Great Rock Albums of 1985: Weird Al Yankovic- Dare To Be Stupid

After the big success of his 1984 album, “In 3D,” it was only expected that the King of Parody, Weird Al Yankovic, release an album in 1985. Therefore, many people like me eagerly awaited and grabbed “Dare to be Stupid” as soon as it came out. Even though some critics said that the new album wasn’t as good as its predecessor, (what do they know?), I still really like this album.

First let us start with the parodies. Opening the album is what has been said one of his best songs, “Like a Surgeon,” which is a parody of the then Madonna classic, “Like a Virgin.” For all the things I might say about Madonna, I have to give her credit here. Not  only did she give Weird Al her blessing to make a take off on her song, she collaborated on “Like a Surgeon.” Reportedly, this was the only time that he used ideas from outside artists on any of his songs. Whatever the case,  the song is a hoot and so is the video for it.

Other artists who gets the parody treatment are Huey Lewis and the News, the Kinks and Cyndi Lauper. The Huey Lewis song which gets it is “I Want a New Drug” in the form of “I Want a New Duck” and the song is actually about a duck. Listen to the lyrics and you’ll be rolling around in laughter but that’s what Weird Al does best. Back in 1985, some Star Wars fans took offense at his parody of the Kinks classic, “Lola” with “Yoda.” The song shows that at least he saw the film. No 80smetalman points for guessing which Cyndi Lauper song he would parody. Thinking about it, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was probably to golden of an opportunity for him and “Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch” is a great send off. It sounds like he’s singing off key on the song but I think that’s just the weird in Weird Al.

Something which always gets overlooked in regards to Weird Al is the fact that he does have musical talent. All of his parodies sound like the original. “I Want a New Duck” and “Yoda” sound almost exactly as they could have been done by the original artists. It’s his seemingly non parodies where his talent can be seen more. I shouldn’t call some of these non-parodies because they are parodies in a different way. The style in which the title track is that of Devo and the very funny “One More Minute” sounds like an Elvis Presley ballad. However, the lyrics in that song will crack you up. Staying with that one, it sounds like a lamentation of a guy who has been dumped by his girl but in typical Weird Al style, he goes above and beyond. Sure, I’ve been dumped but I never considered burning down the malt shop we went to because it reminded me of her.

If his songs aren’t spoofing an artist’s song or musical style, they’re doing it to aspects of life. “This Is the Life” is a send off on rich people’s life style and “Slime Creatures From Outer Space” pays hilarious tribute to 1950s Sci-Fi films. However, my favourite in this category is “Cable TV” which by 1985 was becoming a nationwide household phenomenon. Nowadays, most Americans have hundreds of channels but often times still nothing to watch. There’s also a cover of the theme song to the cartoon “George of the Jungle,” I like it and like “In 3D” he puts popular contemporary at the time songs to polka music. ZZ Top and Twisted Sister along with many others get the polka treatment. Only this time, it closes the album and probably the most appropriate song to do so.

Track Listing:

1. Like a Surgeon
2. Dare to be Stupid
3. I Want a New Duck
4. One More Minute
5. Yoda
6. George of the Jungle
7. Slime Creatures From Outer Space
8. Girls Just Wanna Have Lunch
9. This is the Life
10. Cable TV
11. Hooked on Polkas

Weird Al Yankovic

Weird Al Yankovic- lead vocals, accordion, keyboards

Rick Derringer- guitar, production

Steve Jay- bass, banjo, backing vocals

Jim West- guitar, backing vocals

John ‘Bermuda’ Schwartz- drums percussion

Ignore the critics, to me “Dare To Be Stupid” is just as zany and well done as any of Weird Al’s other albums. While songs will have you in stitches, try to appreciate just how musically talented he really is.

Next post: Petra- Beat the System

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1537086656&sr=1-1&keywords=michael+d+lefevre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Rock Albums of 1984: The Kinks- Word of Mouth

In the waning months of 1984, I was hit by a sudden epiphany one day whilst I was watching MTV. The video for The Kinks’ first single, “Do It Again” from the 1984 “Word of Mouth” album came on and it hit. While many bands and genres in rock had come and gone, the Kinks were still going strong for twenty years. In fact, “Word of Mouth” was their 20th album! What helped was the fact that I really liked “Do It Again.” On Friday nights, after a heavy night’s partying, my friends and I would go to our favourite diner. Back in the day, diners had individual juke boxes in each both, so we would have to put on some tunes while we awaited our feasts. In the last months of 1984 and the first months of 85, “Do It Again” was constantly selected. Why not, it was a great song and still is.

One thing the Kinks have always been so successful at during their tenure was to bend a little with music trends while at the same time, remaining The Kinks. On this album, their sound is definitely in the no man’s land between hard and progressive rock and I don’t mean this in any derisory way. I mean that track I have loved so much over the past three decades and opens the album is a good hard rock song. The next couple of tracks follow suit, although the title track is the harder one of the two which follow “Do It Again.” Then comes another really great track that is hot on the heels of my favourite track. “Living on a Thin Line” has both elements of hard and progressive rock. There’s a very catchy melody accented by keyboards but the guitars really crunch when required to do so. An added bonus for me back then and now is the political statement in the lyrics. Dave Davies wrote the song to convey his hatred of politicians with the insinuation that politics in Britain then hadn’t moved on much from England in the middle ages. I can see that as this album came out during the peak of the miner’s strike.

