Comments on: Polka Power Digitized for Your Protection

Polka Power Digitized for Your Protection

WCityMike — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:07:09 -0800

Something to make the inner geek that is inside your inner geek do the boogie-woogie: "Weird Al" Yankovic announces that thanks to digital distribution, he will begin releasing songs as he records them, while the parodied song is still fresh in the public's mind, instead of waiting for an album release every three to four years. The first one will come out on October 7. iTunes will have first dibs on the new singles for the first 14 days, after which they'll go to other online music retailers. (via /.)

By: wendell

wendell — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:17:43 -0800

Too bad there aren't any popular songs left that are even good enough to parody. DON'T DO "I Kissed a Girl", AL, PLEASE!

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:18:23 -0800

Weird Al, I'll always love you. Even though I made the mistake of letting a friend buy Poodle Hat and then the futher error of copying it, I know you're better than that. I'm not saying I'll buy the single. But I might preview it.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:19:29 -0800

I have to admit, "You're Pitiful" cracked me up. Plus, don't forget Al also does stylistic stuff where it's a parody of a genre but not necessarily a particular song (i.e. "Generic Blues", etc.).

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:21:09 -0800

"I Kissed a Girl" Guaranteed: he will replace "kissed" with "missed" and write a song about missing his favorite TV show because the Tivo failed.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:30:36 -0800

wendell: "Too bad there aren't any popular songs left that are even good enough to parody. DON'T DO "I Kissed a Girl", AL, PLEASE!" To me, the Jill Sobule song plays in my head every time I hear that song title.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:31:45 -0800

stylistic stuff where it's a parody of a genre but not necessarily a particular song Pastiche. What happened to "Don't download this song," huh?!

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:31:46 -0800

A queercore band playing "I Kissed a Girl" might be interesting.

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:38:38 -0800

Luncheon at The Brick (What) Luncheon at The Brick (What) With Maggie, Ed and Chris Yeah, Maggie, Ed and Chris (Bow) Luncheon at The Briiiiick Luncheon at The Briiiiick With Ruth-Anne, Maurice an' Chris I'm havin' luncheon at The Brick

By: designbot

designbot — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:42:08 -0800

Does this mean I have to start listening to the radio so I'll understand what Weird Al is parodying? It's like high school all over again.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:46:09 -0800

Ambrosia Voyeur: "Pastiche." AGH! THANK YOU! That was gonna drive me nuts.

By: Lokisbane

Lokisbane — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:46:57 -0800

This is the best news I've heard in a long while.

By: ZenMasterThis

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:48:07 -0800

Prediction: the song is about the $700B Wall Street bailout.

By: Spatch

Spatch — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:48:13 -0800

Even though I made the mistake of letting a friend buy Poodle Hat and then the futher error of copying it, I know you're better than that. I'm hopin you saw no error in actually listening to Poodle Hat, because "Genius In France" is probably the greatest song Weird Al has ever recorded.

By: The Card Cheat

The Card Cheat — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:49:41 -0800

I'll give Weird Al this: if you had told me in 1983, as I sat in front of the television eagerly awaiting his performance of "Eat It" on Solid Gold, that people would still be listening to his music and talking about him in any way (aside from wondering what happened to that one-hit-wonder) a full twenty-five years later...I would have bet you a large sum of money that were you wrong. And I would have lost.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:51:05 -0800

"Genius In France" is probably the greatest song Weird Al has ever recorded. Ah, I'd forgotten about that. It is a good'un.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:01:28 -0800

stylistic stuff where it's a parody of a genre but not necessarily a particular song Pastiche. I have here a nut made from a cashew, a walnut, a pine nut and an almond. a Pastichio.

By: Phalene

Phalene — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:03:58 -0800

It is the talent of Weird Al that I now hear old top-of-the-pops songs in muzak, and my mind superimposes his lyrics over the real ones.

By: tommasz

tommasz — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:10:02 -0800

Weird Al is more talented than most people realize, but the process of coming up with 16 or so songs good enough for a CD has to do something to eliminate the weaker ones. I guess we'll see how this works for him, won't we?

By: philip-random

philip-random — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:10:20 -0800

I've never really found Weird Al that funny; a little too Grade-9 obvious, starting with his name. And as he didn't come around until I was well out of Grade 9, there's no nostalgia factor, just a bunch of mostly obvious parodies which at best would function well in an audio version of Mad Magazine (which I stopped reading "seriously" around the end of Grade 7). That said, I've only really heard the hits, so please do direct me to album cut masterpieces if you feel a need to change my mind.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:14:35 -0800

It is the talent of Weird Al that I now hear old top-of-the-pops songs in muzak, and my mind superimposes his lyrics over the real ones. Yeah but get a little drunk, go dancing and try to sing along to the club's blaring "I Love Rock'n'Roll" and see how awesome you look then... COME AND HAVE A TRIPLE SCOOP WITH ME what

By: smackfu

smackfu — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:17:18 -0800

Y'all know you would buy "I Kissed a Squirrel" in a heartbeat.

