist|2}}

References

{{refbegin|2}}

  • {{cite book|title=One Thousand Questions about Canada|last=Colombo|first=John Robert|publisher=Dundurn Press|year=2001|isbn=0888822324}}
  • {{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Luck turns for The Pursuit of Happiness|last=LeBlanc|first=Larry|volume=107|issue=29|publisher=Nielsen Business Media|date=22 July 1995|issn=0006-2510}}
  • {{cite book|title=A Wizard, a True Star: Todd Rundgren in the Studio|last=Myers|first=Paul|publisher=Jawbone Press|year=2010|isbn=9781906002336}}
  • {{cite news|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/435776720|title=Rundgren makes Moe's day|last=Quill|first=Greg|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=23 September 1988|access-date=1 January 2014|id={{ProQuest|435776720}} }}
  • {{cite book|title=Rock: A Canadian Perspective|last1=Starr|first1=Larry|last2= Waterman|first2=Christopher|last3=Hodgson|first3=Jay|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2008|isbn=9780195427615}}
  • {{cite book|title=Joel Whitburn's rock tracks|series=Music Reference Series|last=Whitburn|first=Joel|publisher=Record Research|year=2002|isbn=9780898201536}}
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/418900/pursuit-happiness/chart?f=377|title=The Pursuit of Happiness: I'm An Adult Now|publisher=Billboard|access-date=1 January 2014|ref={{harvid|Billboard}} }}
  • {{cite web|url=http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Love%20Junk&ica=False&sa=The%20Pursuit%20of%20Happiness&sl=&smt=0&sat=PLATINUM%20ALBUM%28S%29&ssb=Artist|title=Gold Platinum Database|publisher=Music Canada|access-date=1 January 2014|ref={{harvid|Music Canada}} }}
  • {{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/T/TPOH.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115084808/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/T/TPOH.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=15 January 2013|title=Artist: TPOH (The Pursuit Of Happiness)|publisher= Canoe Inc|access-date=1 January 2014|ref={{harvid|The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia}} }}

{{refend}}

Further reading