The story is pretty simple. He just sent in his recordings to the show, Dr. Demento put it on, and people loved it. It went to number one on his charts, and then, like I said above, the guy from The Knack actually loved it, and he helped him get a single put it out for it. A song you probably don't know would be the B Side on the original single, which was a recording from when he was 17 years old.
File Under: Original Song, Vaudeville Genre Parody
Music Video: No
Best lyric: "Well we're working on the problem, we'll get back to you soon
But don't try to call me I'll be in a meeting every afternoon
For a year maybe"
A harmless little song with a good instrumental and lyrics about a sleazy businessman. Not much else to write about this one, so I'll go ahead and tack another one on to this post.
File Under: Hit Song Parody of "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen
Music Video: Kind Of
Best Lyric: There's a suitcase poking me in the ribs/ There's an elbow in my ear/ There's a smelly old bum standing next to me/ Hasn't showered in a year
Now, we get to the best parody song on the album; the one that Al chose to play on the Tomorrow Show in 1981. I think it's still easily one of the funniest and best Al songs on any of his records, and his barebones performance on TV makes it even better.
Best lyric: I don't need a course in self-awareness/ To find out who I am
On the best original song on the album, Al goes in hard on the New Age 80s hippie with a punky (Well, as punk as you can be with an accordion) song that's all about carpe diem. It's fast paced, funny, and thought-provoking.
Best lyric: Baby, are you in the mood/ For a little romance?/ Well, for starters, I can pour/ Some chocolate pudding down your pants
This is the first of many creeps Al has made a song about. He has a knack for making songs about guys who have no idea why they are so offputting. It's his most Zappaesque quality; creating love songs that aren't really love songs. We'll be coming back to this kind of song time and time again throughout Al's discography.
In what is probably the most dark song on the album, Al uses the air valve on his accordion to imitate what a man in an iron lung sounds like. Pretty straightforward, but it's a creative way to use a unique property of his instrument to make a song.
People who have never listened to this album in full may find it strange that there's actually more original songs than parodies on his first album. I think that shows his actual songwriting ability was always there it just takes him awhile to really get a hang of things. Still, there are some deep tracks on here that are worth a listen, and, if nothing else, it's a good time capsule of the 80s.
The story is pretty simple. He just sent in his recordings to the show, Dr. Demento put it on, and people loved it. It went to number one on his charts, and then, like I said above, the guy from The Knack actually loved it, and he helped him get a single put it out for it. A song you probably don't know would be the B Side on the original single, which was a recording from when he was 17 years old.
Cool. Thanks for tying it together like the dude's rug.
Best Part in Video: Either Al's mimicking of MJ's dance moves, or when the guitar player blows up.
Al starts off his second album with a bang; one of his most memorable hits, and a send up of the biggest pop star in the world. What this song lacks in outward lyrical comedy, it more than makes up for in pure showmanship. To even be close to Jackson's vocals on the song is a great feat in itself, but when you add in the commitment to make a shot for shot remake of the music video and even use some of the same dancers, that shows dedication to your craft of farcical song-making. Jackson was the biggest pop star possibly in the history of mankind, and he was very much at his height when this was released. The song peaked at #12 for Al (Although it made #1 in Australia?) and it even won him a Grammy award. It certainly cemented his presence on MTV as well, because the video really makes the whole presentation. HOWEVER, I think there are Al parodies that deserve a little more praise.
Song Rating: B+
Music Video Rating: A-
PS: The Japanese cover art for the single is incredible. (If a little unintentionally racist )
....The song peaked at #12 for Al (Although it made #1 in Australia?) and it even won him a Grammy award. It certainly cemented his presence on MTV as well, because the video really makes the whole presentation. HOWEVER, I think there are Al parodies that deserve a little more praise.
Song Rating: B+
Music Video Rating: A-
PS: The Japanese cover art for the single is incredible. (If a little unintentionally racist )
Australia has a long history of loving novelty songs enough for them to top the charts. I could provide heaps of examples. Asshole by Dennis Leary reached #2, and even topped the triple j hottest 100 (an annual listener voted poll) that year, beating Creep by Radiohead which came in second. I remember hearing Eat It here in Australia on the radio, tv etc way more than Beat It, which only reached #2 here. (Although I don't trust my dodgy memory).
Thanks for the insight Purplepash! That's certainly an interesting tidbit of information.
"Midnight Star"
From the album "Weird Al" In 3-D
File Under: Original Song, Social Critique
Music Video: No
Best lyric: "And the incredible frog boy is on the loose again"
I'll let Al explain this one himself. Who hasn't gazed incredulously at an insane National Enquirer headline in the supermarket aisle?
Initially I thought that should be the leadoff single from the 3-D album. Then I regained my senses and ‘Eat It’ was put out instead. A lot of the headlines in the song are actual tabloid headlines; only a few were fabricated. For a couple of years I’d had a Weekly World News article about the Incredible Frog Boy taped on my wall. Once I got the idea for the song I spent a few weeks collecting old tabloids and writing down headlines. After I come up with a concept for a song, I always spend a week or two jotting down ideas. I like to get pages and pages of notes before I actually start writing the lyrics.
Musically, it's kind of an 80s Power Pop thing that sounds pretty good.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
)
