"Weird Al" Yankovic - Medium Rarities LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the past few months I've gone through Weird Al's entire catalog of full length albums that were part of his Squeeze Box set.  We've made it to the last LP, which is exclusive to this set, Medium Rarities.  This is a compilation of various unreleased or under-released songs from Al's catalog over the past thirty years or so.  There's some real gems in here for sure.

The songs are arranged in a rough chronological order and unsurprisingly, my favorites tend to be towards the beginning of the record.  There are super early versions of "My Bologna" and "Yoda" that are not as polished as the final versions, but these are slower renditions that are primarily fueled by the accordion.  "Pac Man" is a previously unreleased parody of "Tax Man" and is as strong as anything on Weird Al's debut, my person favorite record of his.

From there we go into some oddities such as an instrumental version of "Dare To Be Stupid" and a version of "Jurassic Park" that's sung in Japanese.  There's a bunch of songs from TV shows that Al contributed to like The Simpsons, 30 Rock and Comedy Bang Bang, though these tend to be pretty short, likely due to the confines of TV. The album closes with an updated version of "Happy Birthday" that's a little bit slower than the original and not as energetic.  It's also seriously lacking accordion.

I really do love this record, but I think I would love it even more if it focused more heavily on Al's early, more formative years.  I'm sure those songs aren't Al's favorites to listen to all of this time later, but they are the ones that I find most intriguing.  After all of this time, the world really needs an officially released version of "It's Still Billy Joel To Me."

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Yoda (Demo)":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1OkLbFx9Wk

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Pac Man":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlU60vGRVHc

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Mandatory Fun LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

We are nearing the end of the line here as this is Al's last studio full length.  There is still the rarities compilation that came with this box set that I will write about next week, but as far as full lengths goes, Mandatory Fun is the last stop.  This is actually a record I wrote about on this website when it came out in 2014.  It seems unfathomable that this record came out nearly 4 years ago, but the cruel march of time continues.

My thoughts haven't changed too much since that initial review.  I still think "Word Crimes" is a lot of fun, despite only knowing the original from it being played in Sears. The Al originals are the best of the bunch with "My Own Eyes," "First World Problems" and "Jackson Park Express" being the obvious highlights.  I also still don't know most of the songs from the polka medley.  Still, it's one of Weird Al's stronger modern records and I do enjoy it.

I'm not sure if there will ever be another Weird Al full length.  Mandatory Fun was the last on his prior record contract and he did a bunch of interviews saying the album format is hard for him and being able to release one off singles would keep him more timely.  However, he hasn't done much in the way of those one off releases over the past five years, so I guess we'll have to see.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "My Own Eyes":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PMvU6knXKQ

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Jackson Park Express":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZvgT4pVC_w

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Alpocalypse LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

 

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Alpocalypse came out in 2011.  I was no longer working in the music industry and had actually started putting together the building blocks of this website by taking pictures of records and posting them on Flickr.  I didn't really write anything about Alpocalypse when I posted that picture, but if I had, it probably would have been similar to what I think about it now.  I don't really know any of the song parodies at all.  I'm now aware of the Lady Gaga song, but that's really only because of the brouhaha surrounding the release of this record back in 2011.  Past that, I don't know any of these and I really don't like them.

On the flip side, this record is home to some of my very favorite Al originals.  "CNR" is a wonderfully ridiculous tribute to my favorite Match Game star, Charles Nelson Reilly.  This song is in the style of early 2000s garage bands, primarily The White Stripes.  It's a hoot.  But the real highlight is "Skipper Dan."  This might actually be the Weird Al song that's most similar to a song I would listen to day to day.  To me, it sounds like something Fountains of Wayne would have written for Utopia Parkway, but with better harmonies and a tremendously silly story about someone working on the Disney World Jungle Cruise ride.  It's such a hit song and I love it.

Ultimately it's an uneven Weird AL record, but the highs are high enough to where I still enjoy it immensely.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "CNR":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLnapb-30hA

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Skipper Dan":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0cCRRFi1aA

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynnwood LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Straight Outta Lynnwood has the song "White And Nerdy" on it.  I know this was a big deal for Weird Al and I feel like when this record came out is when I started to hear the rest of the world start referring to Al with the sort of reverence that I'd held him in since I was a kid.  I guess after cranking out hits in three decades he finally started getting the credit he deserved.  It may have also just been because of the internet and 'nerd' culture being much more prominent that it had been in the past.  Who knows, I'm just glad people finally started viewing Al as the national treasure he is.

