In 3-D

Despite my flagging enthusiasm for Al and his music, I still have a soft spot for his breakout Al-bum, "In 3-D". While the "Eat It" is kinda dorky, and "I Lost on Jeopardy" is fairly ludicrous, these ain't the tunes that make this CD my fave pick of the Al catalog. And it ain't the ridiculously corny "Nature Trail to Hell", either. "Midnight Star" is still reasonably amusing, although not quite as much as some of the more sensational tabloid headlines it makes fun of. "That Boy Could Dance" still grabs a smile or two from me mainly because I can relate to the subject of the song. Well, except for the dancing part that is. And settin' up a dance studio. And ownin' half of Montana. And-er now that I think about it, I guess I really don't have much in common with the song's subject...

Anyhoo, I found myself pretty irked by "Polkas on 45", which was the first of Al's annoying polka medleys of various pop song lyrics which became an obligatory feature of almost all subsequent al-bums. Although I used to enjoy this and the other polkas, nowadays I'm glad my CD player has a Skip Track option, if ya know what I mean...

But when it's all said and done, track that really makes it all worthwhile is... the "Theme from Rocky XIII", also known as "The Rye or the Kaiser", a take-off of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" from the Rocky III soundtrack. It's one of the small handful of Al tunes (along with "Achey Breakey Song" and "Fat") whose lyrics I fully know by heart, and never get tired of listening to. And thanks to rumors of yet another Rocky sequel possibly being made in the near future, it's as relevant a tune today as it was when it first came out over two decades ago. Relevant to what, I haven't a clue...

'Late

"Eat It" is the first Michael Jackson song to be sent up--"Fat" would be done on the Even Worse album. Here though, the booming synths and guitars are replicated by Al's group of musicians instead of the accordion: "Eat it/eat it/get yourself an egg and beat it/have some more chicken have some more pie/it doesn't matter if it's boiled or fried." There's a great approximation to Eddie Van Halen's guitar solo here.

Bright 80's keyboards start "Midnight Star," about the nonsense found in supermarket tabloids, such as one's pets being extraterrestrial and most important, the story of the man born without a head, that the Incredible Frog Boy is on the loose again. I myself wonder what makes people want to read this rubbish in the first place. They can't have much circulation, but if they do, small wonder the average IQ of this country is in double digits.

Al's observations on TV shows and the stunning variety of programmes is a constant theme in his music. "The Brady Bunch," which is a send-up of Men Without Hats' "The Safety Dance" mentions Mr. Rogers, Three's Company, Barney Miller, MTV, the Addams Family and sundry others before later singing the theme song to the Brady Bunch in the later verse. His comment: "You can watch TV till your eyes fall out of your head" and "television is taking its toll" is a well-known observation on how much TV Americans watch.

"Buy Me A Condo" is Al's poke at reggae, about a Jamaican guy who decides to give up island living, go to New York, cut off his dreads, wallet full of credit cards, get the T-shirt with the alligator on, and basically conform to what Randolph Bourne referred to as the tasteless grey sludge, i.e. the melting pot.

"I Lost On Jeopardy" is another TV song, but this time from the point of view of a game show contestant. Why bother humiliating oneself? As the spoken voiceover says, "You lost and let me tell you what you didn't win: a 20-volume set of the Encyclopedia International, a case of turtle wax, and a year's supply of Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat, but that's not all. You also made yourself look like a jerk in front of millions of people and you bought shame and disgrace on your family for generations to come. ....You're a complete loser!"

"Polkas on 45" is the first Weird Al polka medley, with accordion, silly noises, taken from key verses from well-known songs and strung together. Here's what he does: Devo's "Are We Not Men: We Are Devo", Deep Purple's "Smoke On the Water", Berlin's "Sex, I'm A...", Beatles, "Hey Jude", The Doors' "L.A. Woman", Iron Butterfly's "In A Gadda-Da-Vida", Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe", Talking Heads' "Burning Down The House", Foreigner's "Hot Blooded", The Police's "Every Breath You Take", The Clash's "Should I Stay Or Should I Go", The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash", The Who's "My Generation."

"Mr. Popeil" is another TV song, about those commercials introducing those brand new time-saving gadgets, like Vegematics. "Please no CODs, don't miss out on these deals."

"King Of Suede" sends up The Police's "King Of Pain" with a clothing sale motif. Instead of "That's my soul up there" refrain, we get "Is my size up there?"

"That Boy Could Dance" has a great rhythm and some funny lyrics. "Theme From Rocky XIII" is a parody of Survivor's "Eye Of The Tiger" and with three Rocky movies done by 1984, is a look at a future Rocky Balboa, who "sold his gloves, threw his eggs down the drain", and runs the neighborhood deli. "But you just can't go wrong with the rye... or the Kaiser" goes a sample refrain.

"Nature Trail From Hell" is a song built around a movie trailer for cheesy teen horror films. Al evolves from his debut with silly and funny results. Next up, my personal favourite Weird Al CD, Dare To Be Stupid.