By: WCityMike

WCityMike — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:18:31 -0800

philip-random: "That said, I've only really heard the hits, so please do direct me to album cut masterpieces if you feel a need to change my mind." On Running with Scissors, "Albuquerque." Stream-of-consciousness and just ... glorious in its utter what-the-fuck-edness.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:18:33 -0800

Philip-random, Dare To Be Stupid It's the Devoist Devo thing that ever devo'ed a Devo while also being an original (not parody) song.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:19:25 -0800

Y'all know you would buy "I Kissed a Squirrel" in a heartbeat. I can already hear it in his voice. No, really. It's a problem. Thanks for that.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:20:28 -0800

Only transsexual nazi eskimos think Weird Al is relevant anymore.

By: rusty

rusty — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:21:02 -0800

Would it be terminally uncool to point out that Weird Al's rap parodies always have mad flow?

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:25:24 -0800

Oh, don't forget "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota," at least partially for the shout-out to diet chocolate soda.

By: mosk

mosk — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:27:58 -0800

Ah, Weird Al. Our seven year old loves, loves, loves "And the Saga Begins," his Star Wars-meets-American Pie anthem. And it's hard not to laugh at "White and Nerdy," which is both clever and funny. But maybe a quick to market strategy isn't in his best interest as an artist.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:28:04 -0800

okay, philip-random, I'll bite. I like him best when he's absurd, dark, or showing his own fandom for groups I, too, love. Some of his best songs, imo: You Make Me (Oingo Boingo) Everything You Know Is Wrong (TMBG) Genius In France (Frank Zappa) Livin' in the Fridge (Livin' on the Edge) Albuquerque Christmas at Ground Zero Good Old Days I Think I'm A Clone Now (I Think We're Alone Now) Lasagne (La Bamba) Rye or the Kaiser (Eye of the Tiger) Pretty Fly for a Rabbi (Pretty Fly For a White Guy) Smells Like Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit) This Song is Just Six Words Long (I've Got My Mind Set On You) ...and maybe his greatest contribution to my life, Bob, which helps me remember a whole list of palindromes!!

By: owtytrof

owtytrof — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:28:23 -0800

A mere three days ago, the wife and I were visiting the Japanese garden in Ft. Worth, singing "I kissed a koi, and I liked it". Pity she doesn't normally go for the parodies. The taste of its slimy fish-lips.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:30:13 -0800

Weird Al misfires as often as anyone, usually when I think he's just entertaining himself... but the man really is brilliant. He usually impresses me most when he's doing two things at once, at least one of them a pitch-perfect parody, whether it's hitting all the details of two different epics or doing something so difficult, lyrically, that it still blows my mind every time I watch it. Which I just watched again... that's Rubik's cube blindfolded songwriting right there.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:31:11 -0800

Damn you, Ambrosia Voyeur, and your infernal typing while I am typing. Please learn to coordinate! :) Me, I'll learn to preview.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:32:20 -0800

Oh. "Bob." How did I forget? I'm sorry, Poodle Hat, for all the mean, untrue things I said about you. Forgive me, baby, please.

By: philip-random

philip-random — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:37:34 -0800

Thanks for all the tips. If nothing else, they somehow lead me to this shocking revelation shocking revelation. I now know where Death Cab For Cutie got their name.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:55:24 -0800

Weird Al's original songs are definitely underappreciated. I get "Hardware Store" stuck in my head whenever I g to Home Depot, and I get the theme to "Fun Zone" stuck in my head during every other minute of my life.

By: quin

quin — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:56:56 -0800

By: philip-random

philip-random — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:04:28 -0800

okay, top marks for Bob. But would I have noticed they were all palindromes if it hadn't been pointed out? Would it matter?

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:14:54 -0800

I think a great many people recognize the final palindrome "go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog," and so might "get" that the song is all palindromes at the very end, which is probably intentional. I myself didn't get that the title was hinting at the gimmick until at least five listens, and didn't see the video for another couple years.

