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Alapalooza
''Alapalooza'' is the eighth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1993. By the completion of his previous album, ''Off the Deep End'', Yankovic had already written all of the original songs that he planned to use on his next release. This new album, which would eventually be titled ''Alapalooza'' in reference to the music festival Lollapalooza, consisted of seven original songs and five parodies. It produced three parody singles: "Jurassic Park", "Bedrock Anthem", and " Achy Breaky Song". "Jurassic Park" was a top five hit on the Canadian magazine '' The Record''s single chart. Among the album's original creations were "Talk Soup", a tune originally intended to replace the theme song of the television show of the same name, and "Harvey the Wonder Hamster", an oft-requested jingle from one of Yankovic's Al TV specials. A music video compilation, entitled ''Alapalooza: the Videos'', was released the following year and contained four videos, only two of which were from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, as well as polka medleys of several popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion. Since having a comedy song aired on '' The Dr. Demento Radio Show'' in 1976 at age 16, Yankovic has sold more than 12 million albums (), recorded more than 150 parodies and original songs, and performed more than 1,000 live shows. His work has earned him five Grammy Awards and a further 11 nominations, four gold records, and six platinum records in the U.S. His first top ten '' Billboard'' album ('' Straight Outta Lynwood'') and single (" White & Nerdy") were both released in 2006, nearly three decades into his career. His l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic Park (song)
"Jurassic Park" is a parody of Richard Harris's version of Jimmy Webb's song "MacArthur Park", written and performed by "Weird Al" Yankovic; it was released both as a single and as part of Yankovic's ''Alapalooza'' album in October 1993. "Jurassic Park" was penned by Yankovic after he remembered the enjoyment he had when he combined a classic rock track with a recent movie theme with his 1985 song "Yoda". Yankovic decided to combine the plot of the recent movie '' Jurassic Park''—a film about a park on a fictional island where geneticists have succeeded in cloning dinosaurs—with the classic Richard Harris track "MacArthur Park". The song was paired with an elaborately animated music video, which was created by Mark Osborne and Scott Nordlund almost entirely via claymation. The video did not receive extensive play on MTV, although it was popular on The Box, VH1, and in Canada, where it was played on MuchMusic. The video, due to its animation, also later went on to be prai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Food Album
''The Food Album'' is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 22, 1993, by Scotti Brothers Records. The release features ten of Yankovic's song parodies, all of which pertain to food. A similar album, ''The TV Album'', which features songs entirely about television, would be released two years later. The album was begrudgingly released by Yankovic, who felt that the compilation was unnecessary and merely a way for his record label to make money. Several food-related songs that Yankovic had recorded, such as "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch" and "Waffle King", were left off the record, although the former was due to personal preference, while the latter was due to scheduling issues. ''The Food Album'' received mixed reviews from music critics, many of whom felt that the record was an enjoyable collection of songs, but that it was not an essential record to purchase. Despite the lukewarm reception, the record was certified Gold by the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Achy Breaky Song
"Achy Breaky Song" is a country song by American song parodist "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on his album ''Alapalooza'', parodying the song "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus. The song details a disgruntled listener's disdain for the song ("Don't play that song, that achy breaky song..."), as well as several alternatives he would rather endure, rather than having to listen to it anymore. These even include physical torture such as being "tie .. to a chair and kick d.. down the stairs". "Achy Breaky Song" was Yankovic's first single to get considerable airplay on country radio stations. The liner notes for the album ''Alapalooza'' state that "All songwriting proceeds from Achy Breaky Song will be donated to the United Cerebral Palsy Association." Yankovic stated that this was done because since the song itself was so "mean-spirited" he thought that he might as well donate the money earned to a charitable cause. The song references Donny & Marie, Barry Manilow, New Kids on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bedrock Anthem
"Bedrock Anthem" is a song by "Weird Al" Yankovic which was featured on his 1993 album ''Alapalooza''. It is a parody of "Under the Bridge" and " Give It Away", both by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and features the same funk rock musical style. The song also appears on the soundtrack album for the 1994 live-action movie version of ''The Flintstones'', with a portion of the song played during the end credits. This was the second time Yankovic used two songs by a band in one parody, the first being " The Plumbing Song", which was a parody of Milli Vanilli's "Baby Don't Forget My Number" and "Blame It on the Rain". "Bedrock Anthem" included clips from the actual ''Flintstones'' cartoon and, after being a part of ''Alapalooza'', was also included in the compilation album ''The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic''. Track listing # "Bedrock Anthem" – 3:41 # "Young, Dumb & Ugly" – 4:24 Lyrics The song portrays the narrator's desire to live in Bedrock, the setting of TV's ''The Flin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Off The Deep End
''Off the Deep End'' is the seventh studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1992. This album was the first album self-produced by Yankovic, after six albums with Rick Derringer. Recorded between June 1990 and January 1992, the album was a follow-up to the unsuccessful soundtrack to Yankovic's 1989 film '' UHF''. ''Off the Deep End'' and its lead single "Smells Like Nirvana" helped to revitalize Yankovic's career after a lull following his last hit single, "Fat", in 1988. The musical styles on ''Off the Deep End'' are built around parodies and pastiches of pop and rock music of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including the newly arisen grunge movement. Half of the album is made up of parodies of Nirvana, MC Hammer, New Kids on the Block, Gerardo, and Milli Vanilli. The other half of the album is original material, featuring many "style parodies", or musical imitations of existing artists. These style parodies include imitations of specific artists like the Beach Boys, Jame ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1993 In Music
