"Weird Al" Yankovic: In 3-D

While his debut album got him in the public eye, "Weird Al" Yankovic's 'In 3-D' (1984) was the album that made him a household name, especially on the strength of 'Eat It.'  From the first moments, it's obvious that Yankovic has matured in his musical stylings, while still keeping his trademark humor intact.  The relative success of his first album allowed for a greater budget, and Al dropped the idea of having the accordion in every song, using it only when appropriate for the musical style at hands or comedic value.

'Eat It' leads things off.  In an era where the King of Pop could do no wrong, "Eat It" managed to both mock and respect Michael Jackson's ultra-popular track.  Al's video for the song is one of his best.  Gang members fighting over a rubber chicken?  A guitarist playing so fast he explodes?  Fantastic.  Al won the first of his 3 Grammy awards for this song (Best Comedic Recording), and for many years afterwards, some people would refer to him as "The Eat It Guy."

'Midnight Star' is Al's strongest original song on this collection.  In the early 90s, a "Weird Al" fan newsletter appropriately took this song for it's title.  A collection of tabloid stories and headlines set to an upbeat tempo, featuring ideas like the incredible frog boy, and telephone operators soon employing a service to let you talk to the dead.  And, as everyone knows, 'you can use your ESP to learn to play guitar.'

'The Brady Bunch' continues Al's obsession with TV, to the tune of 'The Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats.  The first verse describes the idea that the singer would rather watch a whole host of other shows instead of the eponymous show; the second squeezes most fo the Brady Bunch theme song into the Hats' tune.  Al would later employ this technique with 'Money For Nothing/ Beverly Hillbilies*'

'Gonna Buy Me a Condo,' while not a direct parody of any artist, certainly shows its Bob Marley roots.  The reggae groove contrasting with the singer's desire to assimilate to upper-class white American culture provides most of the humor here.

'I Lost on Jeopardy' is a parody of The Greg Kihn Band's 'Jeopardy,' and takes the lyrics to the expected place of a contestant on Jeopardy.  The last televised iteration of Jeopardy hadn't been aired since 1979.  5 years later, after Al released this song and video, the show came back to television, as has been on ever since.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Also, original Jeopardy announcer Don Pardo lends his voice to tell Al about all the things he didn't win.

'Polkas on 45' is the first of Al's legendary polka medleys.  The idea was so popular that, among Al's other pop recordings, only one subsequent recording does not feature a polka of some sort (Even Worse).  Featured here are...

• "Jocko Homo" by Devo
• "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple
• "Sex (I'm A...)" by Berlin
• "Hey Jude" by The Beatles
• "L.A. Woman" by The Doors
• "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly
• "Hey Joe" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads
• "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner
• "Bubbles in the Wine" by Lawrence Welk
• "Every Breath You Take" by The Police
• "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash
• "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones
• "My Generation" by The Who

 (Props to Wikipedia for supplying that list).  To explain to the uninitiated, Al takes the choruses of a bunch of songs, sets them to a polka beat, and often adds in a few extra sound effects, highlighting how ridiculous certain songs can sound when taken out of context.

'Mr. Popeil' is a B-52s style tribute to Samuel Popiel, the original king of the infomercial. His daughter, Lisa Popeil, is one of the background singers on the song.

'King of Suede,' a parody of the Police's 'King of Pain,' describes the day-to-day doings of a top clothing retailer.  "There's a 2-4-1 sale on our 3 piece suits" is one of my favorite lines.

If I had to pick a least favorite track on 'In 3-D,' it would be 'That Boy Could Dance.'  The rather ordinary rock track backed with a tale of a boy who, otherwise unlikable, can dance really well, just seems like a filler track.

'Theme From Rocky XIII,' a parody of 'Eye of the Tiger' by Survivor, is one of my top 5 Al parodies.  Telling the tale of a washed-up boxer who now runs a deli, Al paints a wonderful character sketch of a man who, though not in his prime, still takes pride in what he does.

