UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff
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| UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff | ||||
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| Soundtrack album by "Weird Al" Yankovic | ||||
| Released | July 18, 1989 | |||
| Recorded | December 1988 to May 1989 | |||
| Genre | Comedy, soundtrack, hard rock, pop rap, polka, pop rock, alternative dance, chicago blues, instrumental rock, alternative rock, folk rock | |||
| Length | 42:28 | |||
| Label | Warner Brothers | |||
| Producer | Rick Derringer | |||
| "Weird Al" Yankovic chronology | ||||
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| Singles from UHF | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone Record Guide | [2] |
| SputnikMusic | [3] |
UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff (1989) is the sixth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic. The album featured many music cuts from the film as well as some of the commercials ("Spatula City") and other parody bits ("Gandhi II"). The album also featured new original material such as "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota", which brought the running order up to album length. Skits written by Jay Levey, such as "Conan the Librarian" and "Plots R Us" are omitted, as is the original score by John Du Prez. It would be the last Weird Al album to be released as a vinyl record until 2011's Alpocalypse.
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[edit] Notable refused parodies
Yankovic had one parody idea that was refused:
- A parody of Prince's hit "Let's Go Crazy" entitled "Beverly Hillbillies". Yankovic revealed in the DVD commentary for "UHF" that the concept "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*" was originally a parody of a Prince song.[4] Prince, however, refused, and has been unreceptive to any parody ideas Yankovic has ever presented him with.[5]
[edit] Track listing
| Track | Title | Length | (Style) Parody of | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*" | 3:11 | "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits | The song features the slightly altered lyrics of the theme song from the television series The Beverly Hillbillies which are set to the tune of "Money for Nothing". The song actually appears in its entirety in the film as a computer-animated music video/dream sequence. Mark Knopfler himself played guitar on the track, the price for allowing Al to make his parody. |
| 2 | "Gandhi II" | 1:00 | Original | A commercial for the action television film with Mahatma Gandhi as the protagonist; references the film Gandhi. Gandhi was played by director Jay Levey. |
| 3 | "Attack of the Radioactive Hamsters from a Planet near Mars" | 3:28 | Original | A rock song about a number of mutated hamsters terrorizing the planet. |
| 4 | "Isle Thing" | 3:37 | "Wild Thing" by Tone Lōc | About a girl who introduces the singer to the television show Gilligan's Island. This is also Weird Al's first rap parody, "Twister" being a style parody. Another Tone Lōc hit, "Funky Cold Medina", is referred to in the lyrics: "Ginger and Mary Ann coulda used some funky cold medina". |
| 5 | "The Hot Rocks Polka" | 4:50 | Polka Medley | A polka medley including the following songs:
All of these songs are by The Rolling Stones, arranged with some new music by Weird Al. The name of the song refers to Hot Rocks, a best of album of the Stones. |
| 6 | "UHF" | 5:09 | Style parody of "State of Shock" by The Jacksons | With lyrics written in the style of a TV station's large promotional campaign; title theme to the movie. |
| 7 | "Let Me Be Your Hog" | 0:16 | Original | Rock snippet, heard in the movie as Uncle Harvey lounges in his pool. Contains obvious elements of "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by The Stooges. |
| 8 | "She Drives Like Crazy" | 3:42 | "She Drives Me Crazy" by Fine Young Cannibals | About a man's girlfriend with terrible driving habits. |
| 9 | "Generic Blues" | 4:34 | Style parody of Chicago blues | A blues-style song with deliberately cliched lyrics, and the refrain, "Maybe I'll blow my brains out mama, or maybe I'll just go bowling instead". According to Yankovic in the liner notes of Permanent Record: Al in the Box collection, B.B. King has mentioned this song as one of his ten favorite blues songs of all time.[6] |
| 10 | "Spatula City" | 1:07 | Original | Commercial for a spatula outlet store. In the scene, Eldon G. Hallum plays the father, Sherry Engstrom plays the wife, and Sara Allen plays the neighbor. |
| 11 | "Fun Zone" | 1:45 | Instrumental | Theme to Stanley Spadowski's Clubhouse, the main show-within-a-show in the film. Originally written for failed Saturday Night Live replacement Welcome to the Fun Zone, this song is played at the beginning of every Weird Al concert. |
| 12 | "Spam" | 3:12 | "Stand" by R.E.M. | About the canned luncheon meat Spam |
| 13 | "The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota" | 6:50 | Style parody of "30,000 Pounds of Bananas" by Harry Chapin | Lengthy folk-type song about a family road trip to a tourist location in Minnesota. |
[edit] Personnel
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2008) |
- "Weird Al" Yankovic – accordion, keyboards, vocals, backing vocals
- Kim Bullard – synthesizer
- Rick Derringer – guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Jay – bass, backing vocals
- Jimmy Z. – harmonica
- Mark Knopfler – guitar (only on "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*")
- Guy Fletcher – synthesizer (only on "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*")
- Warren Luening – trumpet
- Jim Rose – vocals, announcer
- Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz – percussion, drums
- Donny Sierer – saxophone
- The Step Sisters – vocals
- The Waters Sisters – vocals, backing vocals
- Jim West – banjo, guitar (except on "Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies*"), backing vocals, background music
[edit] Production
- Producer: Rick Derringer
- Engineers: Daryll Dobson, Tony Papa
- Assistant engineer: Jamey Dell, Bill Malina
- Arranger: "Weird Al" Yankovic
[edit] Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | The Billboard 200 | 146[7] |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r121082
- ^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York. pp. 893. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=1535
- ^ "Weird Al" Yankovic (actor) Jay Levey (director) (2002). UHF - Commentary. Orion Pictures. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098546/. Retrieved 2010/06/30.
- ^ Jennifer, Vineyard (2003-06-09). "Weird Al Wisdom: Don't Rush Comedy, And Don't Trust eBay". VH1. http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1472404/20030606/yankovic_weird_al.jhtml. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ Hansen, Barret (1994). Album notes for Permanent Record: Al in the Box by "Weird Al" Yankovic [liner]. California, USA: Scotti Brothers Records.
- ^ Performance of the album at the Billboard charts - allmusic
