zwolanerd

This is the third in a series of transplanted articles from my other blog. The transplants will run on Saturdays until they’re all over here. They are copied and pasted, but might get slight edits here and there.

This album was released on June 18, 1985 and was the first album of musical comedy released on compact disc.

I double dog dare you

11. Slime Creatures from Outer Space – A love letter to scifi films of the 50s and 60s. Includes these great lyrics: “They’ll rip your head off just for fun, they’ll paralyze your mind / They’re wearing out their welcome I don’t think I like their kind.”

10. Girls Just Want to Have Lunch – Another food-related song! Producers made Al include a parody of a Cyndi Lauper, against his wishes. Apparently this song is one of his least favorite, but I’ve always enjoyed it.

9. George of the Jungle – One of the oddest songs in Al’s oeuvre, it’s a cover of a theme song for a cartoon. It did end up in the 1997 movie, though.

8. Cable TV – Al’s TV songs always do a great job of walking the line between showing how ridiculous TV is and how much he loves it. When you put this song in the context of cable being a relatively new thing that was really starting to take off, it becomes a fascinating snapshot of the era, I think.

7. This Is the Life – The theme song to Johnny Dangerously. “I eat filet mignon seven times a day, my bathtub’s filled with Perrier – what can I say? This is the life!”

6. Dare to Be Stupid – In some ways this is the quintessential Weird Al song. You can tell he’s having fun with this parody of DEVO.

5. Like a Surgeon – Al famously does not accept parody ideas from anyone…except for here.  The idea for this spoof of a Madonna song came from Madonna herself, who asked a friend how long it would be before Al did it.  Word got back to Al and he felt he needed to write it.

4. I Want a New Duck – I love this song simply because there are more duck puns per minute in this song than you’ll get anywhere else. My favorite is that Al wants a new duck so the duck can show him how “to get down.”

3. Hooked on Polkas – Again, I pretty much love every polka medley.

2. Yoda – The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980. This song got held up because (surprise) it was difficult for Al to get permission from George Lucas (and also the original song’s writer, but we know who the real bad guy is). Throughout the years Al does several “movies in song form” songs, and I love pretty much every one. This one holds a special place in most everyone’s heart, though, because it’s Yoda and Yoda is awesome.

1. One More Minute – This song is in my All Time Top Ten of Al songs.  A doo-wop song about breaking up with a girl that starts out tenderly and ends up, well, weirdly.  I sang a slightly-modified version of this song for a talent show in college, and it was the best-received comedic thing I ever did on stage there.  (Thanks, Al!) I had to modify it because the guy in charge thought the line “I’d rather clean every toilet in Grand Central Station with my tongue than spend one more minute with you” was “too gross.”  I’m inclined to agree with him.

This series is turning out to be one of the most fun things I’ve ever undertaken. I can’t really tell if anyone else in enjoying it, but I’m enjoying it enough personally that it honestly doesn’t matter – and for a guy that really, really wants an audience, that’s saying something!

Tags: Weird Al

Written by: Mark