I've covered classics like the Beatles, Sinatra, and Joe Cocker on Evening Groove. Indies like Guggenheim Grotto, as well as Japan bands like The Seatbelts. I've also covered a lot of jazz, my favorite.
Tonight, though, I am in a mood for something not so serious. My rough week continues and retreating into the absurd is always a fair way to combat the harsher things life sometimes throws at you. Or maybe I just heard something during my day that turned my thoughts this way. Whatever the case may be, I'm in the mood for a little Weird Al.
You all know Weird Al, I'm sure. He is the most popular comedy song writer around today, best known for his parodies, but also responsible for a lot of great original songs. Like this one:
Hardware Store
It is hard to say what his most famous song is, but this one would probably be a good guess.
Amish Paradise:
Funny story: when I worked at a Japanese company for a few years, they played music all day, what must have been the Japanese version of Muzak. Whatever the station was, it was rap station—hard rap, gangster rap, the kind of stuff with lyrics you wouldn't think a company would want to associate with. But of course this is Japan and no one could understand the lyrics, it was all just for effect. As if to prove how little they actually understood the lyrics, when White and Nerdy came out, it found its way into the rotation alongside these other rap songs.
White and Nerdy
Rumor goes Madonna actually requested he make a parody of Like a Virgin, which led to the next one.
Like a Surgeon
My first exposure to Weird Al was the music video for Fat. It was released in 1988, so I would have been 10. I don't know why I was watching MTV at that age (this would have been back when MTV actually showed music videos) but I had the channel on when they played Fat. I couldn't have understood the lyrics all that well at that age, but for whatever reason I loved it. Part of the reason may have been the absurdity of watching a comically fat man dancing around. Soon I was begging my parents to buy me the album.
Fat
I must have listened to that album daily for months. I probably haven't listened to it since I was small, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is still my most listened to musical album. As a result, I still have that album and the songs mostly memorized. Here is another great one from the record:
I Think I'm a Clone Now
Finally, almost all his records have a polka song, a song that is a collection of various bits of current hits rearranged and set to polka music. They are always a good laugh. So we'll end this silly evening groove post with one of his polka songs.
Alternative Polka
Enjoy!
title graphic made from this image which has been graciously released into the public domain
| David LaSpina is an American photographer lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time. More? |
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