Dick's Automotive

[Teh Dingo]

Amen, Jackie


Between the whole Atlantic/You're Pitiful thing, Al not getting a star, and now this topic, there's just too much negativity on this board these days. This should be a banner time period for Al.

Instead we have people fighting over something Al's done his entire career and people fighting with one wiseass guy and his blog. People not getting it through their heads that we have moderators and feeling they have to deal with trolls themselves. I swear, I'm really starting to hate this forum these days. Good thing there's other reasons to be here

(gets off his soapbox*

[U62]

Why this song folks? I don't understand.

Probably because some people (myself included) thought Albuquerque was one of the most original works of absolute musical genius that Al ever produced. I remember hearing it for the first time and laughing outloud at all the brilliantly funny lyrics (the knock on the door, the donut shop, etc) and just generally being in awe of it.

I had never heard D.A. until a couple weeks ago, and must admit that I was let down and disppointed too at first. Almost felt kind of guilty for enjoying it for the last 5½ years and not knowing the real inspiration behind much of it. Generally Al's parodies and style parodies are pretty easy to identify, and for this one I'd never heard anything like it so it was easy to assume to be an "original original".

However, after hearing D.A. and Albuquerque again with repeated listened I've gained a new respect for it as a style parody. And have come to enjoy more of the Rugburns music too.

For those that do still feel let down, reading that article posted by mrmedows should help put some perspective on it..

Michael Hemmingson: "During my tour of duty with the Rugburns our biggest groupie was Weird Al Yankovic. At the Troubadour in Los Angeles, before our show, I was talking to this beautiful girl at the bar when Weird Al came up and asked me for my autograph. I think I got laid that night."

If anything that tells me Al is a real fan of the Rugburns and Albuquerque is a fitting tribute to them rather than a ripoff. Remember, it's an honor to be parodied or style parodied by Weird Al, and in this regard he has elevated this little known band that he loves to the same status level as the very famous groups and artists he has parodied.

u62

[weirdojace]

Exactly. This is not the first time Al has style parodied an individual song (Let's Go Crazy, Black Gold) however, the reason that people are upset about this is because The Rugburns are not a band that's well known, so not many people know of the song "Dick's Automotive" and therefore think that Albuquerque is a 100% Al original. Then over five years later, we discover this. That's the reason people are kind of mad about it.

[KnottyEmily]

I was never disappointed, but the fact that The Rugburns aren't very well known made the likeness of the songs a bit suspicious, and that worried me a bit. But now that I know that Al is a huge fan of the band, which is most likely why he did such a close style parody of that particular song, it doesn't bother me at all

[Squirrelygirl]

Thanks a lot guys. I just listened to DA. Now I`m going to have nightmares for weeks. 

I couldn't agree more. That is NOT a pleasant song. Although the drum-line and driving rhythmn is very close to Albuquerque, I will gladly listen to Albuquerque again and again and enjoy it every time. I think DA is going to be deleted from my record library, and I won't miss it a bit.

[DrSteggy]

I guess I am just going to have to remain in the "I don't get it" camp. I hadn't heard of Thomas Dolby until long after I had "Slime Creatures" ingrained in my head...finding out it was a style parody of a group I wasn't too familiar with didn't upset me or ruin the song for me--its still there and its still funny.

Jackie

[Jigawatt]

It's like using boysenberry-flavored toothpaste. If a given person has never eaten or seen an actual boysenberry, they might use boysenberry-flavored toothpaste and say "wow, what a truly unique flavor!" But then if that person were to, five years later, discover an actual boysenberry and eat it, they would not accuse the toothpaste maker of trying to pass off their toothpaste as an actual boysenberry. It's supposed to replicate the taste, but serve a different purpose.

(yay for convoluted analogies)

Conclusion: brush your teeth and enjoy the fresh feeling in your mouth!

Adrian

[Akrovak]

Way back in 2002, in the now closed Ask Bermuda forum, someone mentioned the song "Dick's Automotive" in connection to Al's song (earlier in the topic, Bermuda gives his guesses to what Al payed homage to in "Albuquerque"). I'm just saying that the similarities were noted earlier than just a few days ago.

Weird Al ... the master of parody ... who does style parodies. He's been doing it for a long time. I'm not sure why we're surprised he might want to pay homage to a group he seems to appreciate.

Is it Al's responsibility to tell us who he is parodying? Or paying homage to? I don't think so (according to that Ask Bermuda topic, at times it would appear he doesn't even clue in his band members). As a fan, I appreciate the fact that Al can keep me on my toes and keep me guessing from time to time ... and I feel kind of smart when I figure something like this out (feel like it almost puts me on the same level as Al himself).

Anyway, I think (as is the case with a lot of Al's songs) that Alburquerque is the better of the two songs. And that's what Al is all about ... taking a song and making it funnier and better and easier to access than some of the stuff he chooses to pay homage to.

Just my two cents.

Edited to add:

After posting that, I thought I'd do a little Google ... typed in Rugburns Weird Al ... the first thing that came up? This Wikipedia entry (I'm not sure of its date). Cool 27 mention at the end of the article.

[Squirrelygirl]

After listening and comparing the two songs, I have no question that it was a style parody, (not a "rip-off"), even to the mentioning of "peaches" in both songs.

The ultimate test would be if the Rugburns themselves felt Al was impinging on their music directly, they would have probably filed a lawsuit. (The case of George Harrison vs the Shirelles comes to mind when they sued over My Sweet Lord being the same song as He's So Fine. The judge ultimately ruled in favor of Harrison considering that all music is somewhat derivative.)

The current rock music today has become so uninspiring and lacking in originality, it doesn't surprise me that Al did a style parody of someone not that well-known. Popular music has been mired in the vulgar, ebonics-plagued rap/hip-hop genre for years, and Al has been around so long, it must be very difficult to find anything new or different.

Style parody - yes
Better than the original - YES!

[mrmeadows]

You know, thinking about it a bit more, Al does include a lot of direct references to DA in "Albuquerque":

DA
"To northern California where the air is clear and the skies are blue and they have more traditional family values."

AL
"To a magical, far away place Where the sun is always shining and the air smells like warm root beer."

DA
Rotating tires bit.

AL
Donut shop bit.

DA
Canned peaches.

AL
Strained peaches.

DA
Climactic chainsaw dismemberment.

AL
Climactic chainsaw dismemberment.

And so on.

I guess Al includes enough tips o' the hat to the original DA lyrics to almost be a de facto acknowledgement of The Rugburns. Of course, one would have to be familiar with The Rugburns to know it, but then nothing gets by intrepid Al fans like us! He knew we'd analyze and over-analyze the song until we "unlocked the code".

Hey, this whole thing is a big positive, because I've come to appreciate both songs. Admittedly, my initial reaction upon hearing DA was disappointment, but I see y'all's point. It isn't the end of the world, it's a funny song, and Al isn't exactly hiding the fact that he's borrowing from DA. No harm, no foul.

Now, back to important, life-affecting matters: WHEN IS ALBUM 12 COMING OUT?!?!?!

Meadows