The album concludes with an altogether different take on the movies, 'Nature Trail to Hell.'  Al's musical trailer for an upcoming horror film (In 3-D!) come to my mind pretty much every time I see a trailer for some upcoming slasher flick.  Like any good cheesy horror movie, once you think the song's over, it comes back for another surprise, then another.  At 5 minutes 51 seconds, this would remain Al's longest song until 'The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota,' and continues an Al tradition of ending his albums in epic fashion.  Al's use of backmasking here is particularly  brilliant- during the instrumental break, Al mocks those who claimed there were Satanic messages hidden on rock records by recording 'Satan Eats Cheese Whiz.'  This YouTuber has done us all a favor by having it available.

Next up: 'Weird Al' Yankovic dares...to be stupid.

"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.'

Non AL-bum tracks

     For the next 15 or so days, this blog will attempt to unprofessionaly review each of "Weird Al" Yankovic's studio albums, along with his movie, UHF, in celebration of the July 15th release of Al's 14th full-length album, "Mandatory Fun."

     "Weird Al" Yanokvic, according to my exhaustive search (i.e. 30 seconds of Google browsing) has released 5 non-album tracks since he began his recording career.

     "Headline News" was available on two different compilations, "Greatest Hits Volume 2" and "Permanent Record: Al in the Box," and is a parody of the blink-and-you-missed-them Crash Test Dummies "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm." The Dummies created a thoughtful track about the injustices perpetrated on innocent children. Al satirizes the news feed of then-current times, including Michael Fay's Singapore adventures, Tonya Harding's feud with Nancy Kerrigan, and John Wayne Bobbitt's wiener problems. Al not only nails the gravity of the CTDs, but also their lyrical structure. Where the original ending tapers off, Al's version adds more and more ridiculous sound effects to keep people entertained. The video for the song is one of my favorites, and is available here. Keep an eye out for legendary novelty music champion Dr. Demento and musical comedienne Judy Tenuta as Lorena Bobbitt.

     "Polkamon" was recorded for the soundtrack to the second Pokemon animated film, and features Al stringing together names of a bunch of the pocket monsters to a polka beat.  "Polkamon" takes a standard Al format, the polka, and gives it a bit of a twist, as he typically will use the polka beat to mash together choruses to various pop hits in an entertaining way.  The best part of this song, for me, is the breakdown about two thirds of the way through the song. While not my favorite Al song, it is the best thing to ever happen in the history of Pokemon.

     "Spy Hard" was recorded for the movie of the same name, and is performed in the style of a non-specific James Bond theme, complete with orchestra. The song (and Al) were used for the opening credits for the film, and is a great parody of Bond openings, featuring the typical silhouetted women and color-changing backgrounds. A second version of the song can be heard over the end credits, which changes a few lyrics to the past tense. One of Al's most impressive musical moments takes place at the end of the song, where he holds a high note for an especially long time. Al has said that no looping was used to achieve the effect.

     Al's only duet, "I Need a Nap" was recorded for Sandra Boynton's "Dog Train" children's book and CD, and also features Oscar winning actress Kate Winslet. They tell pretty much every toddler's story. "I was happy before, but I'm not anymore, and why there's a change I don't know." By the end, Al and Kate are at odds with one another, as he wants to keep going, and Kate cries 'Make him stop!' This song often comes to mind around 2-3pm, especially if the baby hasn't had her nap yet, either.

Finally, Al released (for free!) a parody of James Blunt's 'You're Beautiful' entitled 'You're Pitiful.'  'Pitiful' was supposed to be the lead parody for 'Straight Outta Lynwood,' and Al had Blunt's permission to do the parody, but then Blunt's record company balked at the release.  Apparently, they thought that an Al parody would pigeonhole Blunt, making him seem a one-hit wonder.  As Al already had Blunt's permission, he released the song for free on his website.  My favorite moment of the parody happens early on, as Al mocks the false start of Blunt's song, where the 'My Life Is Brilliant' line is done once, then 4 bars of instrumental, then done again.

Next up, "Weird Al" Yankovic's debut record, the cleverly titled "Weird Al" Yankovic.