Weekly ‘Weird Al’ Wednesday #8 – Let’s Get Our Polka on up in Here

“Weekly ‘Weird Al’ Wednesday” where Ben highlights a selection from the ‘Weird Al’ canon, each week, on Wednesday. Read last weeks and more here.

One of the simple joys of each 'Weird Al' album (except the first one) is the polka medley. Before the world of mashups and mix shows Al was taking bits of pop songs and stringing them together in a new creation. For each medley he puts together the choruses of several pop songs and sings them to a polka beat. Seeing as how Al's most identifiable weapon of choice is the accordion, this all makes perfect sense.

• 'Weird Al' is Sir Isaac Newton in this episode of 'Epic Rap Battles of History'

Again this demonstrators Al's genius ability to take the self-important posturing of pop music and burst it's bubble with some playfully teasing. That;s why one of my favorite polka melodies is the one off of 2003's Poodle Hat, the "Angry White Boy Polka." This one came out at the height of the angry, Rap-Rock, Nu Metal wave. Al throws in a few Alternative and Hip Hop to round out the song. It's great to hear the rage and emotion of these songs repurposed like this. Listen for Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, Kid Rock, The Vines, Eminem, Papa Roach and a bunch more.

The other Melody I want to highlight this time is the newest one from the album Mandatory Fun, called "Now That's What I Call Polka!" because this one came out in 2014 the songs are fresher in our pop music memory. Miley, Carley Rea, Macklemore and Psy, among others, show up here. It is so much fun!