Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack) | ||||
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Soundtrack album by | ||||
Released | November 4, 2022 | |||
Recorded | 2022 | |||
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Length | 77:48 | |||
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Producer |
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"Weird Al" Yankovic chronology | ||||
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Singles from Weird:The Al Yankovic Story | ||||
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Weird:The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2022 film Weird:The Al Yankovic Story ,a satirical biopic,loosely based on the life and career of comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic,who is also credited as executive producer and co-writer of the film. The film,co-written and directed by Eric Appel (in his feature film directorial debut),stars Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovic,along with Evan Rachel Wood,Rainn Wilson,Toby Huss,Arturo Castro,and Julianne Nicholson in supporting roles. [1] [2]
The album features 46 tracks in total,consisting mostly Yankovic's early songs that were re-recorded for the album,new renditions of several of his parody songs,and original score compositions by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson,accompanying the remainder of it. [3] Yankovic's original song "Now You Know" specially recorded for the film (in the closing credits) and album, [4] was released as a single on November 4,2022. [5] [6] The song was recorded in order to be eligible for a Best Original Song nomination at the 95th Academy Awards, [7] but the prospects of an Academy Award campaign was dropped when the film's distributor,Roku,decided against a limited theatrical release for the film. [8]
The same day,the album was released as a companion to the film by Legacy Recordings, [9] in conjunction with its streaming premiere on The Roku Channel, [10] though music enthusiasts mentioned it as a "surprise album" from Yankovic. [10] It was released in CD on February 3,2023,and a two-disc vinyl edition of the soundtrack was released on May 19,2023. [11]
The original score was composed by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson,who also worked on Cobra Kai (2018–present). Birenberg and Robinson discussed the film's music with Eric Appel and "Weird Al" Yankovic. While the film was being scored,Yankovic interacted with the crew through Zoom due to his touring schedule. Speaking on his creative collaboration with Yankovic,Birenberg said "he's an awesome guy to work with,because he's obviously so creative and such a visionary,but he also knows how much direction to give and to let people do their thing to make it as good as possible". [12] On doing parody music,Robinson added that "you almost 'cue' the audience where to laugh a little bit. So the way you'll structure a specific build or a specific hit will be designed to tee up a punchline that exists in the on-camera work. And when you just play it straight,you're still hitting things and still building,but you're doing it in a way that you want the audience to be like,'Yeah,I'm in it. This is a sweet action movie.' That's the difference." [13] [14]
The accordion was used as the primary instrument in the score,played by Cory Pesaturo. On using an accordion for the themes,Robinson explained that the process was "insanely difficult",because of the nature of accordion playing,essentially balancing the aspects of an accordion and piano,while constantly bellowing. "[T]hat's what makes the sound,is the air being pushed out through these reeds that are in it ... your brain needs to be doing these three totally independent things and putting them together to execute the music." [13] Robinson added that Yankovic knew of many varieties of accordions from various countries that have different sounds for different genres. [12] In addition to the accordion,Birenberg and Robinson used orchestral music to complement the score,but also had accordion playing in some pieces.
According to Birenberg and Robinson,some of the sequences,including the reconciliation between Yankovic and his dad,Yankovic's speech,his meeting with Dr. Demento and the dinner fight sequence,were "fun to score". The theme for Al's speech was the first cue written and presented for the film,which was appreciated by Appel for its unique composition and style. [12] The diner fight had a John Wick -styled musical score,which was played by accordion,which Robinson described as a "fun thing to do". [12] For the first meeting between Yankovic and Madonna,Robinson had preferred his version of Yankovic's theme,vocalized by Madonna,that resulted in a "romantic","over-the-top" piano piece which was scored,to do "a funny Madonna vibe". [13]
For Dr. Demento and Al's meeting,the initial version was "almost telling the audience that they should be laughing" and was rejected by Appel. [13] The second version had a more "aspirational and emotional thread", [13] similar to Robert Zemeckis' films from the 1990s. [12]
The re-recordings for the soundtrack were mixed by Tony Solis,while Anthony Vanchure served as supervising sound editor and sound design was provided by Mike James Gallagher. Phil McGowan mixed Birenberg and Robinson's score was mixed by Phil McGowan. [15] [11] [16]
Both Gallagher and Vanchure discussed sound design in a music-themed film with Yankovic,who provided instructions on producing each sound uniquely. Vanchure called it a challenge "when you are doing audio for film because you have music,and that is helping tell the story,and then you also have the sound effects that we are using to help tell the story and with this movie,not only do we have Weird Al songs,but we also have a fantastic score by our composers,and it also is dependent on seeing how you mix a scene you need to keep playing it back a couple of times and go,“all right,what are we feeling,what's carrying the scene more.”" [17]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "You Don't Know Anything (Dialogue)" | Diedrich Bader | 0:10 | |
