Bands/artists You Might Like If You Like Weird Al

Post by **Seva** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:29 pm

Agreed too. And I even remember Bob Ricci saying the same thing. He said that he feels sorry for making Weird Al look like a fool (or something else, I can't remember it now), because he recorded and released a "Constipated" parody long before Al did.

Well, there are two reasons for me to bash this: 1) Just what Cathra said about the same wavelength of feeling what's funny; 2) Please name this ultimately serious label where Bob released it. Oh, and yes, 3) I seriously don't think that Bob's parody is a lot funnier than Al's.
I'm not angry at you, Bob, but please... Al is Al. Right?

http://www.last.fm/user/geniusinmaine · Post by **Genius in Maine** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 6:57 pm

Going back to the title of the topic, I think these bands deserve a mention here:

Van Halen/David Lee Roth - They know how to put humor into music (listen to "Beautiful Girls" and "Unchained"), make hilarious videos, and give new twists to songs by other artists (check out their version of "Dancing In The Street").

Barenaked Ladies - They have appeared on the Weird Al Show, plus their lyrics are usually comical and silly.

Post by **algonacchick** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:37 pm

hehe, even though they're really not considered demented musicians, I think ZZ Top deserves a mention. There are a few songs they've done that could easily be played on Dr. D's show. And they have a unique look. I still think it's funny that the only member of that band without a beard is Frank Beard! He's the drummer. The other two are Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons. They play bass and guitar, respectively. Hubby sites Billy Gibbons as one of his favorite guitarists. I'd have to agree. He's really good. Al thought enough of them to parody them in the UHF video. Gotta love that! I'm sure they were thrilled!

The songs I'm talking about that could be played on Dr D?

Planet of Women and My Head's in Mississippi

So, if you haven't heard any ZZ Top, where have you been?

No, seriously, check them out. I love 'em!

young dumb and ugly · Post by **young dumb and ugly** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:44 pm

Whos heard 'Star Trekkin' '?..its been played on the Dr. D show..and its on his Hits From Outer Space (The Saga Begins is on that CD too)

Anyway, Star Trekkin is a cool song.

Sarah

Post by **scottidog** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:38 pm

CatraDhtem @ Nov 30 2004, 01:27 AM wrote: He won't be able to do that standing in someone else's shadow and then complaining about the light.

It's an interesting problem that I suppose all Dementia artists have, because like it or not, Al is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room. We all know that his name is synonymous with Parody or Comedy music. It's tough to escape the comparison, and I can see where the people who started out as Al fans, and still are Al fans find it tough to escape and find their own voice. Unless of course, you're Joey Fatone, who seems to think he invented the genre. (Whatever happened to that album? Was it never released? Or was it released and went down in flames?)

We've discussed the apparent hostility some Dementia fans seem to feel about Al's music, so there's no need to go into it again here, I suppose.

Post by **algonacchick** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:55 pm

Sarah, CB *stupidsurgeon27* loves Star Trekkin'. I have no idea who did that song. She might, though. I'm not a Trekkie, so I'm not really a fan of that song.

*ducks from being hurt by CB*

Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:57 pm

young dumb and ugly @ Nov 30 2004, 06:44 PM wrote: Whos heard 'Star Trekkin' '?..its been played on the Dr. D show..and its on his Hits From Outer Space (The Saga Begins is on that CD too)

Anyway, Star Trekkin is a cool song.

Sarah

IS IT THIS SONG YOU MEAN , you can listen to it.

BTW It was a number 1 hit in the UK on June 20th and 27th 1987 !!

Post by **algonacchick** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:59 pm

Yes, that's it. It's been played quite a few times on the Dr. Demento show.

young dumb and ugly · Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:28 pm

Yeah thats the song. When Dr. D was at the OC fair he did his show and thats one of the songs he played.

Sarah

CatraDhtem · Post by **CatraDhtem** » Tue Nov 30, 2004 10:44 pm

scottidog @ Nov 30 2004, 08:12 AM wrote: As long as you realize, that I wasn't giving a verbatim quote.

Yes, yes, I know. I fully admit I'm responding to a secondhand account of what was said, regardless of how much I trust this second hand.

But still, the impression is quite clear that he was claiming some kind of responsibility for whichever song was in question. Otherwise, why would he bring it up during a discussion of what does and does not make a good song parody? It just seems like it would be such a non-sequitur if he didn't have some personal interest in bringing that up.

scottidog @ Nov 30 2004, 01:38 PM wrote: It's an interesting problem that I suppose all Dementia artists have, because like it or not, Al is the 800 lb. gorilla in the room. We all know that his name is synonymous with Parody or Comedy music. It's tough to escape the comparison, and I can see where the people who started out as Al fans, and still are Al fans find it tough to escape and find their own voice.

Oh sure, Al has become the gold standard, at least as far as commercial and mainstream success goes. I don't know why that does create such contempt from some comedy enthusiasts, but I guess that's going to happen in every form of specialized pop culture.

I think I mentioned over in the Rock Hall thread how one comedy radio show wasn't going to mention our campaign unless I was somehow able to justify helping out Weird Al when there were so many other comedy artists out there. I really felt like responding with "Uh, because nobody outside of fourteen people, you and I included, has ever heard of the Duck's Breath Mystery Theatre," but I played nice.

But anyway, my big problem with this whole Luke thing isn't that it's a fan wanting to follow the footsteps of someone they admire, it's more the insinuation part of it. It would be like if I sent some of my comic strips over to Bill Watterson to thank him for being an inspiration, and then I turn around and say I inspired some new work of his. I dunno, maybe I'm just too modest or realistic to think I'm that important.

Any fan knows that Al does not accept outside song ideas, so why would he now? And all that just goes back to my original point about ego, but I digress.

Unless of course, you're Joey Fatone, who seems to think he invented the genre. (Whatever happened to that album? Was it never released? Or was it released and went down in flames?)

Yeah, I was thinking about that, too. Boy, did the buzz around that die quickly. I don't want to draw any conclusion, but I notice one didn't hear too much about it after this year's Grammy Awards. Hmm...

But yes, let's move on from this unpleasantness. I think I posted a similar feeling long ago, but I agree that BNL is a great group to become interested in. There are only a few really big groups out there that still try to inject some "early Beatlesesque" fun into their music...BNL does it, as do Foo Fighters, Weezer, and some others. These artists understand that rock and roll can be light and fun and still be good music.