This is a summary of significant events in music in 1993. Specific locations *1993 in British music * 1993 in Norwegian music Specific genres * 1993 in country music *1993 in heavy metal music *1993 in hip hop music *1993 in Latin music * 1993 in jazz Events January–February *January 8 – The U.S. Postal Service issues an Elvis Presley stamp. The design was voted on in February 1992. *January 9 – The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album becomes the first album in history, since the Nielsen SoundScan introduced a computerized sales monitoring system in May 1992, to sell over 1 million copies in one week in the US. *January 12 – Cream reunites for a performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Los Angeles, USA. Other inductees include Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ruth Brown, The Doors, Van Morrison, and Sly & The Family Stone. *January 13 – Bobby Brown is arrested in Augusta, Georgia, USA for simulating a sex act onstage. *January 24–Fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smells Like Nirvana
"Smells Like Nirvana" is a song parody written and performed by American musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. A parody of Nirvana's song "Smells Like Teen Spirit", it was released as the lead single from Yankovic's ''Off the Deep End'' album in April 1992. "Smells Like Nirvana" was written during a three-year career low for Yankovic after the financial failure of his film '' UHF'', but captured the quickly-rising popularity of grunge and Nirvana's success. The song was written to ridicule the fact that many people could hardly understand Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain's lyrics in the original song. After being unable to contact Nirvana conventionally, Yankovic called Cobain while the band was on the set of ''Saturday Night Live'', where Cobain quickly gave permission to record the parody. Recording the song was a change for Yankovic and his band. Usually, the group were forced to record several overdubs. "Smells Like Nirvana", however, was relatively straightforward in its musical compositio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al TV
''Al TV'' is an American comedy TV series created by and starring singer-songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic, which aired as periodic specials on MTV and VH1, beginning in 1984. Overview The premise of the show is that Yankovic uses his private satellite transmitter to commandeer the airwaves of a music video station in order to show the videos that ''he'' wants to watch. The program is primarily a parody of MTV itself, including that of MTV's moon landing image sequence. As its theme music, the series featured a re-recording of MTV's own theme at the time, featuring Yankovic on accordion and manualist "Musical Mike" Kieffer. The show features commercials for imaginary products, fake interviews with celebrities, comments on the latest music news, letters from fans, and bizarre ''non sequiturs''. For fake interviews, the show edits footage from unrelated outside interviews and manipulates it such that Al appears to be interviewing the celebrity in a silly or mocking way. ''Al TV ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the database was first made available on the Internet in 1994. AllMusic is owned by RhythmOne. History AllMusic was launched as ''All Music Guide'' by Michael Erlewine, a "compulsive archivist, noted astrologer, Buddhist scholar and musician". He became interested in using computers for his astrological work in the mid-1970s and founded a software company, Matrix, in 1977. In the early 1990s, as CDs replaced LPs as the dominant format for recorded music, Erlewine purchased what he thought was a CD of early recordings by Little Richard. After buying it he discovered it was a "flaccid latter-day rehash". Frustrated with the labeling, he researched using metadata to create a music guide. In 1990, in Big Rapids, Michigan, he founded ''All Music Guide' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polka Party!
''Polka Party!'' is the fourth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on October 21, 1986. The album was produced by former The McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between April and September 1986, the album was Yankovic's follow-up to his successful 1985 release, ''Dare to Be Stupid''. The album's lead single, " Living With a Hernia", failed to chart. The music on ''Polka Party!'' is built around parodies and pastiches of pop and rock music of the mid-1980s, featuring direct parodies of James Brown, Mick Jagger, El DeBarge and Robert Palmer. The album also features many "style parodies", or musical imitations that come close to, but do not copy, existing artists. These style parodies include imitations of specific artists like Talking Heads, as well as imitations of various musical genres like country music. Peaking at No. 177 on the ''Billboard'' 200, ''Polka Party!'' was met with mixed-to-negative reviews and was considered a commercial and critical failure. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
"Weird Al" Yankovic In 3-D
''"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D'' (often referred to simply as ''In 3-D'') is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on February 28, 1984, by Rock 'n Roll Records. The album was one of many produced by former The McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between October and December 1983, the album was Yankovic's follow-up to his modestly successful debut LP, ''"Weird Al" Yankovic''. The album is built around parodies and pastiches of pop and rock music of the mid-1980s. Half of the album is made up of parodies of artists like Michael Jackson, Men Without Hats, the Greg Kihn Band, the Police, and Survivor. The other half of the album contains many "style parodies", musical imitations that come close to but do not directly copy a specific work by existing artists. These style parodies include imitations of artists such as Bob Marley and the B-52s. This album marked a musical departure from Yankovic's self-titled debut, in that the arrange ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
