Classic or Dud: Weird Al Yankovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdBF6h7oH5I
maura alert

"Cavity Search" is amazing. the mix itself is a little rough (it sounds like a demo, his vocals are loud, the bg very canned) but its still pretty rad. the lyrics are great. this is a very industrial take on the U2 original from the Batman Forever soundtrack. "Numb me/drill me" is very NIN. so is the easy listening ending w industrial drill sounds.

earlier i picked up a Devo reference in "Mr. Pompeii" it was a breakdown that sounded alot like the breakdown from "Pink Pussycat". love this song, the B-52s cover. Weird Al was kinda my gateway to punk lol. there was also a Clash cover ("Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" in the polka medley) on that LP. plus his voice, he embraces the nasal quality, he is a fucking punk.

Weird Al fivever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMwFZXujLJg

Stop Draggin' My Car Around

I'd rather listen to "King of Suede" than any Police song.

Adam, do you mean "Mr. Popeil"?

YOU COULD EVEN CUT A TIN CAN WITH IT
BUT YOU WOULDN'T
WANT TO!

still think "Dare to be Stupid" is a Top 5 Devo song

and I love Devo

I'm a forever stan of In 3-D and have to listen at least once a year. One of the first albums I bought with my own money, at Wal-Mart in Starkville, Miss., when it came out in '84. And I still hear new things and have new faves.

My earliest remembered favorite tune was "The Brady Bunch." I was determined to know every word, so I got a legal pad and kept pulling the needle back so I could write down every line.

My most recent fave is "Theme from Rocky XIII" maybe based on this line alone:

Never eats
while on the job
he heard it's good to stay hungry

Weird Al should really be in the Rock Hall.

'hardware store' is all-time

Nearly every song referenced in Polkas on 45 I first heard through that tune. Still the definitive version of Hot Blooded.

phil d otm
like if you take axl

I'd rather listen to "King of Suede" than any Police song.

the one I really dig is "Velvet Elvis". I really do appreciate how much effort goes into the guy's style parodies, to the point where if you're not paying attention you could easily mistake them for the real thing. I thought "Everything You Know is Wrong" was a real TMBG song for a while and was frustrated that I couldn't figure out what album it was on. I think he really does dig deep to uncover the essence of these dudes.

"Frank's 2000" TV" is a beautiful power-pop tune, no matter who wrote it or what the lyrics are about. Is that based on Toad the Wet Sprocket etc? I was never sure.

He has said he was going for an R.E.M vibe, though it reminds me of Matthew Sweet's "I've Been Waiting".

Adam, do you mean "Mr. Popeil"?

lol yes. btw i love the backing singers in this song.

"Dare to Be Stupid" is really good. still one of my favorite songs of all time. and it's an honorary Devo number:

In an interview on VH1's Behind the Music, Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh stated in reaction to the song that: "I was in shock. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. He sort of re-sculpted that song into something else and... I hate him for it, basically."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dare_to_Be_Stupid_(song)

to the point where if you're not paying attention you could easily mistake them for the real thing

I know I've annoyed friends by pulling this with "I Lost on Jeopardy."

I see I was on here 11 years ago praising "Mr. Popeil" complete with challopsy opinion that it was maybe better than some B-52s tunes haha.

Oh, and one of those backup singers is Lisa Popeil, daughter of the man himself! She did some other stuff with Weird Al over the years and with some others. Couple solo things as well.

I know I've annoyed friends by pulling this with "I Lost on Jeopardy."

this is definitely one case where the Weird Al version is way better than the original

I played "Word Crimes" at a New Year's Eve party a few years back, and it was funny watching people take a while to catch on.

Lisa Popeil also appears on some Frank Zappa stuff

At 4:30 in the morning I'm milking cows
Jebediah feeds the chickens and Jacob plows - fool!
And I've been milkin' and plowin' so long that
Even Ezekiel thinks that my mind is gone!

Coolio being mad about that song is the biggest self-own in pop history

Opening couplet is surely one of Al's greatest.

"Everything You Know is Wrong" came up on shuffle the other day. it's astounding to me how much that song misses the mark lyrically yet completely hits the nail on the head musically. idk if anyone else has been able to perfectly imitate John Linnell's style like that.

not sure that Al ever cared that much about hitting the mark lyrically in his pastiches

The bang-bang-bang-bang guitar sound in particular is perfect. But yeah, not really a TMBG-esque lyric, though that's often how it rolls with his style parodies (xpost).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_OhJL0te14

neat

best backing band in america

"Hard to Handle
(the Black Crowes)"

:(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXxEKSkw1xU

introduction to this is pretty heartwarming, also

really like his version of Cheap Trick's "Hello There"

that "funeral for a friend" is so badass

"Not Fade Away"
Clear Lake, IA

Too soon!

Amazing set.

Al tv interviews all time classic

Funeral for a friend is fire

https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vaGl0cGFyYWRl&episode=YWI4Zjg3ODYtYzViZi0xMWU5LWI4YzgtOGY1ZTBkMWU0OTJm&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwif_KLfhq7nAhWDwFkKHXMbAhYQjrkEegQIBBAE&ep=6

the guest appearance in Showtime's "Work in Progress" is sublime

I saw him live for free over the summer at Forest Hills Stadium -- pretty solid live show, could see the guy has a great work ethic and incredibly consistent commitment to his concept.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYGCpqAvoCs

Just got flagged on Instagram for a post suggesting that he was friends with Pablo Escobar

But he admit it!

WEIRD was so good, btw. If you are a fan of UHF, then this is a must watch.

Bought Dr. Demento’s xmas cd yesterday and was again taken aback by how hard “Christmas at Ground Zero” goes