A Weird Al "History of Pop/Rock Timeline" Idea

[mrmeadows]

Just let me know when you all figure out which song was supposed to be the Elton John style parody Bermuda was talking about....

[Skippy]

Just let me know when you all figure out which song was supposed to be the Elton John style parody Bermuda was talking about....

The problem with that one is he said it doesn't really resemble Elton John that much in its final state. Kind of like how you'd never guess "Hardware Store" was a Presidents of the United States of America style parody, because it didn't work and they went a different direction with it. That said, my money's on "Nature Trail to Hell."

[Bruce the Duck]

Do you know a song where Tyler does the "-a" extra syllable thing? I gave the theory a fair investigation and couldn't find anything, nor do I really remember him doing that from my own Aerosmith knowledge.

Check out "Permanent Vacation" from the album of the same name. He does it a few times in there. Without extensively scouring through my collection, I know he's done it in other songs as well, but that's probably the best example since "Permanent Vacation" came out in March 1987 and Al recorded "Vanna" in November of that year same year.

Also, I didn't mention it before, but Al's "gravely" voice (for lack of a better word) during the entire song is reminiscent of Tyler's singing voice. Also, the percussion during the chorus and instrumental break reminds me a lot of Aerosmith as well (particularly "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" - also from "Permanent Vacation".

We know from old Ask Al's that Al was a fan of Aerosmith and it makes sense that Al would style parody the band right after they made their huge comeback (they kind of faded away through most of the 80s until a series of huge hits starting with "Permanent Vacation").

I think with that song he was trying capture the essence of 80s rock, combining influences from two of the biggest bands of the time. So, I would put "Vanna" right in the mid-1980s since that was when Van Halen got big and when Aerosmith began their comeback.

[Skippy]

Check out "Permanent Vacation" from the album of the same name. He does it a few times in there.

Listening to it again, I hear what you mean. Al's is more obvious, but it's there. He does this in "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" too. PV is probably my favorite Aerosmith album (I was too young to know them from the 70s, but I like a lot of that stuff too) and it's where I focused when I was I exploring this, for the reasons you mentioned.

I think with that song he was trying capture the essence of 80s rock, combining influences from two of the biggest bands of the time. So, I would put "Vanna" right in the mid-1980s since that was when Van Halen got big and when Aerosmith began their comeback.

All points granted, and after listening again, I defer to the combo Van Halen/Aerosmith combo theory.

[TMBJon]

Now the UHF Soundtrack really poses some tough questions:

Gandhi II & Spatula City - Do these count as anything? I think I'd leave them off, unless you want to count the former as a Shaft parody.

Radioactive Hamsters, UHF, Let Me Be Your Hog, Fun Zone - Are any of these style parodies???

Generic Blues - Which blues artist does this most closely sound like? B.B. King maybe?

[JEDM]

Radioactive Hamsters, UHF, Let Me Be Your Hog, Fun Zone - Are any of these style parodies???

Bermuda "does not recall the intended sound" for "Hamsters".

[Bruce the Duck]

The melody of UHF always reminded me of "Addicted to Love" by Robert Palmer. I doubt Al had that in mind though, since he had already parodied it, and I don't really know any other Palmer songs though.

[Genius in Maine]

I recently saw "UHF" mentioned as a "State of Shock" soundalike. Having re-listened to "State Of Shock", I hear some similarity between the two songs (namely, the primary riffs).

[Bruce the Duck]

Further, and more authoratative confirmation from Bermuda in response to a question about reactions from style parody artists:

I imagine Al has heard comments from the likes of Ben Folds, Taylor Hanson, maybe Steven Tyler, and probably some others.

[minnick27]

Polka Party! is done. There's really one song I'm not entirely sure what to do with, and that's "Don't Wear Those Shoes." The opening is very obviously "Father Christmas" by The Kinks, but the rest of the song bears little to no resemblance. Meanwhile, "One of Those Days" appears to also draw heavily from a Kinks song, "Ducks on the Wall." (Thanks to TheLazenby again for pointing me toward these songs.) I'm more inclined to think that "One Of Those Days" is the intended style parody, but honestly it could be either one of them, or both. I have a feeling Al was just listening to a lot of Kinks back then.

Two other songs on this album are typically just considered generic genre songs, but I decided to attribute them to specific artists. For "Good Enough For Now," I went with Ray Price's 1956 song "Crazy Arms." It's the original country shuffle, and follows the structure of GEFN pretty closely (really, vice versa, but you get it.) For "Christmas at Ground Zero," I think beyond just a standard carol, Al was going for the style of Phil Spector's 1963 Christmas album, particularly the Ronettes and Crystals songs.

Going through Ask Al and it says that the beginning of DWTS is a Kinks song, but the rest is original

Polka Party! is done. There's really one song I'm not entirely sure what to do with, and that's "Don't Wear Those Shoes." The opening is very obviously "Father Christmas" by The Kinks, but the rest of the song bears little to no resemblance. Meanwhile, "One of Those Days" appears to also draw heavily from a Kinks song, "Ducks on the Wall." (Thanks to TheLazenby again for pointing me toward these songs.) I'm more inclined to think that "One Of Those Days" is the intended style parody, but honestly it could be either one of them, or both. I have a feeling Al was just listening to a lot of Kinks back then.

Two other songs on this album are typically just considered generic genre songs, but I decided to attribute them to specific artists. For "Good Enough For Now," I went with Ray Price's 1956 song "Crazy Arms." It's the original country shuffle, and follows the structure of GEFN pretty closely (really, vice versa, but you get it.) For "Christmas at Ground Zero," I think beyond just a standard carol, Al was going for the style of Phil Spector's 1963 Christmas album, particularly the Ronettes and Crystals songs.