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Mandatory Fun
''Mandatory Fun'' is the fourteenth studio album by American musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. The self-produced album was released by RCA Records in the United States on July 15, 2014, and was the final album on Yankovic's recording contract. Yankovic had previously released ''Alpocalypse'' in 2011 and was touring in support of it when he first spoke of his next record. When he began to work on ''Mandatory Fun'', Yankovic found himself listening to older acts, many of which he stylistically spoofed on the album. Recorded at studios in Los Angeles and Massachusetts from 2012 to 2014, ''Mandatory Fun'' contains twelve songs, which include parodies of songs by Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, Iggy Azalea, Lorde and Imagine Dragons. It also features original songs in the form of pastiche, imitating the styles of the Pixies, Cat Stevens, Foo Fighters, Crosby, Stills & Nash and Southern Culture on the Skids. Yankovic composed the originals first and wrote the parodies last to allow them t ... [...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] |
Pixies (band)
Pixies is an American alternative rock band formed in 1986, in Boston, Massachusetts. Until 2013, the band consisted of Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums). They disbanded acrimoniously in 1993 but reunited in 2004. After Deal left in 2013, Pixies hired Kim Shattuck as a touring bassist; she was replaced that year by Paz Lenchantin, who became a permanent member in 2016. Pixies is associated with the 1990s alternative rock boom, and draws on elements including punk rock and surf music, surf rock. Their music is known for dynamic "loud-quiet-loud" shifts and song structures. Francis is Pixies' primary songwriter; his often surreal lyrics cover offbeat subjects such as extraterrestrials, incest, and biblical violence. The band achieved modest popularity in the US but was more successful in Europe. Their jarring pop sound influenced acts such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Radiohead, the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billboard (magazine)
''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music industry. Its music charts include the Hot 100, the 200, and the Global 200, tracking the most popular albums and songs in different genres of music. It also hosts events, owns a publishing firm, and operates several TV shows. ''Billboard'' was founded in 1894 by William Donaldson and James Hennegan as a trade publication for bill posters. Donaldson later acquired Hennegan's interest in 1900 for $500. In the early years of the 20th century, it covered the entertainment industry, such as circuses, fairs, and burlesque shows, and also created a mail service for travelling entertainers. ''Billboard'' began focusing more on the music industry as the jukebox, phonograph, and radio became commonplace. Many topics it covered were spun-off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Morning Call
''The Morning Call'' is a daily newspaper in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883, it is the second longest continuously published newspaper in the Lehigh Valley, after ''The Express-Times''. In 2020, the newspaper permanently closed its Allentown headquarters after allegedly failing to pay four months of rent and citing diminishing advertising revenues. The newspaper is owned by Alden Global Capital, a New York City-based hedge fund. History Founding and ownerships ''The Morning Call'' was founded in 1883. Its original name was ''The Critic''. Its original editor, owner and chief reporter was Samuel S. Woolever. The newspaper's first reporter was a Muhlenberg College senior, David A. Miller. The newspaper was subsequently acquired and owned by Charles Weiser, its editor, and Kirt W. DeBelle, its business manager. In 1894, the newspaper launched a reader contest, offering $5 in gold to a school boy or girl in Lehigh County who could guess the publication's new name. The i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extended Play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.Official Charts Company , access-date=March 21, 2017 Contemporary EPs generally contain four or five tracks, and are considered "less expensive and time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album. An EP originally referred to specific types of other than 78 [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
57th Annual Grammy Awards
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST ( UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time. The Grammy nominations were open for recordings released between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2014. Breaking from tradition of a prime-time concert approach, the Grammy nominees were announced during an all-day event on December 5, 2014, starting with initial announcements on the ''CBS This Morning'' telecast, followed by updates made through The Grammys' official Twitter account. Sam Smith won four awards, including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year for " Stay with Me" and Best Pop Vocal Album for ''In the Lonely Hour''. Beck's album ''Morning Phase'' was named Album of the Year. This prompted Kanye West, who later said he thought Beyoncé should have won, to jokingly leap onstage to interrupt Beck in a re-e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grammy Award For Best Comedy Album
