Album of the Week 11 - Slayer vs Debbie; Diary of a Mormon Girl

I woke up this morning feeling filled with teenage defiance so some Slayer was in order.  I put on South of Heaven really loud and started to work in the garage.  I got through the first side and most of the second before I started to get self-conscious.  A suburban middle aged guy with a zebra striped car blaring Slayer out of his garage - it just seemed like I was trying too hard.  So I closed the garage door, listened to the album one more time and decided to do a cleansing.

To balance out Slayer I went with the 1978 musical, Debbie; Diary of a Mormon Girl.  Yes, it was awful and derivative.  Lifting bits and pieces from Annie, Jesus Christ Super Star, Send in the Clowns and that type of disco that was played on CHiPs.  But it does share many themes with Slayer.  It's about teenage rebellion, questioning god and listening to it makes a middle aged man in the suburbs self-conscious.

I couldn't find a synopsis of Debbie; Diary of a Mormon Girl but here's what it seemed to be about.

There's Debbie, who's rebelling  and really concerned with "How Can I Know, How Far I Can Go?"  You never really quite figure out what she means.  Is she talking about sex?  or kissing? or just dating? or maybe just feeling like dating?  It's extra confusing because the singers sound like they're 40 but Debbie is supposed to be 16.  You also can't tell if she's professing her love for boys? or her dad? or Jesus? or Boyd K. Packer?  (I don't know who Boyd K. Packer but he's part of Debbie's church and his name just sounds dirty)

There's Solomon, Debbie's imaginary friend who tries to explain to her that she has a conscience (it doesn't seem to work).

There's Joey Greenfield(?).  I think he's a Mormon but he's pretty bad if he is.  He spends the musical trying to seduce Debbie and get in her pants? or kiss her? or go on a date with her?  I'm not really sure -but in the end Debbie disses him.

Then there's Stan Ford (who I thought was Sanford until I read the liner notes).  He's the godless townie who has divorced parents, doesn't believe in anything, wishes someone would care about him and wears an earring (which is pretty hip for 1978).  He also drinks soda pop.  He's bad - but in the end he falls for Debbie converts to Mormonism and gives up his earring.

There's also, Dad, friends at school and a really good song about popularity.  In the end it just wasn't weird enough to be enjoyable but I might have to give it another listen.  I'm guessing it would make things just more confusing.