With that stated, I don't really like "White And Nerdy."  I don't know the original and while the lyrics are extremely clever and the rapid-fire delivery is quite impressive, the song itself is not my thing at all.  The Beach Boys inspired "Pancreas" is probably my favorite song on here as Al flawlessly recreates a Pet Sounds vibe while singing about pancreatic juices.  That, my friends, is true talent.

The rest of the album has ups and downs until it hits on the other real highlight, "Trapped In The Drive Thru."  I know that this is a parody of "Trapped in the Closet" by R. Kelly (though I did just have to use Google to see who sung that song) and I actually even heard the original as my wife showed me a long video for it once.  The Weird Al version is just perfect. It's nearly eleven minutes long and is insane in the way it documents every single tedious detail of going to get some dinner.  Hard to do it justice in a couple of sentences, you should have a listen.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Pancreas":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqDBB0no6dQ

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Trapped in the Drive Thru":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHnTocdD7sk

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Poodle Hat LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Poodle Hat came out after I was out of college and was working in music doing radio promotion.  It had been a really long time since there had been a Weird Al record and it just sort of snuck up on me one day.  It was also some time after this record came out that I finally saw Al's live show.  A friend of mine got me tickets and we went out to somewhere in Long Island or Staten Island or some Island to see him play.  It was a blast.

This record specifically is a mid range Weird Al record for me, there are some incredible songs (all originals) like "Why Does This Always Happen To Me," "Genius in France" and "Bob."  There's also one of Al's absolute masterpieces in "Hardware Store."  This one goes a million miles an hour and is crammed full of insane hardware lyrics and truly ludicrous shopping list style breakdown that I just can't do justice to.

I don't really know the parodies that well to be honest, other than I really hate the Billy Joel song "Piano Man," so I don't think I've made it all the way through "Ode To A Superhero" when I had listed to this on CD.  There's an Eminem one "Couch Potato" which I've at least heard the original one of.  There's also a Nelly one and a Avril Lavigne one, but I had to look those up on Wikipedia to figure that out.  It's a mixed bag of an album, as the years go by I know less and less about the parodies, but the Al originals are always a treat and Poodle Hat is no exception.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Hardware Store":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw7lqXHMLYA

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Why Does This Always Happen To Me":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QqD1_g2E4I

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Running With Scissors LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

When I was in college I worked at a butcher shop/deli.  We did some catering too and occasionally I would make the catering deliveries.  People suck at tipping, just an FYI.  If I carry 10 chafing dishes into your living room and light all of those little sterno heating things, at least hit me with a five spot, you know?  I'm in college and could have used that to buy a 7".  Anyway, I bring this up because I had to make a delivery the day this record came out, so I stopped at the mall and picked this up.  While I was on the clock.  Bonus.  More than anything I remember how bizarre it was to see Al on the cover without classes.  He got his eyes fixed with lasers.  Dudes with glasses everywhere mourned.

As for the record itself, it's not one of my favorites.  The parodies are mostly of songs I either don't know or that are really bad.  His Offspring send up "Pretty Fly For A Rabbi" is painful to listen to.  I know that people love "The Saga Begins," but I hate the song "American Pie" so it's not one I can listen to often.  I don't really know most of the others.  The originals are better, but most aren't that great either. 

What really saves this record are two songs.  "Your Horoscope For Today" is a ska song, so it's upbeat and catchy, but lyrically it's a ton of fun with Al breaking down ridiculous horoscopes for each of the astrological signs.  The other song that saves this album is "Alburquerque."  It's completely and utterly insane with eleven and a half minutes of the craziest story telling Al has ever recorded.  It's a song that is difficult to describe and really needs to be heard to be believed.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Your Horoscope For Today":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjlD6yYq5as

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Alburquerque":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn58OF_lA-Q

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Bad Hair Day LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

As I mentioned last week, Alapalooza didn't really do much for me and I didn't hear from Al again until 1996, when I was in college.  Bad Hair Day reminded me how much I loved Weird Al and put his discography back on track for me.  It probably helped that in 1996 you couldn't escape Coolio no matter how hard you tried, so I did actually have a reference point for "Amish Paradise."  Lyrically it's a pretty stellar song.  I also enjoyed his take on The Presidents of the United States of America with "Gump" his Forrest Gump tinged version of "Lump."

