The Future of Weird Al Releases

[minnick27]

I'm really bummed that there won't be any more Al CDs.

Firstly, sound quality. Not only do CDs sound better than mp3s in general, Al's CDs sound REALLY good. The mp3s will pale by comparison.

Secondly, we're losing the polka medleys. On Al's recent AMA, he said that NTWICP will be the last medley we'll get, aside from maybe doing new ones in concert only. I know he attributed that to the tons of paperwork for his manager, but if that were true, he could've stopped anytime before now. He knows his fans love and expect a polka on every CD, but now that he's not doing them anymore, it's an easy excuse to get rid of them.

And thirdly, what's going to happen to Al's originals? They're going to go away, that's what. Let's face it: us diehards will buy anything Al puts out. But "the masses" (and Al wouldn't be "AL" without the masses - diehards only don't pay for a house in California and vacations in Hawaii) really only care about the parodies. So if he releases his songs one at time, do you really think "the masses" will buy something like "My Own Eyes" or "Jackson Park Express?" I don't. If the originals come along with four or five parodies on a CD, everybody says "OK, fine." But I really don't think his originals will sell on their own. Which means Al will eventually stop doing them.

Am I being too negative? I don't know, maybe. Maybe it's 'cause I'm probably older than most here and I prefer CDs to mp3s. And I understand why Al thinks this is the best way to move forward, but I just think there's a lot of negatives to the decision that I guess I'm not happy with.

Having said all that, I'll still be buying all the music AL puts out, whatever form it may take.

OK. Thanks for letting me get this off my chest.

I actually think you are being extremely negative, but thats ok, its your opinion. I dont think originals will go away, nor do I think the polkas will disappear. On the originals he gets 100% of royalties. On the parodies he gets less depending on the amount of songwriters. If a song has 4 songwriters and Al, thats 20% to him. If he sells 1 original for every 4 parodies, hes ahead. And polkas may not be sold, but we will probably get a new one every tour, which by the way is where artists make their money.

[Kevbo1987]

I was just thinking that if we have indeed heard the last recorded polka medley, we may also have heard the last new Al recording on which he plays accordion. I hope he can find a way to sneak some accordion in every now and then.

[TMBJon]

we may also have heard the last new Al recording on which he plays accordion.

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!!

[Big Spoon]

I highly doubt Al will retire the accordion from all new recordings.

At least, I hope he doesn't.

[Well, Well, Well]

when I look at some of instrumental tracks he put on the Gump single, I can't help but think that an EP with two parodies, two original style parodies, and one instrumental polka composed by Al would be the perfect way to go. Al has to be able to write his own polkas if he so chooses, right? And if he released two new live action videos to go with the parodies he could easily market the EP similar to how Mandatory Fun was marketed and be successful.

[Skippy]

Do people want instrumental polkas from Al?

[Well, Well, Well]

well people are freaking out over the loss of recorded polka medleys, and I have to assume part of that is because they enjoy the throwback to polka music. I think it would be cool if Al recorded his own polka songs that wouldn't require him to get permission from 12 artists, etc. it wouldn't have to be instrumental, but I think that would be pretty cool.

[Skippy]

I kind of doubt that what people are freaking out about is the music. People love the polka medleys because of the songs Al chooses and what he does with them within the medley. It's funny to hear pop/rock hits done in a polka style, and Al has a knack for picking the songs that sound the most ridiculous.

If Al had chosen some other musical style for the medleys, like blues or country, people would still love them. Being a polka is a very small part of it.

[TMBJon]

Being a polka is a very big part of it. But you're also right that people want the medley of pop songs, not just a polka tune.

[Skippy]

Being a polka is a very big part of it.

Is it though? I mean, maybe I'm in the minority, but zero of the appeal of Al to me is the accordion or polka music. I get that it's part of it for some people, but even still, we only know polka medleys. What are the chances that, if instead of polka it was blues (or disco or opera or whatever) all along, anyone would be posting how they wished the medleys were polkas instead?