BBB Reviews: UHF: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff

Instead of ‘Even Worse, Al’s last studio album actually was a rebound. Hitting a good spot on the Billboard charts, it seemed as if a creative surge was pounding through Al, and good music was the order of the day.
Little did the unsuspecting public (outside the Tulsa area primarily) know that Al and his long-time manager Jay Levey were planning on making a movie!
Shot for about five million dollars in 1988-1989, the movie known as UHF performed just well enough to earn the budget back and then some. Of course with any movie comes a soundtrack, and thus a jumbled mix of sounds and themes from the album about to be reviewed today.
Now before you all start thinking this is a bad album, I’m telling you it’s NOT! Judging by this list made not too long ago, I ranked this album #4 of all the albums Al ever made. Some of it sympathy but most of it deserved, UHF is a highly underrated set of Yankovic’s lyrical children. So now to the album!
1. Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*: Of all the parodies that Al ever did, surprisingly this one caused a lot of commotion.
The parody of “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits apparently was forced to have that Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies* title due to lawyer wranglings. In any case, at least a music video was able to be made from it!
Another thing to take note at is Mark Knopfler also did guitar for the track. Al quipped on DVD commentary that there was no duplicating the loose feel Mark had.
To set up the song as it was in the movie, you have Al’s character George Newman looking at old footage, mainly of said ‘Hillbillies’. The footage then delves into a computer-generated jam where Al voices Jed Clampett, explaining primarily the plot/purpose of the show.
As you can imagine, some of the lyrics from the show’s original theme do pop up here. “Swimming pools, mova-mova-mova-movie stars!”
Al always had a knack of starting albums strong, and bah gawd this is no exception!

On the actual track, Mark Knopfler lends his guitar making abilities due to Al thinking it would provide a looser feel to the tighter parodies that Al’s own band would create. Also, no lyrics widget unfortunately due to those BS copyright laws. I’ll also state that the single to this song was also released ONE DAY before I was born! :)

2. “Gandhi II”: It’s one of several tracks on the album that’s not really a song, but instead a small snippet of the movie.
Made for Channel 62 in the primetime slot, Gandhi II is “Mr. Passive Resistance” thrown around 180 degrees. Instead of having “peace”, Gandhi shows up with vengeance and ass-kicking on his mind. WATCH THIS!

“I’ll have a steak…medium rare…”

3. Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet Near Mars: This song is an original, but at the same time feels VERY familiar.
While the beats are a little different and the lyrics are a little different, you can’t help this song just by the song title feels a lot like “Slime Creatures from Outer Space”. Just like the song mentioned, it revolves around creatures, this time hamsters, coming to Earth and terrorizing the land. Really, there’s nothing much to note besides that.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Attack Of The Radioactive Hampster From A Planet N lyrics
4. “Isle Thing”: This song is indeed a parody, that of “Wild Thing” by Tone Loc. It also is appears to be the first rap/hip-hop parody Al has done up to this point in his career.
In the song, Al’s fling introduces him to a show, we might have heard of it, called “Gilligan’s Island”. After this basic premise, it seems like the main character cannot stand the show at all. Sounded stupid, with Gilligan even stupider than that. Hey wait, wasn’t that the ORIGINAL complaints of the show?
Also, it seems that Al not only parodied the song, but also Tone Loc’s voice and referred to another one of his songs near the end, that of “Cold Funky Medina”.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Isle Thing lyrics
5. “The Hot Rocks Polka”: After taking a break from polkas in “Even Worse”, Al is back. This time however, he attacks one band instead of a bunch of the most relevant people at the time.
The target? ROLLING STONES BABY! Also notice that the title of this polka refers to a greatest hits album the Stones had at this time.
Here’s the loot:

• "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I Like It)"
  
• "Brown Sugar"
  
• "You Can't Always Get What You Want"
  
• "Honky Tonk Women"
  
• "Under My Thumb"
  
• "Ruby Tuesday"
  
• "Miss You"
  
• "Sympathy for the Devil"
  
• "Get off of My Cloud"
  
• "Shattered"
  
• "Let's Spend the Night Together"
  