I don't really know any of the other parodies, but the originals on Bad Hair Day are excellent.  "Everything You Know Is Wrong" is a super upbeat They Might Be Giants style number.  There's also the a cappella doo wop "Since You've Been Gone" and an Elvis Costello fueled "I'm So Sick Of You."

That said, my absolute favorite song on this album is "The Alternative Polka."  In my opinion this is the best of Weird Al's polka medleys, I think in part because of the contrast of the silliness of the polka tempo and the seriousness of the lyrics of a lot of the songs included.  Included in the polka are Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, Green Day and many more.  I'm also convinced that the Alanis Morissette song "You Outta Know" is a tremendously written pop song due to Al's reworking of it.  This song alone would make Bad Hair Day my favorite Weird AL record of the 90s, but luckily there's lots of other goodies that make the whole album pretty darn enjoyable.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "The Alternative Polka":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVWjThlEzts

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Everything You Know Is Wrong":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EStEiPVcyPA

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Amish Paradise":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Alapalooza LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Alapalooza is one of the Weird Al albums I have the least connection to.  It's another one that came out when I was in high school when I was particularly deep into my early 90s hip hop obsession.  None of the parodies really hit for me, despite the fact that I've always had a soft spot for the song "MacArthur Park" that I can't really explain.  "Jurassic Park" doesn't really live up to the ridiculousness of the original.  Other than that we have Red Hot Chili Peppers parodies about the Flintstones and a parody of Billy Ray Cyrus that was a lot easier to skip on the CD version I had.

Even the originals aren't particularly great.  "Frank's 2000" TV" is probably the highlight with it's breezy R.E.M. vibe, but others like "Young, Dumb & Ugly" and "She Never Told Me She Was A Mime" kind of fall flat for me.  Even the album's polka song isn't that great as it's just a polka style version of one song, "Bohemian Rhapsody."  It's not bad, it just isn't very exciting.  If forced to choose, I'd say this is my least favorite Weird Al record.  There are a couple of good moments, but it's mostly skippable.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Frank's 2000" TV":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQJ4v8QkEAw

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Traffic Jam":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyGaqmvdvZY

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Harvey The Wonder Hamster":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2-LxoVR2dU

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Off The Deep End LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Off The Deep End came out in 1992 and by that time I was in high school and pretty locked in to listening to hip hop.  This album totally snuck up on me at the time as I had heard nothing about it until I stumbled across a cassingle of "Smells Like Nirvana" at Sam Goody one day.  When I finally picked up the album I enjoyed it, but this was the first time where I didn't really know a lot of the songs that were being parodied.  I can't say I was particularly familiar with New Kids on the Block ("The White Stuff") or Milli Vanilli ("The Plumbing Song") at the time.

"Smells Like Nirvana" is outstanding and I do like the "Rico Suave" parody "Taco Grande," but the Al originals really were the highlight of Off The Deep End for me.  "Trigger Happy," "I Was Only Kidding" and "You Don't Love Me Anymore" are among the strongest songs on this album along with the excellent polka medley "Polka Your Eyes Out."

This was a definite transitional record as it was released when I was really trying to figure out what I wanted out of music.  It's a great record, but it doesn't hit me quite as strongly as the ones that had come before it.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Smells Like Nirvana":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FklUAoZ6KxY

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "I was Only Kidding":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAOJ7EAoF14

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Smells Like Nirvana":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DC-sb54mkU

"Weird Al" Yankovic - UHF LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Technically this album is called UHF Original Motion Picture Soundtrack And Other Stuff, but that's a lot to write in the title of this review considering I'm already taking up a lot of room noting this is from the box set.  This is one of my favorite Weird Al records and in some ways marks the end of an era for Al's releases, at least the way they impacted me.