By: azpenguin

azpenguin — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:05:40 -0800

I love Weird Al, but what's strange is that it's not really his parodies that do it for me anymore. I mean, there isn't anything wrong with them, but lately I'm finding that his real genius is in doing an homage to a style rather than a specific work. Bob is a good example: done in the style of Dylan and made up completely of palindromes. You listen to this stuff and you have to admire the craft that goes into it, it's not just done for the funny, it done to prove that you can take all these dissimilar things, combine them in a pleasing way, that in and of itself has artistic merit, that just also happens to be really fucking hilarious Yep. What has always amazed me about Weird Al - and his musicians also get a ton of credit for this - is that every musical genre he takes on, he nails it. You just don't see artists that can so easily jump from rap, to heavy metal, to country, to bubblegum pop music, and throw in some polka here and there. And all excellently executed. (The polka medley on each album is worth the price of the whole thing right there, at least to me.)

By: O9scar

O9scar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:10:03 -0800

I agree with others about the original songs being sadly overlooked. One of my favorite parodies is Velvet Elvis, a Police-flavored medley about that tackiest of paintings.

By: quatsch

quatsch — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:12:36 -0800

Ah, Weird Al. I love him, but I'll never forgive him for "Alternative Polka," which has been stuck in my head for approximately two months.

By: QIbHom

QIbHom — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:47:41 -0800

I recently went to a Weird Al concert with a couple of friends. It was the closest to being at a Con that I've ever been at outside. I didn't know that geeks ever gathered under the day star. Yeah, I'm white and nerdy, but the one that sticks in my head is his version of "What's Love Got to Do With It?" from one of the polka medlies.

By: straight

straight — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 15:52:32 -0800

I'm goin' to the Hardware Store! I've listened to it a hundred times, and I'm always blown away by what a perfect, perfect pastiche of They Might Be Giants's style "Everything You Know is Wrong" is. He manages to pack in dozens of different stylistic elements, lyrical and musical, from a bunch of different TMBG songs. (Of course there's the natural affinity of both acts playing the accordion. It's obviously an enormous mash note to TMBG. I'd love to know what the TMBG guys think of it. "King of Suede" is a darn good pastiche of the Police, too.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:11:50 -0800

It's the Devoist Devo thing that ever devo'ed a Devo while also being an original (not parody) song. Either Mothersbaugh or Casale, maybe both, called it "the ultimate Devo song" and were sort of jovially pissed they hadn't written it. If I were making a Devo compilation for someone, I'd put it on.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:17:10 -0800

Also, Al was a pretty early Devo fan, and included Jocko Homo in his very first polka medley.

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:28:47 -0800

I've had the pleasure of meeting Weird Al a number of times, and I have to say that he's seemed to me to be a genuinely nice human being. Which is more than I can say for a lot of people who've had careers in show biz as long as his. Good for him!

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:32:11 -0800

straight, Everything You Know Is Wrong is SUPER dear to me, as a deeply geeked TMBG fan, and you will know what I mean when I say that what gets me grinning and almost teary with fanlove every single time is the accordion just going "bomp bomp!" between verses.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 16:34:03 -0800

omg i just said a weird al song was "dear" to me in public and i'm a 27 year old woman. end me.

By: Drab_Parts

Drab_Parts — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:19:11 -0800

My first introduction to a lot of good music was through Polkas on 45. Now, 20-some years later, if I'm humming Jocko Homo, Should I Stay or Should I Go, or Smoke on the Water, I'm usually humming the Polkas on 45 versions. I only admit this anonymously on the internet.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:51:07 -0800

It could be worse. I will forever have Weird Al's version of "I Touch Myself" (from "Polka Your Eyes Out") stuck in my mind.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:55:12 -0800

I kissed a girl The only parody that makes sense, changing genre, meaning, and gender with ease.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:57:26 -0800

I'll give Weird Al this: if you had told me in 1983, as I sat in front of the television eagerly awaiting his performance of "Eat It" on Solid Gold, that people would still be listening to his music and talking about him in any way (aside from wondering what happened to that one-hit-wonder) a full twenty-five years later...I would have bet you a large sum of money that were you wrong. And I would have lost. Nah. I've never been a serious fan, but I've come to respect him a great deal. His jokes are pretty predictable, and he's totally a dork, but he's a talented musician and works very hard, and he's had the same band since '82, a great group, btw. He's also the only one who's done what he's done for this long. Everyone who's ever seen MTV knows who he is, and most other people recognize him. Also, he's not pretentious and seems to be in it for the love of playing music. He just figured out how to have fun with it and still get the endless gig. More power to him.

By: gc

gc — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:01:25 -0800

I owe Weird Al for introducing me to contemporary music, or what was contemporary music at the time (circa 1991-1993). I have no idea how I discovered him, but I did, and through him discovered Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Queen. I agree that his style parodies are where he shines. Dare To Be Stupid is amazing, Close But No Cigar is a spitting image of a Cake song, and Mr. Popeil could pass for a B-52's song any day. I also really love It's All About the Pentiums. Also, on preview, what Drab_Parts said...