• "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
  
• "Ear Booker Polka" by "Weird Al" Yankovic

The main “polka” sound behind the music got heavily revamped, and it would be used in many of Al’s later (and better) polkas. Although the selection of songs is limited to one band, it’s actually a BADLY underrated track. All of those songs were done impeccably, and I couldn’t have agreed more with the book-ends of the track. I give this polka TWO THUMBS UP!
Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - The Hot Rocks Polka lyrics
6. “UHF”: An original song, a style parody of “State of Shock” by The Jacksons, and with a lot of different people being parodied/stylized in the music video. I’m not going to go deep into that, but just the song itself.
One of very few “title tracks” Al ever did, UHF feels like a shameless self-promotion of selling to in-movie characters. “Don’t change the channel, don’t touch that dial, we got it all on UHF!”
Also, there are two versions of this song. The one on the album is essentially a “long-cut”, where two larger instrumental jams are stretched-out/faded later, as opposed to the singles version where those jams were cut short, and thus the running time went from a shade over five minutes down to a shade under four minutes!

Turns your brain to cottage cheese!

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Uhf lyrics
7. “Let Me Be Your Hog”: Mindless 0:17 rambling. On the DVD commentary, Al noted how he wanted to get "Kung Fu Fighting" in the movie. This should have occurred in the scene where Uncle Harvey, in his pool, was awaiting a call from Big Louie concerning a debt. The royalty price was way too high for the movie's budget ($12,000), so Al instead went to the studio and yelled out this piece.
8. “She Drives Like Crazy”: A parody of “She Drives Me Crazy” by Fine Young Cannibals.
It’s a pop rhythm with Al’s character complaining about how badly his girl drives. Simple as that.
Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - She Drives Like Crazy lyrics
9. “Generic Blues”: While this song is lyrically original, the inspiration behind it doesn’t require a lot of imagination.
Think of it as Al’s love-letter to the “Blues”, pretty much that style of both rhythm and song made in Chicago back 30-40 years before this tune was even made! Add in your usual Al torture elements, and a classic is made!
Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Generic Blues lyrics
10. “Spatula City”: Another commercial from UHF.
Apparently amongst the first footage shot for the movie, it’s about a store that sells, well, SPATULAS!

“Okay kids, let’s go!”

11. “Fun Zone”: This song is an instrumental theme to the “Stanley Spudowski’s Clubhouse” program in the movie. Apparently, it’s also the theme used at the beginning of EVERY Al concert, and it’s also the music you hear on the main menu of the Weird Al Yankovic - The Ultimate Video Collection. Also FYI: did you know that this song is also the theme for “Welcome to the Fun Zone”, a show originally written to replace Saturday Night Live?
12. “Spam”: This song is a parody of “Stand” by R.E.M., and revolves around, you guessed it, SPAM!
Essentially it’s an ode to that luncheon meat. While Al notes it’s made of ham and pork, there could also be mystery meat in there? What thoughtful lyrics! He also tells us about the tab on the can, which is pretty weird, but okay…..
It was a song destined for the Food Album. Ironically, Al would be a vegan after UHF.
Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Spam lyrics
13. “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota”: A style parody of “30,000 Pounds of Bananas” by Harry Chapin. This was #6 on my count down list I did, and here is what I wrote then:
(before anyone asks, no, they didn’t go to Spatula City)
This song gives birth to a somewhat-tradition of Al’s: Put your longest song LAST on the record! At nearly seven minutes, this song feels as long as the road trip the characters of this song make, as you guessed it, they travel to Minnesota to look at the biggest ball of twine in the whole wide world! A song I wish was somehow worked into the movie, it sounds like something promoted on that channel! The imagery, that of kids jumping around in the back seat asking “are we there yet” is some old-time nostalgia, that of 20 years to the former. And who wants to eat pickled weiners and diet chocolate soda? Yum? I DON’T KNOWWWWWWW! As the dad character, Al wonders (in paraphrase) of what the hell the point was with this ball of twine? After the gift shop expenditure, time to go home, and there is seven minutes gone! 
Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - The Biggest Ball Of Twine In Minnesota lyrics
In conclusion, this album is pretty underrated. Al is all over the map musically, Rap, rock, hip hop, pop, and even CHICAGO BLUES, get torn to shreds, but torn to shreds like a pork butt roasted in a BBQ joint.
Sadly though, this would be the second in three albums that wouldn’t rank high/not get certified ‘Platinum’ by the RIAA. It’s a shame, because while the audience of the movie exploded about a decade after release, this album never did. Please, do yourself a favor and get this! Even BB King says ‘Generic Blues’ is one of his favorite blues songs of all time!