The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement in comedy." The award was awarded yearly from 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to present day. History There have been several minor changes to the name of the award over this time: *From 1959 to 1967 it was Best Comedy Performance *From 1968 to 1991 it was known as Best Comedy Recording *From 1992 to 1993 and from 2004 to the present day it was awarded as Best Comedy Album In 1960 and 1961 two separate awards were presented for the best spoken and for the best musical comedy performance. In 1994, after four consecutive years of wins by classical music comedy albums, the award was restricted to spoken word comedy albums and moved into the "spoken" field. From then through 2003, it was awarded as the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album. In 2004 the award was reinstated within the comedy field as the Grammy Award for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Word Crimes
"Word Crimes" is a song by American musician "Weird Al" Yankovic from his fourteenth studio album, ''Mandatory Fun'' (2014). The song is a parody of the 2013 single " Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke, featuring Pharrell Williams and T.I. The song spoofs misuse of proper English grammar and usage, reflecting Yankovic's own rigor for proper syntax and semantics. Yankovic chose a topic that would be distinct from those used in many pre-existing parodies, and that would avoid the misogyny issues that had arisen from the source material. "Word Crimes" received favorable reviews from contemporary music critics, as some describing it as a highlight of ''Mandatory Fun''. The song's music video utilizes kinetic typography, and was compared to the earlier educational '' Schoolhouse Rock!'' musical cartoons. Composition The subject matter in "Word Crimes" was an extension of Yankovic's policy of writing "left-of-center" parodies, especially considering the number of parodies that surface ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music Video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to promote the sale of Music Recording, music recordings. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short, musical short films that first appeared, they again came into prominence when Paramount Global's MTV based its format around the medium. These kinds of videos were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip", "film clip" or simply "video". Music videos use a wide range of styles and contemporary video-making techniques, including animation, live action, live-action, documentary film, documentary, and non-narrative approaches such as Non-narrative film, abstract fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Single
A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release strategies Artists often choose songs that are more up-tempo, yet representative of the album's sound, as lead singles. Such songs are often catchier and attract the attention of listeners. The subsequent single might then be slower in tempo, in order to demonstrate the range of the album. Female vocalists like Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera often maintain a formula of an up-tempo first lead single with a slow ballad follow-up. For example, two singles were released by Miley Cyrus before her album ''Bangerz'' - an up-tempo track called, "We Can't Stop" was released as the first single, and a slow-ballad song, "Wrecking Ball" as the second. This was a successful practice of 1980s heavy metal bands. Girls Aloud chose to use " The Show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Billboard 200 Number-one Albums Of 2014
The highest-selling albums and EPs in the United States are ranked in the ''Billboard'' 200, which is published by ''Billboard'' magazine. The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales. In 2014, a total of 33 albums claimed the top position of the chart. One of which, American R&B singer Beyoncé's self-titled visual album started its peak in late 2013. The soundtrack to the 2013 Disney film, '' Frozen'' was the longest-running number-one album of the year, staying atop the chart for thirteen non-consecutive weeks. Other albums with extended chart runs include Beyoncé's self-titled visual album, ''Ghost Stories'' by Coldplay, the Marvel soundtrack '' Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1'' and '' 1989'' by Taylor Swift; only three albums spent two weeks on the top position. The ''Frozen'' soundtrack sold 165,000 additional copies in its sixth week upon its week, bringing its sales up to nearly 2.7 million units ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Culture On The Skids
Southern Culture on the Skids, also sometimes known as SCOTS, is an American rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Originally a straightforward roots rock band, they became known as a tongue-in-cheek "party band" with an exaggerated "white trash" image and humourous lyrics inspired by the culture of the Southern United States. The band released their debut EP ''Voodoo Beach Party'' in 1984, followed by their self-titled debut album the following year, influenced by blues, psychobilly and rock and roll. After these early releases, the band's line-up shifted due to a perceived lack in direction, and the band reemerged with a new, hard to classify sound, which encompassed Southern rock, swamp rock and surf music. Later, they added pedal steel guitar and accordion to their instrumentation and shifted their sound to country music. Biography Guitarist and founding member Rick Miller grew up dividing his time between his father's home and business in Henderson, North Carolina an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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