2. | "My Bologna" (2022 version) | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 2:09 |
3. | "I Love Rocky Road" (2022 version) | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 2:35 |
4. | "Another One Rides the Bus" (2022 version) | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 2:34 |
5. | "Eat It" | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 3:18 |
6. | "Like a Surgeon" (2022 version) | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 3:23 |
7. | "Amish Paradise" (2022 version) | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 3:19 |
8. | "Now You Know" | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 5:18 |
9. | "Dr. Demento Opening Theme (Pico and Sepulveda)" |
| The Roto Rooter Goodtime Christmas Band | 1:33 |
10. | "Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)" |
| Cory Pesaturo | 1:21 |
11. | "Helena Polka" | Traditional | Cory Pesaturo | 0:31 |
12. | "The Chicken Dance aka The Bird Dance" |
| The Emeralds | 2:43 |
13. | "Clarinet Polka" | Karol Namysłowski | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 0:35 |
14. | "Beat on the Brat" | Joey Ramone | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 0:19 |
15. | "Bowling with the Devil" | Yankovic | Skunk Barf | 0:13 |
16. | "The Cobra Pit" |
|
| 1:08 |
17. | "Demento's Pool Party" |
|
| 4:08 |
18. | "You're All a Bunch of Slaves (Instrumental)" | Yankovic | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 1:32 |
19. | "Guadalajara" | Pepe Guízar |
| 1:15 |
20. | "Back From the Dead" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:45 |
21. | "Weird" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:53 |
22. | "The Accordion" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 2:09 |
23. | "Hay Boy" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:43 |
24. | "The Closet" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:43 |
25. | "Epiphany" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:51 |
26. | "Cracked the Code" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:12 |
27. | "On the Spot" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:35 |
28. | "A Rare Gift" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:46 |
29. | "My Parents" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:11 |
30. | "Write Your Own Songs" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:21 |
31. | "LSD Trip" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 2:06 |
32. | "Al and Madonna" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 3:07 |
33. | "A Parody of 'Eat It'" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:35 |
34. | "Drunk Driving" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:54 |
35. | "You're All I've Got" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:33 |
36. | "Diner Kidnapping" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:22 |
37. | "Heart of the Jungle" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:23 |
38. | "Certified Platinum" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:28 |
39. | "It's All Business" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 2:37 |
40. | "The Factory" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:23 |
41. | "Dad Apologizes" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 2:08 |
42. | "Raised Amish" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 3:10 |
43. | "It's Nothing" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:57 |
44. | "Would You Be My Son?" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 0:38 |
45. | "Al's Speech" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 1:29 |
46. | "In Memoriam" |
| Budapest Scoring Orchestra | 2:34 |
Total length: | 77:48 |
Credits adapted from Vinyl liner notes.
MUSICIAN CREDITS
SCORE CREDITS
Score Recorded by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra
Chart (2022) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200 [18] | 192 |
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard) [19] | 15 |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Various | November 4, 2022 | Legacy Recordings | [20] [21] | |
February 3, 2023 | CD | |||
May 19, 2023 | Vinyl |
Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hollywood Music in Media Awards | November 16, 2022 | Best Music Themed Film, Biopic or Musical | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | Nominated | [22] [23] |
Best Original Score – Streamed Live Action Film (No Theatrical Release) | Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson | Nominated | |||
Best Original Song – Streamed Film (No Theatrical Release) | Weird Al Yankovic for "Now You Know" | Won | |||
San Diego Film Critics Society | January 6, 2023 | Best Use of Music | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | Nominated | [24] |
Society of Composers & Lyricists | February 15, 2023 | Outstanding Original Score for an Independent Film | Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson | Nominated | [25] |
Outstanding Original Song for a Comedy or Musical Visual Media Production | Weird Al Yankovic for "Now You Know" | Nominated | |||
St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association | December 18, 2022 | Best Soundtrack | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | Nominated | [26] |
Grammy Awards | February 4, 2024 | Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media | Weird: The Al Yankovic Story | Nominated | [27] |
Poodle Hat is the eleventh studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on May 20, 2003. It was the fifth studio album self-produced by Yankovic. The musical styles on the album are built around parodies and pastiches of pop of the early-2000s. The album's lead single, "Couch Potato", is a parody of "Lose Yourself" by Eminem. The single failed to chart, although the album's song "eBay" eventually peaked at 15 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles in 2007.