BBB Reviews: In 3-D

Continuing on from my last blog, it is only elementary to review Al’s sophomore album.
Released in 1984, essentially it could really only go up from here. The first album had flashes of brilliance but didn’t have the whole package, which for a freshman album is more than promising.
On my Listmania at Amazon.com, this album came in fifth amongst in my opinion the best Al albums noting, “Al's sophomore album is probably his most underrated album.”
Today, I’m going to re-listen to the album and see if my assumptions are corrections. Let’s waste no more time, put on those gimmicked glasses, AND GO IN 3-D!!!!
1. “Eat It”: A big parody to kick off this album, as it is the parody of the Michael Jackson song “Beat It”, straight down to the music video! This song is, well, about eating and not wasting any food, although you’d hardly SEE food in the music video. “Eat it, eat it, get yourself an egg and beat it!”
The biggest difference between this album and the debut in the aural presentation is immediately clear. It SOUNDS like an album that was given a more fleshed-out budget, and therefore while some things remain intentionally cheesy, it’s sound feels a lot more professional. Strong opener track!

Original

Imitation. Very close, isn’t it? Sadly, licensing restrictions ban the widget from appearing lyrics. At least that makes up for it!

2. “Midnight Star”: This song is the one I kicked off my underrated Al list, and I still stand by my findings.
An original song, the main thing being poked fun at is the often unbelievable tabloids found in the grocery store. As the main character gets a paper cut in his eye, he gets to learn things he never knew before, like how your pet maybe an extraterrestrial, while the ghost of Elvis in living in your den.
The unfortunate thing about this tune is a lack of a music video in the animated variety. I say that because most of the lyrics are in exaggeration, and some of the best animation is in that frame of mind. Like a tabloid story, dig up Tex Avery from the grave and animate it, please?

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Midnight Star lyrics
3. “The Brady Bunch”: Another parody. This time making fun of “Safety Dance” from Men without Hats, the song is about a family struggling on what to watch, but then they all agree on, well, The Brady Bunch.
Like “Ricky” from the last album, this song definitely does a variation of that famous theme near the end of the song. It is probably one of the best examples of song-twisting I have ever seen, as it seems like sixteenth notes had to hit in 6/8, which is never an easy task. A quick track, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - The Brady Bunch lyrics
4. “Buy Me a Condo”: Original song this time around, mostly a style parody of what sounds like Bob Marley.
The whole song revolves around a man of Jamaican descent moving to the US and needing things to adapt to the culture.
“I’m gonna buy me a condo, I’m gonna buy me a Cuisinart, Get a wall-to-wall carpeting, Get a wallet full-o credit cards!”
He also wants to become a Amway distributor, as he proclaims to not work on the field ever again.
For the most part, it is goofy and out-of-whack to hear Al doing that accent the whole way, but it was a chance that nearly paid off.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Buy Me A Condo lyrics
5. “I Lost on Jeopardy”: A parody, this time of “Jeopardy” by The Greg Kihn Band.
The story of the song revolves around Al going up against a plumber and a architect, both with PHd’s on the Jeopardy game show (as in the original where it’s ‘our love’s in jeopardy’).
I’m not going to describe much about this song other than the music video makes perfect sense about things. Just watch, as also this was my first exposure to Al in the mid-90’s by my aunt who brought over an Al tape of music videos:

“THAT’S RIGHT AL, YOU LOST, AND LET ME TELL YOU WHAT YOU DIDN’T WIN!” My brother and I would nail that part of the song down perfect every time.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - I Lost On Jeopardy lyrics
6. “Polkas on 45”: If this is the first time you read a review, and wondered what the hell a polka is, well here is your ‘Al’ definition:
A polka is a mish-mash of songs of theme or relevancy, set to sound-effects and accordion!
With that out of the way, here is the song list of the initial outing of Polka:
"Jocko Homo" by Devo
"Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple
"Sex (I'm A...)" by Berlin
"Hey Jude" by The Beatles
"L.A. Woman" by The Doors
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly
"Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix
"Burning Down The House" by Talking Heads
"Hot Blooded" by Foreigner
"Bubbles In The Wine" by Lawrence Welk
"Every Breath You Take" by The Police
"Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" by The Clash
"Jumping Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones
"My Generation" by The Who
Weird, wasn’t it? That was my main impression of this polka, and it is definitely not the best one Al would do. Since it’s a first one though, I’ll give this one a free pass like a car a lap down in a NASCAR race.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Polkas On 45 lyrics
7. “Mr. Popeil”: An original in spirit, but a style parody of the B-52’s. Remember all those infomericials in the ‘80s with this guy trying to cut a can with a knife, or any other stupid gadget rolling across your way?
That man my readers is Ron Popeil, a man who made quite the living off these products and infomericials that made him (in)famous.
“How much would you pay? Don’t answer yet, just look what else you get!”

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Mr. Popeil lyrics
8. “King of Suede”: Another parody, this time of “King of Pain” by The Police. In typical Al fashion, this track revolves around a suede businessman who really, uh, tries to undersell everything and eventually goes out of business.
This song sounds like a track that should be a commercial for Men’s Warehouse, “I guarantee it!”
Unfortunately, “Don’t miss out on our giant liquidation sale,” lets you know that Al’s tactics as salesman don’t pay off as while the coupons arrive in next week’s mail, it’s the same old sale as yesterday!

No lyrics, but here’s the song as apology!

9. “That Boy Can Dance”: An original song revolving around a completely inept boy named Jimmy turning into a smashing success of a dance master.
The song, as told from Al’s point of view, makes Al sound like  a bully while the kid is just one of those Machiavellian little twerps just struggling to get by. “Picking teams he would always be last, he couldn’t run very far, he couldn’t think really fast.”
This sounds like a movie that should have been made already, just with the imagery of the kid’s bad luck, bad glasses, and just being downright humiliated.
While the kid’s beginning was less than promising, “When he was much older, he had a dance studio. He had a tiny-bopper fan club, he had his own TV show.” Plus he owns half of Montana! Damn, and you can see the unaccomplishment in the face of Al.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - That Boy Could Dance lyrics
10. “Theme from Rocky XIII”: Pardon my laziness, but here is a cut and paste from a prior blog entry:
While the song may not sound familiar, the tune it parodies is celebrated the world over. A parody of “Eye of the Tiger” from Survivor, this ditty revolves around a hypothetical THIRTEENTH Rocky movie whose plot sets around the main character owning a deli. Yes, I am serious. In the song, it talks about Rocky in his older (and apparently fatter) days, “sold his gloves, threw his eggs down the drain!” Follow the non-existent plot and then just bask in the glory of Al in his youth making up something goofy.
I don’t think 10 minutes of thinking could have made anything better. It does truly represent youth and imagination, as it was present on the whole album. Now kids, get your glasses ready, because for the last track, you will NEED them!

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Theme From Rocky Xiii lyrics
11. “Nature Trail to Hell”: The finale, and one hell of a gory original track to boot.
It’s a parody of a reboot of 3-D, full of “in-your-face” imagery and “Satan eating cheese whiz” (the backwards message 3/4 of the way in).
“See severed heads fall right in your lap, see that bloody hatchet, coming right at you! You’ll never see hideous effects like these again, ‘til we bring you Nature Trail to Hell part 2!”
At this point, it’s also Al’s longest track at just under six minutes in length. While it drags a little in the middle, it is actually fast–paced despite the brooding tempo of trying to promote a 3-D horror movie. It also starts a tradition of putting the longest song on LAST in an album, but this song feels like another grindhouse feature tacked onto an album full of light, cheery ambivalence.

Lyrics | Weird Al Yankovic lyrics - Nature Trail To Hell lyrics
In conclusion, this album is still Al’s most underrated. He tackled a lot of new genres, with mostly success to boot, and he even debuted a polka, something that no other artist has tried to duplicate. The next album Al will have is what I think is his zenith in the 80s’, and my theory will be put to the test, NEXT!