This was probably the last Weird Al record that I loved from start to finished and I actually know all of the original songs that were being parodied.  Once Off The Deep End came out, there were a lot (and I mean A LOT) of parodies on his albums that I had no idea what the originals were about.  UHF had parodies of songs I knew like "Isle Thing" ("Wild Thing" by Tone Loc), "She Drives Like Crazy" ("She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals) and "Spam" ("Stand" by R.E.M.).  "Spam" in particular is an absolute joy to listen to.  It probably helped that I knew the original so well from it being the theme song to the TV show Get A Life.

Al's originals are also top shelf this time out.  The title track is a super catchy rocker.  "Attack Of The Radioactive Hamsters From A Planet Near Mars" is a worthy sequel to "Slime Creatures from Outer Space."  And "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota" ranks as one of my favorite Weird Al songs ever.  Some say "Albuquerque" is his epic masterpiece, but for me I'll take the nearly seven minute long opus about a trip to Minnesota every time.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Spam":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki2ut23MRGQ

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Attack Of The Radioactive Hamsters From A Planet Near Mars":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGJeUv5Jqpk

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBob4Iz0rhE

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Even Worse LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

I have very, very vivid memories of when Even Worse came out in 1988.  Weird Al was everywhere as "Fat," his send up of Michael Jackson's "Bad," was a monster hit.  People may have slept on Polka Party, but Al was back in a big way with Even Worse.  It was the one time I can remember where some other kids in school were paying attention to a Weird Al and a few people other than me even owned one of his records.  It was a short lived phenomenon in my world, but I still have pleasant memories of that brief period of time in the fifth grade.

The entire record is great.  The Weird Al originals are top notch with "Stuck In A Closet With Vanna White," "Melanie" and "Good Old Days."  The parodies are also strong as this was one of the last few Weird Al records where I either knew or liked the songs that were being taken on.  "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long" is a fantastic version of George Harrison's "Got My Mind Set On You."  I've always loved "I Think I'm A Clone Now," though these days I wish it was a parody of the Snuff version of "I Think We're Alone Now" rather than Tiffany's.  It was also a thrill to hear prevalent use of the accordion on the "La Bamba" parody "Lasagna."

This is one of only two Weird Al records that doesn't have a polka medley.  I think the inclusion of one would have made this an even strong record, but even with that omission it's still one of his best.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Stuck In A Closet With Vanna White":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gocPZA0HLA

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do5vXn_Rap4

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Good Old Days":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XYyphia1JM

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Polka Party! LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

 Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Polka Party! was the first 'new' Weird Al record that I remember.  This was his newest thing and it was being actively promoted unlike the others, which I had just sort of stumbled across in the Jamesway cassette section while looking for his records.  Polka Party is the album that seems to have slowed down Al's momentum and perhaps made it look like his 'one-hit wonder' time was finally up.  From what I've read and heard, this album didn't sell all that well and didn't spawn a big single.  In interviews Al has said it wasn't even a record he wanted to put out right at that point and it was pretty rushed and forced out due to record label pressure.

Now I personally don't understand any of that.  I love this album and always have.  "Living With A Hernia" is an outstanding send up of James Brown's "Living in America."  This is one of those songs that made me notice that Al was a really smart dude with the way he wove all of the different types of hernia names into the call back section towards the end of the song.  This album also has the Talking Heads pastiche "Dog Eat Dog," a song that still pops up on his live sets.  While "Addicted to Spuds" is certainly silly, I have still always enjoyed the potato puns over Robert Palmers's biggest hit.

The polka medley, which is the title track this time out, is as great as ever blending together hits of the era like "Sledgehammer," "Sussudio" and "Rock Me Amadeus."  I will say that "Toothless People" is probably the song of this era of Weird Al that I like the least.  To this day I don't think I've ever heard the original and have no desire to.

Luckily the album closes out strong with the hilarious country style original "Good Enough for Now" and Al's Phil Spector inspired "Christmas at Ground Zero."  Due to the phrase Ground Zero having a much different meaning today than it did in 1986, this one doesn't end up on a lot of Christmas playlists anymore, but it's still a great song with its crazy contrast of incredibly dark lyrics and super cheery music.

