One Of Those Days

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TMBJon
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by TMBJon »

Other than Christmas at Ground Zero and Dog Eat Dog, I could do without the entire Polka Party album.
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by Wizzerkat »

I really like this song. In fact, I like all of the originals from PP better than most of the parodies from PP. I think the rush factor might have done this album in. It's better to take some time to find the right songs to parody.
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by FredHuggins »

the fact that "Ruthless People" bombed at the box office rendered "Toothless People" irrelevant immediately
"Ruthless People" didn't bomb - it was actually a huge box office hit. It's just that Mick Jagger's theme song, for whatever reason, didn't chart. People only recognized it from the movie. In Al's 1986 Demento interview, he explained how he was looking for that one last parody, and the first artist to get back to him with approval was Jagger saying "I'd be honored to have my own Weird Al parody," and Al had been such a huge fan of the man for so many years, he couldn't very well say "Well gosh, Mick, your single kinda tanked. Maybe next time, okay?"

The problem with Polka Party, commercially, was the cover concept. Al wasn't really known as "that accordion guy" - he had barely used it on an album since the first album. He was the weird guy who did parody videos, and America just wasn't ready for the polka revolution Al was trying to precipitate. They thought it was Al doing an all-polka album, and didn't buy it.

The problem with Polka Party, artistically, was that Al didn't have enough time. He was coming off of three solid years of recording and touring with very few breaks, his inspiration was starting to run dry and he needed TIME to refuel it that the label wasn't willing to give him. They essentially DEMANDED a fourth Weird Al album by the end of 1986. Plus, the music industry wasn't giving him another MJ- or Madonna-sized '80s icon anytime soon, so he had to settle for the comeback single of a '60s/'70s icon (okay, okay, TIMELESS icon). Actually, Polka Party depended an awful lot on Hollywood for its parodies - "Hernia" parodied a song from Rocky IV, "Toothless" parodied a song from Ruthless People, "Johnny" parodied a song from Short Circuit, and the polka medley included a song from White Nights.

Plus, the originals on PP suffered from Kinks-itis. Al has admitted that, musically, he ripped off The Kinks a few times too often in the '80s, and I'm not talking about Yoda. Listen to "One Of Those Days" (which I love, lyrically) back-to-back with the Kinks' "Ducks On The Wall," or "Don't Wear Those Shoes" (which I don't love so much, lyrically) back-to-back with the Kinks' "Father Christmas" and you'll hear what I mean. It really feels like Al spent so much time perfecting "Dog Eat Dog" and "Christmas At Ground Zero" that he had to hastily throw "Days" and "Shoes" together, then TRUST he'd come up with a decent fifth original by August. Then August came around, and Al thought "I don't need a GREAT song, just something good enough for now...hey, wait a minute..."

Polka Party isn't a bad album. Far from it. "Hernia" is a genuine hoot, "Dog" and "Christmas" are masterpieces of course, the polka is my favorite '80s polka, "One Of Those Days" has great lyrics...hell, even "Good Enough For Now" is kinda fun, especially if your parents made you listen to as many godawful country ballads as mine did. But it did teach Al a valuable lesson about the extreme value of patience and discipline on the whole, not just at the edges.
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Re: Re:

Post by Elvis »

caseyk27 wrote:I think this must be why he didn't include a polka medely on Even Worse
He has stated in the past he didn't include a polka medley because "Lasagna" already heavily uses the accordion, and having another accordion song (polka) would be redundant (and cruel! :P).

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TMBJon
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by TMBJon »

Isn't the real story that he went all out trying to get a Led Zeppelin polka medley for Even Worse and it didn't happen?
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by minnick27 »

TMBJon wrote:Isn't the real story that he went all out trying to get a Led Zeppelin polka medley for Even Worse and it didn't happen?

I thought it was a U2 polka? The Zeppelin polka was replaced by Hot Rocks.
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Re: Re:

Post by JCM »

Elvis wrote:
caseyk27 wrote:I think this must be why he didn't include a polka medely on Even Worse
He has stated in the past he didn't include a polka medley because "Lasagna" already heavily uses the accordion, and having another accordion song (polka) would be redundant (and cruel! :P).

Dave
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by Muldernscully »

This is an all right song. It doesn't excite me terribly. I have nothing against it. I give it a 3 out of 5.
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by Yankomaniac »

This is the best song on the album for me. Great solos always make a song better for me and this one has some wild pinch squeals in there, the lyrics are about as good as it gets too. 27 out of 5.
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Re: One Of Those Days

Post by Doug16mmGraves »

I agree with you about this hilariously ridiculous song! I'd really like to read your short story. Sounds really funny!

Funny, striking title too!

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