By: martinX's bellbottoms

martinX's bellbottoms — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:08:21 -0800

I hadn't realized until this thread that Everything You Know is Wrong was ripping off TMBG. Now that song makes a whole lot more sense and I'm questioning my TMBG fandom.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:25:11 -0800

Never question TMBG fanboyism. They are a pure force of pleasure in the world. The fact that Weird Al did a perfect love-note-parody-mimic-homage does not diminish them. It makes them STRONGER. okay the kids stuff is bordering on self-parody but "Oh No No I never go to work" is stripped down joy.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:27:51 -0800

TMBG show story, running into my High School English Teacher at the free concert in Central Park a month after I graduated. ...and then running into her kids at the TMBG show at the Beacon Theater.

By: 2or3whiskeysodas

2or3whiskeysodas — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 19:43:14 -0800

"Genius in France" must be a pretty accurate Zappa pastiche, because I can't make it through half of it--just like the real thing.

By: nudar

nudar — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:30:52 -0800

Fluent in Javascript as well as Klingon

By: JHarris

JHarris — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:36:58 -0800

Smart Dalek, I LOL'd.

By: afflatus

afflatus — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:30:16 -0800

TMBG derail: the kids stuff is awesome! My not quite 2 year old daughter loves to sing C is for Conifer. We spend a lot of time pointing out tree types while driving as a result. Well, that and I'm a bit of a tree nerd. I remember a TMGB show in, hmm, 93 I think. It was part of a very weird tour/festival. X, Helmet, Belly, Best Kissers in the World (maybe Everclear?) and TMBG. I have no idea why TMBG was with those other bands, but it made for an odd crowd mix. They stopped in the middle of Birdhouse In Your Soul and lectured the audience because of Pogo mosh pit that they disapproved of. And yes, Weird Al is cool.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:36:28 -0800

I hate the way the current Weird Al looks. Bring back the glasses and stache dude.

By: DiscourseMarker

DiscourseMarker — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 22:36:59 -0800

I humble myself before the genius that is Weird Al, and I submit, for your consideration as proof of his supreme geeky genius, Pancreas. Who else but Al could out-Brian-Wilson Brian Wilson? And bonus- you learn about your pancreas.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:14:34 -0800

Come on. Trapped in the Drivethru is fucking GENIUS.

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:27:54 -0800

Whelk: now I'm wondering how Stephin Merritt would do with that.

By: whitelight

whitelight — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:34:28 -0800

Can't forget Germs, possibly the best Nine Inch Nails song ever. Just, uh, ignore the video portion.

By: martinX's bellbottoms

martinX's bellbottoms — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 13:19:51 -0800

Never question TMBG fanboyism. They are a pure force of pleasure in the world. The fact that Weird Al did a perfect love-note-parody-mimic-homage does not diminish them. It makes them STRONGER. I'd never question whether I ought to be devoted to TMBG. I was questioning whether I deserved to call myself a proper TMBG fan for not having recognized what I now realize is a very clever tribute to them. Sorry for the confusion.

By: Target Practice

Target Practice — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 02:42:45 -0800

"I Kissed a Girl" is probably the worst song I've heard in a long time. A song like that needs to either be highly emotional or highly sensual, and it fails hard at both.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 07:22:15 -0800

Or have a good beat.

By: spamguy

spamguy — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:08:38 -0800

Wow, Weird Al poked fun at TMBG? Consider mind blown. He's a clever guy, and smarter than he lets on: he skipped 2nd grade and was valedictorian in high school.

By: straight

straight — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:50:07 -0800

I imagine that Weird Al is a little like Mozart listening to Allegri's Miserere. He understands pop music so well that he has categories for all the different elements in a song and can recognize that a song uses this drum beat, that guitar sound, these harmonies, this sort of bridge into the chorus, that way of shaping the phrases when you sing. And then he can either reproduce them entirely in a parody song, or grab handfuls of them from a bunch of songs and mash them together into a style parody. (Which is not to denigrate pop music any more than Mozart recognizing the pitches, intervals, and patterns in Allegri's piece denigrates classical music.)

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:54:59 -0800

It's available on iTunes and YouTube... seems a bit lazy, although I suppose the source material is sort of garbage anyhow. The Hyundai/Sunday rhyme is cute, at least. Plus, I'd like to point out that White Castle isn't cheap anymore. Fifty-nine cents for a slider? Are you kidding me?

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:35:14 -0800

(Although I just realized I've heard that rhyme before, which is maybe why I like it.)

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:36:55 -0800

"This song is just six words long" is seven words! Wtf?!