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Off the Deep End is the seventh studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1992. This album was the first album self-produced by Yankovic, after six albums with Rick Derringer. Recorded between June 1990 and January 1992, the album was a follow-up to the unsuccessful soundtrack to Yankovic's 1989 film UHF. Off the Deep End and its lead single "Smells Like Nirvana" helped to revitalize Yankovic's career after a lull following his last hit single, "Fat", in 1988.
UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff is the sixth studio album and soundtrack album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on July 18, 1989. The album is the final of Yankovic's to be produced by former McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between December 1988 and May 1989, the album served as the official soundtrack to the 1989 film of the same name, although the original score by John Du Prez is omitted. The album's lead single was the titular "UHF", although it was not a hit and did not chart.
Dare to Be Stupid is the third studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on June 18, 1985. The album was one of many Yankovic records produced by former McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between August 1984 and March 1985, the album was Yankovic's first studio album released following the success of 1984's In 3-D, which included the Top 40 single "Eat It".
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D is the second studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on February 28, 1984, by Rock 'n Roll Records. The album was one of many produced by former McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between October and December 1983, the album was Yankovic's follow-up to his modestly successful debut LP, "Weird Al" Yankovic.
"Weird Al" Yankovic is the self-titled debut studio album by the American Parody Musician of the same name. The album was the first of many produced by former The McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Mostly recorded in March 1982, the album was released by Rock 'n Roll Records as an LP and on Compact Cassette in 1983.
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"My Bologna" is the debut single by American musical parody artist "Weird Al" Yankovic, originally released in December 1979. It is a parody of the Knack's hit song "My Sharona". Yankovic originally wrote the lyrics while he attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California; the original version of the parody was recorded in a bathroom across the hall from the campus radio station, KCPR, at which Yankovic had worked as a DJ. The title refers to Bologna sausage, specifically the Oscar Mayer brand popular in the United States. Yankovic sent "My Bologna" to Dr. Demento, who aired the song on his nationwide radio program, The Dr. Demento Show. The song was a hit on the program, and eventually gained the number one spot on Dr. Demento's "Funny Five" countdown.
"Another One Rides the Bus" is a song by comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. It was released in February 1981 and is a parody of Queen's song "Another One Bites the Dust". Yankovic's version describes a person riding in a crowded public bus. It was recorded live on September 14, 1980, on the Dr. Demento Show, hosted by Barret "Dr. Demento" Hansen. Accompanying Yankovic was Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, who would go on to be the artist's long-time drummer.
Greatest Hits Volume II is a compilation album of songs by "Weird Al" Yankovic, featuring his best known songs that did not appear on "Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits, plus the new single "Headline News" which had first appeared on the box set Permanent Record: Al In The Box, released a month prior. The compilation album was met with mostly positive critical reviews, and it managed to chart on the Billboard 200 at number 198. However, it ranks as one of Yankovic's least-selling records.
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Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing comedy songs that often parody specific songs by contemporary musicians. He also performs original songs that are style pastiches of the work of other acts, as well as polka medleys of several popular songs, most of which feature his trademark accordion.
Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic is a 15-album box set by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on November 24, 2017. Squeeze Box marks Yankovic's second box set since 1994's Permanent Record: Al in the Box.
Leo Birenberg is an American composer and orchestrator for film and television.
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is a 2022 American biographical musical parody film directed by Eric Appel, in his feature directorial debut, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Al Yankovic. The film is a satire on musical biopics and is loosely based on Yankovic's life and career as an accordionist and parody songwriter. It stars Daniel Radcliffe as Yankovic, along with Evan Rachel Wood, Rainn Wilson, Toby Huss and Julianne Nicholson in supporting roles.
The Peanuts Movie (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2015 animated film The Peanuts Movie, directed by Steve Martino and produced by Blue Sky Studios. Based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts, it is the fifth full-length Peanuts film, and the first in 35 years. The original score is composed by Christophe Beck, with contributions from jazz pianist David Benoit and Meghan Trainor, who performed an original song titled "Better When I'm Dancin', released as a single on October 14, 2015. The soundtrack was digitally released by Epic Records and Fox Music on October 23, 2015.
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