BBB Reviews: “Weird Al” Yankovic (self-titled first album) (Revised 2018)

Before I begin the review, let me state for the record that this was actually the LAST album I bought of Al’s. That’s right, I purchased Straight Outta Lynwood before this. (Editor's Note 2018: I did manage to buy the other albums in a timely fashion after this.) After listening to this CD for the first time on my 18th birthday (which was in 2007), I thought it was a solid record, though it was only some 23 minutes long.

So here goes nothing (with lyrics widgets), “WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC!

1. “Ricky”: The lead-off track on the very first album is indeed a parody. That song in question is “Mickey”, by Toni Basil, a music video that apparently looked like it was performed by drunk cheerleaders.

Anyways, back off a tangent, this song is primarily a two and a half minute synopsis on the plot of the show. Al, playing Ricky Ricardo, pretty much owns his whiny yet lovable wife of Lucy, played by Tress MacNeille. Or at least that’s how it is played in the music video. The highlight of the song in my opinion, other than the obvious retread of the famous opening theme at the end, is when Lucy is trying to persuade Ricky to let her go to the club capped off with that signature “cry”. That sounds like a plot for at least one show a season!

This song however definitely showed Al’s comedic talents, and would help him branch out into the stratosphere. For now, like Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, this song is mild-mannered and unassuming.

Weird Al Yankovic - Ricky lyrics | LyricsMode.com

2. “Gotta Boogie”: Don’t let the opening synthesizer/drum riff in the opening fool you.

This song is not about boogie, in terms of dancing.

This song is about boogie, the one that comes out of your NOSE!

For a song just a scratch over two minutes long, there isn’t much to say. There’s not much variation in the instrumentals, and there is definitely not much variety in the lyrics. Moral of the story: just put it in a tissue and put it in the trash! 

3. “I Love Rocky Road”: Ah, the song that launched “The Food Album”. Or so I think…

This track is a parody off the famous tune, “I Love Rock and Roll” by Joan Jett. Instead of talking about punk taking over the jukeboxes, this one revolves around Al talking about, “chocolate’s getting old, (and) vanilla just leaves me cold.”

Al’s fascination with this ice cream is quite irregular. He keeps quarts in the locker at school, yet when he hears the ice cream truck, he starts to drool. Paradise for him would be locking him in the freezer and throw away the key. Soda jerkers know him by name, and he doesn’t care about tooth root.

Also the music video to this is pretty well known too (as seen in the link for the, gasp, Music Video Collection!) However, you’re treated to a live version instead!

And no, Al did not get pelted with ice cream in this performance!

4. “Buckingham Blues”: This song fits the coronation of “Weird” in Al’s name to a ‘t’.

The song, an original in lyrics, has a bluesy-folk riff in the background while the song is sung as if it was “Jack and Diane” by John Mellencamp. Replace Jack and Diane with Chuck and Diane… and um…yeah…

This three minute+ song revolves around the socialite lifestyle of Prince Charles and Princess Diana of Wales. Yes, the same Princess Diana that unfortunately lost her life in that auto accident in Paris back in 1997 attempting to get away from the Paparazzi.

With the “Jack and Diane” analogy, that was really only in the first verse in the song as everything is totally sarcastic. Al riffs on Chuck not knowing what his job entails while whatever Diana wears is on the six o’clock news. That’s just a case of the Buckingham Blues! Not a bad track I must say, pretty good satire.

5. “Happy Birthday”: Full of pip and pop, this original song revolves around anything BUT a ‘happy’ birthday.

Among topics “yelled” (Al talks very fast in this song and it took me a couple of takes to get it all in), are poison-filled skies, the ‘monkeys’ at the Pentagon about the press the button and cause World War 3, and essentially everyone dying.

Yep, another tradition is born: typical gore/death song on an ‘Al’ album. Not much beyond that, but it’s a start.

6. “Stop Draggin’ My Car Around”: Written apparently by Tom Petty but used/sung by Stevie Nicks, this song is a parody of “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”. However, unlike a figurative drag in the original, Al is talking about a literal drag.

The unfortunate drag of a tow truck.

Between parking in a loading dock, the owner of a bar not liking the car, and then just finally not paying on time (though the check was in the mail), Al gets to see his ‘64 Plymouth finally being towed away for good. Poor guy, always seems to have hard luck!