Following on are two very interesting rock songs in the form of “Sold Me Out” and “Massive Reductions.” The keyboards on the latter track are a bit of a paradox for me. In my mind, the Kinks’ 1983 single “Come Dancing” was the worst song they ever made. I know a lot of you probably don’t agree and that’s cool. Anyway, on “Massive Reductions,” the keyboards sound very similar to that song I don’t like very much. However, with the hard rock of the guitars, the keyboards work well on that song. “Guilty” is a straight forward rocker and the lyrics “Guilty until proven innocent” seemed to ring true for me at the time. Not that I was in any trouble with the law. “Too Hot” is a fun song that reminds me of the Kinks of old, not that they really changed that much over the years. It’s just a catchy vibe that makes you want to wiggle back and forth in your chair.

Another interesting song is “Missing Persons” which is the closest song to a ballad on the album. It is a slow song but the drums are done in military fashion and it does get harder when it needs to punctuate its point. “Summer’s Gone” is a cross between 1960s pop and heavy metal. Sounds weird I know but believe me, it works on here. Some good guitar work on here too. Maybe it was a summertime fun song for the 1980s. “Going Solo” is a good closer and I have always wondered about it. With the lyrics: “My little girl’s going solo” combined with the fact that the band members were parents, that it’s about a daughter who’s grown up and leaving the house. Just a thought, but you can’t fault the album.

Track Listing:

1. Do It Again
2. Word of Mouth
3. Good Day
4. Living on a Thin Line
5. Sold Me Out
6. Massive Reductions
7. Guilty
8. Too Hot
9. Missing Persons
10. Summer’s Gone
11. Going Solo

The Kinks

Ray Davies- guitar, vocals, keyboards, harmonica

Dave Davies- guitars, backing vocals, lead vocal on “Living on a Thin Line” and “Guilty”

Jim Rodford- bass, backing vocals

Mick Avory- drums on “Missing Persons,” “Sold Me Out” and “Going Solo”

Bob Henrit- drums on all other tracks

Ian Gibbons- keyboards and backing vocals

Twenty years and the Kinks were still going strong as the “Word of Mouth” album certainly showed. Looking back, it amazes me just how much good rock was out there in the year so much metal was being aired.

Next post: There will be no post later on this week as I’m off to Newcastle Upon Tyne for a much needed break. However, I will go to Trillian’s and if I happen to see a good band or two whilst I’m there, you’ll read about it here.

To buy Rock and Roll Children, go to: https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Roll-Children-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1609763556/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1502046608&sr=8-7&keywords=michael+d+lefevre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Soundtracks of 1980: Up The Academy

There is many a film out there where the film itself wasn’t up to much but it had a kick ass soundtrack. One I covered already with “The Last Waltz” although the film itself was a concert and there are more out there which will appear here. One such film from 1980 was the film from Mad Magazine called “Up The Academy.” One doesn’t need a college degree to figure out that Mad Magazine made this film in an attempt to cash in on the success of their rival National Lampoon whose film “Animal House” is one of the forever classics. Unfortunately, there is no comparison between the two films, “Animal House” wins hands down.

This is not to say that “Up the Academy” is a bad film. Actually, I thought it was funny in many places. The film is about four teenage boys who are sent to military school by there parents on account of things the boys have done to bring dishonour to the family. One got his girlfriend pregnant and his father is a politician campaigning on the anti-abortion platform. One, played by a young Ralph Machio, is the son of a mafia kingpin and is not interested in the family business. Then there is the son of the Arabian Sheik and the pot smoking African American boy whose father is a TV evangelist. Without going into full details, the main characters immediately fall foul of the gung-ho commandant and there is a lot of funny moments as they try to get one over on him. For months after I saw the film, one of my marine buddies who I saw it with, (he went by Mooch,) would impersonate the commandant with “Say ageeen, say ageen.”

A scene from the film

What stood out for me more than the laughs was all the great songs that were played in the film. Now classics like “One Way or Another” from Blondie and Cheap Trick’s “Surrender” lead a string of cool rock tunes. There are also contributions from Pat Benatar, Sammy Hagar, The Kinks, Dwight Twilley and a ten minute song from the legendary Lou Reed. Ok, they only played a small part of the song. As the case with many soundtracks, there is some unknown band that makes its mark. On this soundtrack, it is the band Blow-Up. Three of their songs appear on the album and I was impressed with all of them. The opener, “Kicking Up a Fuss” reminds me of The Ramones or The Dead Kennedys and the other two, while less punk are still good rock tunes as well. This is definitely a cool soundtrack.

Blondie

Cheap Trick

Track Listing:

1. Blow-Up- Kicking Up a Fuss

2. Iggy and the Stooges- Gimme Danger

3. Dwight Twilley Band- Trying to Find My Baby

4. Blondie- X Offender

5. Eddie and the Hot Rods- Do Anything You Wanna Do

6. The Kinks- Yes Sir, No Sir

7. Ian Hunter- We Gotta Get Out of Here

8. Lou Reed- Street Hassle

9. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers- Roadrunner

10. The Boomtown Rats- Rat Trap

11. David Johansen- Girls

12. Blondie- One Way or Another

13. Cheeks- Coquette

14. Blow-Up- Local Hero

15. Sammy Hagar- Bad Reputation

16. Iggy Pop and James Williamson- Night Theme

17. Cheeks- Bony Moronie

18. Nick Lowe- Heart of the City

19. Pat Benatar- We Live for Love

20. The Babys- Midnight Rendezvous

21. Cheap Trick- Surrender

22. Blow- Up- Beat the Devil

So if you want a good laugh while rocking out to some great tunes then your task is simple. Watch “Up the Academy” and then listen to the soundtrack, it’s definitely worth it. But it does seem a shame that Blow-Up never seemed to make it big.

Next post: Great Rock One Hit Wonders of 1980

To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to: http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html

Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London