The Ultimate Parody Guide

Post by **algonacchick** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 2:40 am

Don't forget "Walking on the Moon". The guitar part that plays in the background when Al sings the verses is very reminiscent of that song.

Post by **Grom** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 4:01 am

algonacchick @ Jul 11 2006, 02:53 AM wrote: it's kind of unfair to just list one song for a style parody.

That's what I think. To parody someone's distinct style, you don't make a song sounding like one specific song out of their whole catalogue; you try to sound like that catalogue. Eg, "WDTAHTM?" Has the vocalisings from the majority of Ben's songs (most notably "Steven's Last Night in Town"/the live version of "Army"), with some "Battle of Who Could Care Less" and the rockin' piano break comes most from "The Last Polka" and "Philosophy". Plus, the piano/bass/drums imitates the whole style of Ben Folds/Five's catalogue (apart from the studio version of "Emaline", and also "Rockin' the Suburbs").

I believe the same goes for all of Al's style parodies.

I also think "Callin' in Sick" has some elements of Nirvana's "Lithium".

weirdalfan95 · Post by **weirdalfan95** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 5:03 am

Grom, I think Callin' In Sick is more of a style parody of Come As You Are... The guitar intro is VERY similar.

EDIT: Lithium is actually very similar to CIS... So I guess CIS is a double style parody? CIS has the guitar intro of Come As You Are and melody of Lithium...

Whatinthe27 · Post by **Whatinthe27** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 5:34 am

Marko_The_Odd @ Jul 10 2006, 05:45 PM wrote: I'd hate to be anal, but "Willie and the Hand Jive" is NOT by Bo Diddley. It is by Johnny Otis. However, both of those songs use what is known as "The Bo Diddley Beat", which originated in Bo Diddley's song "Bo Diddley" and was used in quite a few of his own songs such as "Mona," "Hush Your Mouth," "Gunslinger," "Pretty Thing," and "Nursery Rhyme" as well as various other songs such as Johnny Otis' "Willie & the Hand Jive" and "Crazy Country Hop," Buddy Holly and the Crickets' "Not Fade Away" and "Love's Made a Fool of You," Freddy Cannon's "Buzz Buzz a Diddle It," Duane Eddy's "Cannonball," the Bosstones' "Mope-Itty-Mope," Dee Clark's "Hey Little Girl," the Strangeloves' and Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy," Dale Hawkins' "Little Liza Jane," and Tommy Facenda's "High School U.S.A."

And now you know the rest of the story.

So if you know something of the blues, would you say that the Generic Blues is a style parody of BB King? I don't know much of his music, but BB King has a appeared for Al doing promos for ALtv, so Al is very likely a fan. And after watching a rerun of the Cosby Show where BB King appeared reinterated the theory with the songs they were singing. The lyrical formula is the same.. make a statement, repeat it, and then exagerate how bad it's making you feel.

Also, Waffle King is half Peter Gabriel, half Art of Noise.

- Sam

darbus · Post by **darbus** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 6:27 am

Grom @ Jul 10 2006, 03:36 PM wrote: And Darbus, Lovr is pretty much style parodying Beck's whole Midnite Vultures album (which, I'm pretty sure, has Peaches & Cream on it).

Yeah, Grom, that's what I thought the first time I heard it. And, yes, Peaches & Cream is on Midnite Vultures.

TheLazenby · Post by **TheLazenby** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:34 am

I dunno about "Waffle King"... that one seems to have a LOT of "Sledgehammer" in it.

But while we're on the topic, I think "Talk Soup" is DEFINITELY spoofing "Steam"; they're very, very similar. Anyone else have differing ideas?

Also, I listened to "Lithium"... I can't hear a whole lot of "Callin' In Sick", but since several people thought the same thing, I'll throw it in. I don't want this whole thing to be based on my own hearing.

TheLazenby · Post by **TheLazenby** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 5:07 am

Does anyone know a song closer to "Minnesota" than "30,000 Pounds"? I always considered it a style parody of that, but listening to "Pounds" again, i found that my memory was faulty... actually, Harry's live version sounds closer to "Minnesota". The album version isn't quite so overproduced.

Post by **TMBJon** » Fri Jul 14, 2006 2:58 pm

I think the problem is that you are looking for specific songs to match up with your style parodies. Al has said in the past that "Twine" is a style parody of Harry Chapin's rambling songs. I don't think there's really a need to nail down a specific song that it is spoofing. That is the point of a style parody; it parodies an entire style. Yes, a handful of Al's style parodies (such as "Traffic Jam" and "Albuquerque") do parody very specific songs, but for the most part the style parodies are only aiming to parody genres or artists.

TheLazenby · Post by **TheLazenby** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 3:17 am

Well, the reason I pinned that song to "Bananas" is because there are a lot of similarities - for example, the chord changes. But alright, I'll change it.

Ecto · Post by **Ecto** » Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:35 am

Franks 2000" TV is a style parody of REM.