Polka Party! is probably one of the most overlooked albums in Al's discography, but if it's one you're not as familiar with, it's definitely worth giving another shot.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Living With A Hernia":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8Ow1nlafOg

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Addicted To Spuds":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abo6318zHew

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Polka Party!":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lA-V2yjw-U

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Dare To Be Stupid LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set. There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout. Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

I don't remember exactly how or when I discovered Weird Al.  While I can pinpoint a lot of the most influential things that have entered my life, I'm really hazy with Al.  I assume I must have seen him on Nickelodeon on Nick Rocks or something like that, but I genuinely have no concrete recollection.  What I do know if that Dare To Be Stupid was probably his 'current' album when I found Al, as I do remember Polka Party being the first 'new' Weird Al record that I got.

Dare To Be Stupid is a record I know so very, very well.  I wore out the cassette of it I had in my walkman and listened to it over and over.  I don't know that it's the best Weird Al record, but it certainly has some of his best songs.  You can't even really talk about Weird Al to me without a conversation about the song "Yoda" on here, a parody of "Lola."  Honestly, I don't even really know the original version of this song, yes I've heard it and I sort of know some of the words, but "Yoda" is the definitive version of the song if you ask me.  Music about Star Wars?  My young brain could barely contain itself.

Also incredible are the Devo inspired title track, The doo wop pastiche "One More Minute" and "This Is The Life" (if you haven't seen Johnny Dangerously for some weird reason, you really need to).  I can't say that "Girls Just Want To Have Lunch" is one of my favorites, but Al has also gone on record saying he didn't really want to do it, but acquiesced to record label pressure.  He also brought back a polka medley with "Hooked On Polkas."  Making the cut this time are songs like "Sharp Dressed Man," "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "99 Luftballoons."

I just love this record.  Absolutely love it.  In many ways it's a definitive Weird Al release with iconic songs and tremendous energy. It's not my very favorite, but it's right up there.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Yoda":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdu8I1gWqk4

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Dare To Be Stupid":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMhwddNQSWQ

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "One More Minute":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhpk-8QLFQ

"Weird Al" Yankovic - In 3-D LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

Pledge Music (2017)

Over the next several weeks, we're going to celebrate Weird Al Wednesday as I go through each of the 15 albums in the Squeeze Box accordion box set.  There are many albums in this set that were hugely influential to me as a young kid and there are no shortage of incredible songs throughout.  Weird Al and The Blues Brothers are definitely the building blocks for my earliest appreciation of music.

Weird Al's 2nd album, In 3-D, came out in 1984 and is most remembered for being the album that has "Eat It" as its first single.  This is the song that broke weird all through to the mainstream in a big, big way and made him a staple of the early days of MTV.  While "Eat It" was never my favorite Weird Al song (which is probably in part to not being much of a fan of the original song), this album is packed full of hits.

"Midnight Star" is an incredible song documenting the tabloid era of nonsense supermarket headlines.  It was interesting to see Al at one of his shows say that he wanted this to be the lead single rather than "Eat It."  Though he admits in retrospect, that would have been a poor business decision.  "Buy Me A Condo" is a reggae pastiche that was my favorite Weird Al song for a spell in elementary school. I don't rank it quite so high anymore, but I still enjoy it immensely.

"Theme from Rocky XIII" is a send up of "Eye of the Tiger" and is probably the song that really cemented my love of people singing about food.  "Nature Trail To Hell" is a maddening journey through slasher flick troupes with a backmasking message about cheese whiz.  In 3-D also contains "Polkas on 45," the first appearance of a polka medley on a Weird Al album.  These would go on to be the highlights of many albums for me over the years.  This one is particularly fun, mashing together songs like "Smoke on the Water," "Hey Jude" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" into an accordion fueled polka blast.

