"Weird Al" Yankovic's Debut Album

"Weird Al" Yankovic's debut album (also called ' "Weird Al" Yankovic') stands out from the rest of his body of work for a number of different reasons.  This being his debut, Al didn't have as much creative control as he would later develop.  Based on the strength of the single 'My Bologna,' the record company insisted that the accordion be featured on each and every song.  And while later albums will generally feature a pattern of parody/ original/ parody/ original, this one closes with 3 Al- original songs in a row.  This 1983 album also marks the start of Al's collaboration with producer Rick Derringer who, as a member of The McCoys, recorded "Hang On Sloopy."  Go Bucks!  Anyway, onto the music.

"Ricky" is the lead track, and a parody of Tony Basil's "Mickey" from the perspective of Lucy and Ricky Ricardo of "I Love Lucy."  Voice actress Tress MacNeille plays the part of Lucy both in the song and the video, which was in heavy rotation during the infancy of MTV.  It's also the first of Al's TV-themed songs, a subject he'll return to multiple times over his career.

"Gotta Boogie" is one of my favorites.  It's catchy, perfectly capturing a late-70s disco sound.  If you've never heard it before, go take a listen here. You're back? Great. Then you can hear why my 6th grade self would think that this is the height of musical humor.

"I Love Rocky Road" is the first of Al's two food songs on the release, and a parody of Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll."  Al's accordion, ever present on this album, particularly nails the bridge solo of the original.  This is the first of Al's videos I remember seeing, laughing my head off at the idea of someone playing an accordion in a rock band while the gathered fans pump fists clenching ice cream cones in time to the music.

"Buckingham Blues" was originally intended to be a parody of John Mellencamp's "Jack and Diane," but was rewritten as more of a blues standard.  Fun fact: Al did eventually get to parody "Jack and Diane" as "The Ballad of Homer and Marge" on the Simpson's episode "Three Gays of the Condo," where Al and his band were Simpsonized.

"Happy Birthday" begins an Al tradition of contrasting joyful occasions with the terrible stuff that can happen in our world.  In our more 'enlightened' culture, I'm not sure Al could get away with a line like "There's an Arab on the corner buying everything in sight" as a symbol of society's road to ruin.  For me, it's a yearly tradition that I'm sure my kids will treasure forever and ever and ever. This Al original is heavily influenced by Tonio K's 'The Funky Western Civilisation.'

"Stop Dragging My Car Around" is a parody of Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks' "Stop Dragging My Heart Around."  It's better than the original, especially as a club owner remarks "I really like your snaggletooth necklace.  Your pants are groovy, and your hair's OK."  How many times have Tom or Stevie mentioned snaggletooth necklaces in their songs?  I don't know, but I'm guessing zero.  Either that, or my google-fu is weak.

"My Bologna," a parody of "My Sharona" by The Knack is the one that got it started for Al.  After recording a version of the song in a bathroom, Al introduced himself to Doug Fieger, lead singer for The Knack. Fieger liked the song so much he convinced his record label to release it as a single.  The original single was lost for a while; the version heard on the album is a re-recording.  The original later appeared on Al's box set.

"The Check's in the Mail" is one of my two least favorites on this album.  My 6th grade self didn't get most of the jokes on the track, and my now 40-year old self gets them, but doesn't think they're as clever as most of the rest of the humor on this album.

One of my top 5 Al parodies is "Another One Rides The Bus."  This song was recorded live on the Dr. Demento Show.  The percussion heard is Jon 'Bermuda' Schwartz banging on Al's accordion case.  33 years later, Bermuda is still Al's drummer. The line "I haven't been in a crowd like this since I went to see The Who" reflects a younger Al who, today, probably wouldn't use a real-life tragedy that ended in the death of concert goers as comedic fodder.  But I'm just twisted enough that it makes me smile.

(A quick note about Al's band.  The 'word's best cover band' is also the world's most loyal cover band.  Steve Jay (bass) and Jon Schwartz have been with Al since his debut album, and Jim West joined up for the next album a year later.  Ruben Valtierra, on keyboards, is the newbie, and has only been working with Al for 23 years.)

Al original "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead" features Al railing against the new-age culture that sprung up in the late 70s and early 80s.  Al's line 'Don't want no part of that vegetarian scene' later became ironic as Al later chose to give up meat-eating.

"Such a Groovy Guy," another Al original, features a guy who thinks he's God's gift to women questioning the girl who's leaving him.  Again, not one of my favorite Al songs, and a subject he satirizes better in Dare to Be Stupid's "This is the Life."

"Mr. Frump in his Iron Lung" closes the album in morbid fashion.  After discovering that his accordion's air release valve sounds a lot like an iron lung, Al decided to write a song about his 'very best friend.'  The drawn out 'Amen' at the end is one of the top two closing moments of any of Al's releases.

Another song that never made it onto the album, but now exists out there in Internetland, is "It's still Billy Joel to Me," questioning the Piano Man's multiple changes of styles over the years.  It seems a bit mean-spirited in nature, but again, reflects an Al who was still crafting his public persona, and was willing to take a few more chances.

Go out, get weird, and take a listen when you get a chance. I'll bet all of these songs are on YouTube somewhere.  Next up: "In 3-D," as Al becomes 'The Eat It Guy.'