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.
Track listing
- "Amish Paradise" (Ivey, Rasheed, Sanders, Wonder, Yankovic) – 3:20
- *parody of "Gangsta's Paradise" by Coolio. A rap song by an Amish man about his lifestyle and dealing with the modern world.
- *Yankovic had received permission from Coolio's label to write the parody and was under the impression that the label was speaking for Coolio. In reality Coolio had not authorized his label to give permission and was upset over Yankovic's parody but due to copyright law, he could take no legal action.
- "Everything You Know Is Wrong" (Yankovic) – 3:47
- *style parody of the band They Might Be Giants. A song about everything being wrong, with a juxtaposition of seemingly normal and bizarre situations, such as "driving on the freeway in the fast lane with a rabid wolverine in my underwear when suddenly a guy behind me in the back seat popped right up and cupped his hands across my eyes."
- "Cavity Search" (Bono, U2, Yankovic) – 4:19
- *parody of "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" by U2, about an apprehensive man's visit to the dentist
- *some believe the song, "Unfinished Sweet" by Alice Cooper, inspired Al to make this song.
- "Callin' In Sick" (Yankovic) – 3:40
- *a style-parody of "Lithium" by Nirvana about getting out of work by feigning illness, and then spending the day doing useless things.
- *The beginning of the song is also very similar to "Come As You Are" by Nirvana.
- "The Alternative Polka" – 4:50
- *A polka medley featuring:
- **"Loser" by Beck,
- **"Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots,
- **"All I Wanna Do" by Sheryl Crow,
- **"Closer" by Nine Inch Nails,
- **"Bang And Blame" by R.E.M.,
- **"You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette,
- **"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" by Smashing Pumpkins,
- **"My Friends" by Red Hot Chili Peppers,
- **"I'll Stick Around" by Foo Fighters,
- **"Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden, and
- **"Basket Case" by Green Day.
- ***with new music by "Weird Al" Yankovic.
- ***this polka was originally meant to include "Buddy Holly" by Weezer, but the rights never materialized
- "Since You've Been Gone" (Yankovic) – 1:22
- *An a cappella song about getting over the end of a relationship.
- "Gump" (Ballew, Presidents of the United States of America, Yankovic) – 2:10
- *parody of "Lump" by The Presidents of the United States of America, about Forrest Gump, the character from the film of the same name.
- *released as the album's second single, with Yankovic's "Spy Hard (Theme From The Motion Picture Spy Hard" as the cassette single's B-side
- "I'm So Sick Of You" (Yankovic) – 3:26
- *A rant about the singer's significant other and her odious personal habits.
- *Style parody of This Year's Model-era Elvis Costello.
- "Syndicated Inc." (Pirner, Yankovic) – 3:54
- *parody of "Misery" by Soul Asylum, about a family's devotion to syndicated television.
- "I Remember Larry" (Yankovic) – 3:56
- *Recounts the tale of a neighborhood prankster and the many gags he pulled on the singer. These include pasting Polaroid pictures of the singer with his pants down all over town, cutting his car in half, replacing his toothpaste with glue, putting Bengay in his jockstrap, giving him brownies filled with laxatives, and prank phone calls from "midnight till dawn". The singer then recalls his sweet revenge on Larry by stuffing him into a big plastic bag and leaving him for dead. He ends by saying that if Larry was still here, he would say that it was a pretty good gag.
- *This is said to be one of the 2 songs in which Yankovic has hidden messages when played backward. The message is purported to be: "Wow, you must have an awful lot of free time on your hands." [Some] have speculated that this is based on They Might Be Giants' "See The Constellation".
- "Phony Calls" (Etheridge, Lopes, Organized Noize, Yankovic) – 3:22
- *parody of "Waterfalls" by TLC, about the dangers of prank calls. Featuring Bart Simpson and Moe Szyslak from The Simpsons.
- "The Night Santa Went Crazy" (Yankovic) – 4:03
- *A Christmas song-sounding tale of Santa Claus snapping and going on a North Pole killing spree. Despite being an Al original, some fans consider this to be a parody of Soul Asylum's "Black Gold" - the similarities between the two songs are extremely obvious, especially in the intros and sound-effects laden middle sections. (A remix once appeared on weirdalforum.com highlighting the similarities between the two songs.) Despite the similarities, the music most resembles Ozzy Osbourne's soul ballad "Mama, I'm Coming Home".
Credits
- "Weird Al" Yankovic - accordion, keyboards, background vocals
- Hank Azaria - Moe Szyslak
- Nancy Cartwright - 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
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
Charts
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | The Billboard 200 | 14 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | "Amish Paradise" | The Billboard Hot 100 | 53 |
| "Weird Al" Yankovic | ||
|---|---|---|
| Band Members | "Weird Al" Yankovic • Jon Schwartz (drummer)>Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz • Steve Jay • Jim West • Rubén Valtierra | |
| Studio albums | "Weird Al" Yankovic (album)>"Weird Al" Yankovic • "Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D • Dare to Be Stupid • Polka Party! • Even Worse • UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff • Off the Deep End • Alapalooza • Bad Hair Day • Running with Scissors • Poodle Hat | |
| Compilation Albums | "Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits • The Food Album • • Greatest Hits Volume II • The TV Album | |
| Long Form Videos | The Compleat Al • UHF (film)>UHF • The "Weird Al" Yankovic Video Library • ' • ' • ' • ' • "Weird Al" Yankovic Live! • • The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series | |
| Additional Information | Singles • Songs • Al TV • The Weird Al Show • | |
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