Mandatory Fun (Album 14) Speculation :3

[CharlesNelson]

Do they need the license to use "Eat it" just to type the words "Just eat it." onto a page?)

It looks like they will be playing the track in the background for radio and television commercials.

We have licensed the original recording to use in a series of radio and television ads (in addition to an extensive print campaign),

I'm just saying, it sounds funny how they phrase it.

[joseyklein]

not hap'nen thats what I think

[Killingsworth]

Here's another thing I've been thinking about in regards to the next album lately.

As we all know, Al had talked about how he felt he had to put the relasse of Alpocalypse for weeks and months until he found just the right lead single. He also said he had to wait for the next big "event" in music and pop culture for the lead parody (which turned out to be Lady Gaga and "Born This Way" after all) to complete the album.

Do you think Al will be doing the same thing again this time? Does anyone think Al will be waiting for the next big artist or figure or "moment" in music and culture to play off of (ala "Perform This Way", "Smells Like Nirvana", "Couch Potato") or do you think he will just look for a current song that he can match a strong, workable idea with regardless of the staying power of the artist (ala "White and Nerdy or "Amish Paradise"?)

I'm not taking a stance here, because while I think it could go either way I think Al is much more likely to go for the latter option this time around. Al seems pretty eager to get this next album out as soon as he possibly can, so he probably won't keep us waiting on one parody while he finds just the right new thing to hitch his wagon to. Besides, the last two times he did this (PTW and Couch Potato) he ended up having to do a real rush job on the most important parody on the album and I'd rather not see him end up doing THAT again. I'd rather Al tkae his time and develop a really soild idea for a song by a lesser known artist again for the lead single (like he did with W&N and Amish Paradise) this album.

[dansachs]

Can we start talking about what will be in the "Weird Al Happy Meals"? Do you think there will be one toy per album?

[CharlesNelson]

It's tough to speculate on future parodies, but can we speculate a bit on what parodies he's already recorded? Armed with basic Weird Al album-formula knowledge and with the fact that he finished the last of the 6 originals last May, we've deduced he recorded 2-3 parodies in December. More likely 3, because we don't think he's done the polka yet. Since it takes time for Al to have the right idea, get the artists' permission, and then write it out, I think some or all of these parodies came from songs that were already popular last summer. Less likely to be songs that came out around October or later.

But not "Blurred Lines." I think it's polka material at best. Just something Al wouldn't want to parody after the rest of the Internet got to it first, and have it be a mid-album parody at best. The songs he's parodied have to be recognizable, of course, with some staying power, but not so ultra-popular that they've already been parodied a dozen ways.

I will now dive deep into the Internet and try to solve the riddle I've just posed. When I have some decent results, I shall edit this post and post them.

EDIT: Rather than post them here, I'm starting my own post.

[anthontherun]

Does anyone think Al will be waiting for the next big artist or figure or "moment" in music and culture to play off of (ala "Perform This Way", "Smells Like Nirvana", "Couch Potato") or do you think he will just look for a current song that he can match a strong, workable idea with regardless of the staying power of the artist (ala "White and Nerdy or "Amish Paradise"?)

I don't know if I would put those first three songs in the same group. Lady Gaga and Eminem were proven hitmakers, and Al most likely had their next singles (at the time) in mind before they were even released. Nirvana OTOH came out of nowhere, and as great as "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was, there was no solid indication that they were going to have any more staying power than Coolio eventually did (and "Gangsta's Paradise" was everywhere in '95-96). Although Al did prove to have a pretty good track record in that department, since he also picked "Like a Surgeon" as the lead parody early in Madonna's career.

[mrmeadows]

Since it takes time for Al to have the right idea, get the artists' permission, and then write it out, I think some or all of these parodies came from songs that were already popular last summer. Less likely to be songs that came out around October or later.

Well, here's a quick list to start:
http://www.glamour.com/entertainment/bl ... 013-e.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Perusing the list, I'm only familiar with a handful of songs (as usual), but of the songs I do know I could totally hear Al doing a parody of "Heart Attack". Something about the song's structure and chorus is just begging for a spoof.

Then there's the song "Brave", which I have to say I CANNOT STAND. Every time that song comes on I want to punch it in its face. However, I think it's primo Polka material. I can almost hear Al singing a sped up version of the chorus in 3/4 time, then the music stops and he sings "I wanna see you be brave!"...then we get the bridge to the next song. Totally happening. (Now watch: It won't happen.)

"Get Lucky" seems too repetitive for a parody, but almost has to be in the polka.

"Radioactive" could get a parody. It's a little different, but there's some potential there.

As for "Blurred Lines", I'm on the fence. I hate this song as much as anyone, and I know lesser minds than Al have already spoofed this on YouTube. But I kinda wouldn't mind a parody from the mind of Al, and I think if he came up with a strong enough idea he wouldn't let the crappy parodies stop him from doing his own. As the article says, it was pretty much the song of the summer, so it almost has to be represented by either a parody or polka. No, I don't think the "Blurred Heinz" Twitter gag was some kind of wink to fans that he's parodying it, but I could still see it. But if not, it will definitely be in the polka.

I'll have to listen to the rest of those songs to see if any of them jump out as great parody fodder. Curious to hear CharlesNelson's (and any others) take.

[Killingsworth]

Armed with basic Weird Al album-formula knowledge and with the fact that he finished the last of the 6 originals last May, we've deduced he recorded 2-3 parodies in December. More likely 3, because we don't think he's done the polka yet.

Actually, I think there's a chance that he may have recorded the polka already. The fact that he had to record the vocals to his last three as-of-yet-unreleased songs indicates one of them could be a big production number (as I imagine most polka medleys to be) requiring some use of session musicians coming in if everyone's schedules seemed to be so screwed up around this time they couldn't record all together in one sitting. Plus, he recorded "Polka Face" before he recorded the last three parodies on "Alpocalypse" so this could be a new pattern to which Al adheres recording his albums to.

Also, maybe one of the new parodies Al recorded was one Al wasn't totally finished writing by the time he started recording it. I bring this up because the whole recording in December and January situation reminds me of something he said in an old Ask Al post about how Puff Daddy didn't get back to him with permission to record "Pentiums" until he was very close to a deadline so he had the band record the music first (before he heard back from Puffy) to give him more time to write lyrics.

In regards to the link mrmeadows posted, I could easily see Al also parodying "The Way" by Ariana Grande/Mac Miller or "I Love It" by Icona Pop/Charli XCX. I agree with most of the rest of your sentiments (especially those on "Blurred "Lines because as much as I find that song irritating, Al parodying it would be worth the song's massive overexposure...it would be like the greatest joke ever that's a year long complex setup to ONE punchline)

[minnick27]

Plus, he recorded "Polka Face" before he recorded the last three parodies on "Alpocalypse" so this could be a new pattern to which Al adheres recording his albums to.

Remember Al started a tour before the album was done, so he kind of had to have the polka done, I dont think it is the start of a pattern, especially since this is quite possibly the last album.

[OneWAY]

My thinking is that the typical recording pattern is this:

6 Originals
1 Polka
5 Parodies

There were two sessions of three to start off recording dates, which I think were all the originals. I also think the polka was part of the last session, which means that there were also two parodies in that same session. I honestly think that at this stage, the biggest concerns would be the parodies. Timeliness is more of an issue with the bigger parodies, which can be read in terms of subject matter and/or source material.