In addition, the choice of following the original’s beat of a slower pace makes all the pain the main character suffering all the more unbearable. That and, well, what engine does it have?

7. “My Bologna”: A song that was famous on the Dr. Demento show long before Al made this album, it is a parody of “My Sharona” by The Knack.

In a fast-paced ditty (a shade over two minutes), Al sings about what seems to be his favorite cured lunch meat. Mentioning the pace, the original song was at a much more moderate tempo than this, as Al sounds to be out of breath at times. (Editor’s Note 2018: The demo version from ‘Medium Rarities’ has a tempo closer to the song it parodies.)

In addition to the pace, this song predominantly features the song of Al’s accordion, an instrument who is as signature as Al’s mustache at the time. Although Al would undergo a lot of cosmetic and aesthetic changes throughout his career, the accordion never truly left (though it’s appearances would be heavily toned down after this album).

8. “The Check’s in the Mail”: An original, and another traditional Al song of problems with the lady-folk.

Al is divorced, and while he has a new chick (that the old chick can “talk” to just to avoid Al), the old one wants to suck his accounts DRY. As in, she won’t wait for the check to come in, she wants to SUE, and SUE NOW! I wouldn’t be surprised if that old chick’s name was ‘Sue’.

This song has issues most men will relate to, mainly the litigation and avoidance themes. In the grand scheme of thematics, this song didn’t fit too well.

9. “Another One Rides the Bus”: For a first album, I must admit Mr. Yankovic really bit off a lot from that creative tree. 

The song he parodies here is by far the most famous of all the other songs featured on the album."

Taken off of “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, this song was originally featured on the Dr. Demento show in 1980, and was also the debut of Al’s television performances in 1981 as he was on “The Tomorrow Show with Tom Synder”. The latter of the two can be seen on the Music Video Collection in the special feature section.

Back to the song, it’s a crazy-sounding track. Substitute guitars for percussion sound-effects and accordions, and that is the overall jist of the aural presentation. As a matter of fact, the hysterically low budget of the track helps it become a much more effective parody  once you realize Al was a unknown at this stage in his career.

The lyrics are not much to comprehend: it’s about the different types of passengers encountered on a crowded public bus. With that in mind, here is the music video from the DVD. Perhaps you might just buy it!

10. “I’ll Be Mellow When I’m Dead”:  An original track, it’s a bizarre branch of the Al song tree.

Usually Al is a free spirit, yet he attacks that very ideal in this track as he doesn’t care for jacuzzis, incense, Perrier, sushi, 

amongst other “in desirables”.

Despite the attacks of that style, the song is not instrumentally “designed” like its theorem. As a matter of fact, and quite hilariously, it sounds like almost every other track with it being mainly accordion based. For the longest song in the album (3:39), there’s not much more discussion then what I just wrote.

11. “Such a Groovy Guy”: An unusual topic graces this original, that of being a narcissistic bastard.

He raves about his style, his approach, yet his lady doesn’t think so.

With pouring chocolate pudding down your lady’s pants, that is something I can rest assure you can hold you back from getting action.

Knowing his crap doesn’t stink, the lady folk leaves him while Al wonders what did he do that was so wrong. It was quite obvious, but the narcissism derails his thought process. All Al needed to complete this “look” was the jumpsuit he used from the “Living with a Hernia” music video.

12. “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung”: Here it is, the finale. Apparently, this original was quite a hit in bars where Al used to sing this tune.

The story behind it is simple, yet effective: Al visits Mr. Frump in the hospital every day. He tells Mr. Frump his stories and troubles in life, but because Frump is in a iron lung, really can’t speak. So in that sense, it’s as if the guy from the song prior is getting some meditation from a guy who “agrees” with him.

Speaking of the iron lung (yes, the pun is intentional), the sound effect for Frump’s “vocals” revolve around percussion and deep breathing. Hmm, sounds like a low budget thing doesn’t it?

CONCLUSION: This album is definitely a stepping stone in Al’s career. While his voice wasn’t fully honed out yet, the creativity and his “spin on things” definitely made this album better than most first outings from other singers. From here, Al can only go up from here, and not just in quality. Also in…DIMENSIONS……