Bad Hair Day
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| Bad Hair Day | |||||
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| Studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic | |||||
| Released | March 12, 1996 | ||||
| Recorded | Nov-Dec 1994, Nov 1995, Jan 1996. | ||||
| Genre | Comedy | ||||
| Length | 38:14 | ||||
| Label | Scotti Brothers | ||||
| Producer | "Weird Al" Yankovic | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| "Weird Al" Yankovic chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Bad Hair Day | |||||
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Bad Hair Day is the ninth album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1996. (see 1996 in music). It includes the hit "Amish Paradise", a parody of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise".
Contents |
[edit] Refused parodies
Yankovic had four main parody ideas that were refused. They include:
- A parody of The Offspring's hit "Come Out and Play" entitled "Laundry Day". Yankovic approached The Offspring about recording a parody of their first big hit. They, however, were unimpressed by the song, stating that it was "silly" (The Offspring later allowed Yankovic to record a parody of "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)", interestingly enough, on his next album).
- A parody of The Beatles's hit "Free as a Bird" entitled "Gee I'm a Nerd". Yankovic asked Paul McCartney, a supporter of Yankovic's work, if he could have permission to write and record a parody of "Free as a Bird". McCartney was all for the idea, but because "Free as a Bird" was written by John Lennon, McCartney turned the decision over to Yoko Ono, who denied permission, because it was "too early".[1]
- A parody of U2's song "Numb" entitled "Green Eggs and Ham". Yankovic reportedly got permission from U2 to record the song, but permission was denied by the Dr. Seuss estate because the song had "No educational value".[2] Yankovic later settled on a parody of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" called "Cavity Search".
[edit] Track listing
| Track | Title | Length | (Style) Parody of | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Amish Paradise" (A. Ivey, Jr., L. Sanders, D. Rasheed, S. Wonder, Yankovic) | 3:20 | "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio | About an Amish man who raps about his lifestyle. |
| 2 | "Everything You Know is Wrong" (Yankovic) | 3:48 | Style parody of They Might Be Giants | About an unusual sequence of events, the title being a parody of Firesign Theatre album. |
| 3 | "Cavity Search" (Bono, U2, Yankovic) | 4:19 | "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2 | About a man's painful visit to the dentist |
| 4 | "Callin' In Sick" (Yankovic) | 3:40 | A style parody of "Come As You Are" and "Lithium" by Nirvana | About a lazy man feigning illness to skip work. |
| 5 | "The Alternative Polka" | 4:50 | Polka Medley | A polka medley including the following alternative rock songs:
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| 6 | "Since You've Been Gone" (Yankovic) | 1:22 | Style parody of Rockapella | Discusses a man's feelings after a break-up, at the end, ironically saying, "I feel almost as bad as I did when you were still here" |
| 7 | "Gump" (Chris Ballew, The Presidents of the United States of America, Yankovic) | 2:10 | Lump by The Presidents of the United States of America | About the story of Forrest Gump. |
| 8 | "I'm So Sick of You" (Yankovic) | 3:26 | Style Parody of Elvis Costello. Chorus lines have a similarity to "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" by The Monkees | About the singer's girlfriend and her odious personal habits. |
| 9 | "Syndicated Inc." (Dave Pirner, Yankovic) | 3:54 | "Misery" by Soul Asylum | About a family's devotion to syndicated television. |
| 10 | "I Remember Larry" (Yankovic) | 3:56 | Style parody of Hilly Michaels, the melody also bears some similarity to "See the Constellation" by They Might Be Giant | About a cruel neighborhood prankster (possibly a bully) named Larry (who performed such cruel gags as poisoning Al's lawn with toxic waste, to chopping Al's car in half), and how much the singer misses him after his death, until it is revealed that Al was the one who murdered him. Contains a backmasked message at 3:10, "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands." |
| 11 | "Phony Calls" (Organized Noize, Marqueze Etheridge, Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Yankovic) | 3:22 | "Waterfalls" by TLC | About the dangers of prank calling. Contains an audio clip from The Simpsons featuring one of Bart Simpson's many prank calls to Moe's Tavern. |
| 12 | "The Night Santa Went Crazy" (Yankovic) | 4:03 | Modeled on Soul Asylum's "Black Gold". Beginning is very close to the beginning to "Mama, I'm Coming Home" by Ozzy Osbourne | A Christmas-themed song about Santa Claus finally snapping and embarking on a killing spree. |
[edit] Outtakes
| Song | Length | Release(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Spy Hard" | 2:48 | B-side of "Gump"
Later released as its own single |
| "The Night Santa Went Crazy (Extra Gory Version)" | 4:01 | B-side of "Amish Paradise" |
[edit] Notes
- This album was the last one to feature Yankovic's old look (before his LASIK eye surgery), as well as the last to be released under the Scotti Bros. label, before his move to Volcano Records.
- "Bad Hair Day" was originally going to be released in 1995, but was later bumped back to 1996 due to production delays.
- On some copies of this album, the copyright is 1994, 1995, and/or 1996.
- In the "Thank You" section of the liner notes, Weezer is thanked in the middle of the list of bands who were sampled for The Alternative Polka, hinting at the relatively unknown fact that Weezer's "Buddy Holly" was originally included (and recorded) in the medley, but had to be physically cut out because Weezer denied permission at the last second.
[edit] Credits
- "Weird Al" Yankovic - accordion, keyboards, background vocals
- Hank Azaria - Voice of Moe Szyslak
- Nancy Cartwright - Voice of Bart Simpson
- Gary Herbig - bass saxophone
- Steve Jay - bass, background vocals
- Tommy Johnson - tuba
- Warren Luening - trumpet
- Joel Peskin - clarinet
- Lisa Popeil - background vocals
- Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz - percussion, drums
- Rubén Valtierra - keyboards
- Jim West - guitar, background vocals
[edit] Production
- Producer: "Weird Al" Yankovic
- Engineer: Tony Papa
- Assistant engineer: Colin Sauers
- Mixing: Tony Papa
- Mastering: Bernie Grundman
- Arranger: "Weird Al" Yankovic
- Art direction: Doug Haverty
- Photography: Carl Studna
[edit] Charts
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Billboard 200 | 14 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Amish Paradise" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 53 |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm#0499 Aska Al 1999
- ^ http://www.weirdal.com/aaarchive.htm#0796 Ask Al 1996
