mrmeadows @ Jun 21 2006, 01:36 AM wrote:
RICKY: My earliest memory of hearing/seeing Al was the music video for this and for "I Love Rocky Road" on HBO when they used to air music videos as interstitials between programming.
Likewise! Only I was a couple years younger, and I genuinely had no idea that "Ricky" was a parody or that it was by Al. I didn't hear the song again until I was in high school (I took way too long to get around to picking up his first album), and I didn't clue in until then. I thought "Mickey" was some kind of weird, alternate riff on "Ricky", not the other way around. I vaguely remember even correcting people when they'd quote the "Mickey" title. ("No, it's about I Love Lucy...")
I'll be bumping all of these topics to show my opinions
Ricky - It's too similar to the original, I've never watched I Love Lucy so it seems a bit weak - 5/10
Gotta Boogie - My least favourite by any artist, it makes me want to vomit - 0/10
I Love Rocky Road - It's funny but it seems like quite an obvious parody - 7/10
Buckingham Blues - It's alright but the music sounds like a bad blues song, Generic Blues is a lot better - 5/10
Happy Birthday - The saving grace of this album - 9/10
Stop Draggin' my Car Around - It's funny but I'm not a big fan of the original - 7/10
My Bologna - The vocals aren't great, but everything else is - 8/10
The Check's in the Mail - I don't get it - 5/10
Another One Rides the Bus - Hilarious but it really needed to be closer to the original - 7/10
I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead - Forgettable and unfunny - 4/10
Such a Groovy Guy - I love it, I always find myself humming it when I'm cycling - 9/10
Mr. Frump and the Iron Lung - Not good lengthwise, musically or lyrically - 3/10
Overall - It has it's moments but it's definitely the weakest of Al's albums - 5/10
Since you left home on your journey, things have changed around here. For example, I dont have as much laundry.
Nice breakdown. I'll be interested to read his take on "I'll Be Mellow When I'm Dead," my favorite song on the album precisely because it fits into the thesis this author suggests.
I couldn't tell a dirt clod from a plate of caviar.
The new-millennium Yankovic has no consistent comedic or musical persona.
True, by nature of what he does Al has no consistent musical persona these days, besides chameleon-like perfectionism and the whole "6 originals + 1 lead single parody + 4 other parodies + 1 polka = 1 album" thing I suppose. But I've always thought he had a very consistent comedic persona. It's kinda hard for any comedian NOT to have a consistent comedic persona, since so much of their comedy comes from their particular personality eccentricities (and often defects).
Otherwise, a truly brilliant and insightful article.
Yeah.... I'd say Al has had the same consistent comic persona since at *least* the start of the 'new look' era.
I mean, when you see the name Weird Al, you know more or less what you're going to get. I don't know if I would even say Al has a 'comedic persona' - that makes me think of someone like Larry The Cable Guy or Emo Philips, whose stage personality is considerably different than their real personality. Al's pretty much just the same goofy guy on stage or off.
I vaguely remember even correcting people when they'd quote the "Mickey" title. ("No, it's about I Love Lucy...")
