The "Weird Al" Yankovic Songography

27

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From Greg Method, catra@dohtem.com

June 27, 2009

Ladies, gentlemen, nerds, mimes, rabbis, nurses, dinosaurs, truck drivers, spatulas, torsoboys, waffle kings, couch potatoes, slime creatures, Hibachi dealers, idiotic barbers, water polo players, guys in Norway, toothless people, poor mountaineers, fussy young men, bologna buyers, cub scout troops, smelly old bums, pre-pubescent flying aces, incredible frog-boys, blond half-Asians, and of course Harvey the Wonder Hamster, welcome one and all to The "Weird Al" Yankovic Songography 27!

It would have been nice to assume that such a monumental event as the twenty-seventh Songography would have brought with it radical changes or a complete overhaul of the information, but alas, it's still just chugging along nicely as is. Ironically, the one major significant change I was tinkering with, offering it as just one huge file instead of two, was abandoned early on. Oh well.

If anything, this edition is being sent out at the start of what will surely be an amazing Weird Al summer. Already Al has made a splash with his first original single in three years, the awesome and critically acclaimed Doors-styled "Craigslist," complete with a music video that has gone viral. Three more original songs are planned to be released over the course of the summer, leading up to the release of Al's thirteenth album sometime before next June.

Later this summer Southern Californians will be treated to the world premiere of Al's brand new movie at the Orange County Fair. Titled "Al's Brain," it will be an eleven-minute educational 3-D romp through the human brain, complete with facts, jokes, and of course music. After an exclusive engagement at the OCF, it will start touring the country at various fairs, theme parks, and science centers. If you want to see it come to your town, start writing and calling such places near you to express your interest in seeing "Al's Brain!"

August 1 will also see the first Weird Al fan convention in seven years, AL FEST 2009! Also situated in Orange County, the convention promises a fun-filled day featuring the obligatory auction, a talent show, a video presentation by Bermuda, live performances by both Jim and Rubén, an appearance or two by Dr. Demento, and even a Q&A panel with members of the cast and crew of "UHF." If you have the means, you NEED to be at this convention!

And of course, this summer will mark the twentieth anniversary of Al's cult classic comedy "UHF." Theaters across the country are already scheduling special screenings of the movie, so some of you out there might be lucky enough to see it on the big screen once again.

Oh, and also, though it's not necessarily tied to his music career per se, I have to mention that Al will turn fifty this October, so don't forget to send a card. And I might as well get it out of the way now, Happy 50th, Al!

So as we continue through a year that will also eventually see the thirtieth anniversary of Al's first ever record release, let us look back on his career as rock music's most successful satirist with this almost-complete chronicle of his entire audio output.

As always, the Songography owes a great debt to Dave "Elvis" Rossi and Richard Green, who painstakingly researched and supplied many bits of information, and of course to the always helpful Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, who has always been there to answer the most trivial questions over twenty-seven editions. And I'd also like to give special thanks to Jeff Morris, who is always helpful with info on both "The Dr. Demento Show" and some of Al's earliest, rarest recordings. Thanks, guys!

For all of you "newbies" reading the Songography for the first time, I need to make a few things clear: the import information in here is not complete, nor is this list meant to be any official import information source (or anything official, for that matter). Also, for the time being, import versions of singles and albums are listed immediately with or after their domestic counterparts (unless specific release dates are known).

Alternate versions of the same songs are listed separately. The only exceptions to this rule are for live performances, and likewise for unique reasons there are only very scant exceptions to that rule. To differentiate the alternate versions of songs, whatever is listed on the unique version's original release is what is used for its entry. If a released alternate version has no such notation on the release, then a short explanation is listed in parentheses next to the song title and the entry is noted with an asterisk.

A version of a song might be noted as being "live" if Al performed it on television or on the radio, but such notation is not an exact science (and I'll be the first to admit that it's a flawed system). Generally the loose rule is that a song will be counted as "live" if it's an impromptu performance, such as during an interview.

Regarding listed years for unreleased songs: for non-concert songs, the date given is when it was recorded, if known. For all other unreleased songs (concert songs or otherwise), the date given is the year that Al first performed it

And, a couple of notes on bootlegs: Bootlegs are not official releases in any way, and as such they rank extremely low on the totem pole of things I actively research for inclusion in this Songography. Almost all bootleg information is submitted by the collections' respective compilers. I strive to be as complete as possible with given information, so older versions of bootleg collections might be listed even if an author has gone back to update theirs, so you may see a title appear several times or in different ways. Likewise, tapes of concerts may have had other songs added after the actual show, so don't think there's a screw-up if you see an older song listed for a newer concert (or vice versa). And the absence of a bootleg does not mean that a given song is completely unavailable; it just means that nobody has offered it publicly yet in a physical form (I don't count downloads, YouTube clips, or torrents as "releases". As always, I'll be more than happy to forward any further questions or concerns regarding specific bootlegs to their respective authors.

Of course, any and all information is subject to change or to be added to (if not, then there wouldn't be that much of a point in mailing out updates like this....would there??!).

As always, any contribution is greatly appreciated. If you have any addition, correction, query, complaint, or comment to make concerning an entry, please let me know. The next edition of the Songography, the unbelievable 27th edition no less, will be available in June. Until then, please check out my Al site All Things Yankovic (which will have a number of new sections ready to go in the new year to help celebrate Al's thirtieth anniversary) for information on the Songography and what you can do to help, among other fun things. And you can also check out the Songography's home on the web at Elvis's We've Got It All On UHF site.

In addition to Jon, Dave, Jeff, and Richard, I want to send thanks for supplying information one way or another, for helping me obtain certain items to include in this Songography, for beating me over the head with a correction, and for just plain old support to Dr. Demento, Carlotta Barnes, Marty Lick, Julie Prather, Steve Jay, Steve Chai, Whimsical Will, Insane Ian Bonds, Michael Lestatkatt, Sharon Bayly, Amanda Cohen, Mike Aquilina, Mike Hoffman, GoodTime Gil, B.J. Kelley, Lex Friedman, Paul Rogers from Those Darn Accordions!, Amanda Deer, Tony Goldmark, Stephen J. Ward, Denise Olderr, Cecile Smith, Noel Blanc, Renegade Animation, Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, Josh Weinstein, Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, Jay Levey, all my fellow "concert trackers" over at WOWAY, Rebecca, and Mr. Yankovic.

And of course this Songography is dedicated to Al, Steve, Jim, Rubén, and Jon, whose hard work and talent continue to wow us with each new release.

Plus, I'd like to further dedicate this special edition of the Songography to Michael Jackson, whose continued sense of humor and generosity helped establish Al as the music icon he is today.

In the meantime, there are two things you can do to help honor Al and the guys. You can contribute to the Weird Al Star Fund, the fan campaign to get Al a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Meanwhile, the Make the Rock Hall "Weird" grassroots campaign is currently putting together a video documentary and needs fans to appear on-camera to plead to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to induct Al. If you are a Weird Al fan at all, I urge you to check out both web sites to help out any way you can.

So, sit back, enjoy, always question authority, and see you at Al Fest!

take care,
Greg Method

To sign up to receive the text only version of the Songography and get on the update mailing list, please visit here. Extra special thanks to Greg for letting me post this awesome Songography on my web site! Thanks Greg!

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