Ultimately, In 3-D is a big change from the first self titled album, but this is where Weird Al really put his flag into the ground and was noticed by many, many more people.  It's a varied, exciting album and even though it's not as rough around the edges as his debut, really set up the template for future releases.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Midnight Star":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42ZYNno5oQ

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Theme from Rocky XIII":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iwedkOmTGc

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Polkas on 45":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS5Dc6u1j8o

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Weird Al" Yankovic LP - From Squeeze Box Accordion Box Set

 

Pledge Music (2017)

Since I finished up the Otis Redding Box Set, I figured I would tackle the incredible Weird Al Squeeze Box Set.  Since this box contains a hell of a lot more records than the Otis one did, I'm going to try to go through albums weekly instead of every other week.  We'll try to get Weird Al Wednesday to be a thing over the next few months.  I'll start with his first self titled album and finish up with the exclusive rarities LP that comes with the set.

Weird Al's first, self titled album has just about always been my favorite of his.  I've read interviews with him where he states that there are songs on here that make him cringe and it's a little rough for him to listen to.  He's also said that it's kind of his punk rock album and as time went on he got better at his craft.  While I will not deny that Al has had incredible, incredible albums that came out after this and while I agree that the musicianship certainly improved over the years, there is an energy on this album that surpasses anything else he ever did in my opinion.

The thing that I love the most about this album is how ridiculously accordion heavy it is.  It's not something in the background or used for a polka medley, the accordion is front and center and is far and away the focal point of the record along with Al's lyrics.  Hearing Al bust out accordion fueled parodies of "I Love Rock N Roll" ("I Love Rocky Road"), "My Sharona" ("My Bologna") and "Another One Bites The Dust" ("Another One Rides The Bus") blew my goddamn mind as a kid trying to figure out what I wanted to listen to. Up until about 1988 or so, Weird Al and The Blues Brothers were just about the only bands that really connected with me. 

I also adore Al's originals on this album.  "Gotta Boogie" is kind of a one note pun joke, but the intro of the song and the way the instruments layer on top of each other is something I've always found inspiring.  "Happy Birthday" is a fast paced and lyrically dark song that always hit my funny bone in just the right way.  And "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead" is perfect catharsis for a kid that was constantly restless in a remote part of NJ, who didn't quite mesh in with his classmates at the time.

I love this album.  I mean, I love pretty much all of Weird Al's albums, but this one will always be extra special to me.  It wasn't the first album of his that I heard, but it was the one that struck me as being the most brazen and exciting.  I still vividly remember that day I found the cassette in Caldor and how I thought I had found a secret that no one else knew about.  Just a phenomenal record that I found at exactly the right time.

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "My Bologna":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic3QnRj9Ev4

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "Happy Birthday":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nm37gzDnk0

"Weird Al" Yankovic - "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAOYUTdkM-w

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Mandatory Fun LP

RCA (2014)

There's something just so gosh darn comforting about getting a new Weird Al album on vinyl.  Talk about an instant gateway to my childhood.  The Blues Brothers and Weird Al practically defined my earliest musical memories.  The fact that Al is still around and putting out new records and remaining relevant to the next generation is just remarkable.  The fact that this record debuted at number one on the Billboard charts was also really cool, even though that certainly doesn't mean what it once did.

As far as the record goes, I have a bit of a dilemma when it comes to the more modern Al records. The problem is I have no idea what songs he's parodying any more.  I was kind of aware of the "Blurred Lines" song because I saw it performed on the Colbert Report and I think I heard it in Sears once.  That being said Al's "Word Crimes" version is simply genius.  Lyrically, he's at a level so much higher than the rest of the entire world.  The other parodies are all a good time, even if I don't know the originals.  The song about tin foil in particular is really funny.

He also has a song called "Tacky" which is a parody of that "Happy" song I've heard in car commercials.  Lyrically great, but musically that's a pretty annoying song.  As always Al's originals are top notch and they still feel like a little slice of his music from the 80's to me.  My favorite being the guitar focused rock song "My Own Eyes."  And par for the course, Al has a Polka medley and as usual is one of the album highlights, though again, I don't recognize 3/4s of the songs he's doing on this one.  Maybe I'd be in better shape if I spent more time hanging out and listening to the music they play at SuperCuts.

Who would have thought that 28 years after I bought my first Weird Al record, I'd still be buying new ones.  I'm thrilled he is still releasing records and even more thrilled that his record label saw fit to give it the vinyl treatment.

Weird Al Yankovic - "Word Crimes"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

Weird Al Yankovic - "Now That's What I Call Polka":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sr48PsVbS0