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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (soundtrack)

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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
"Weird Al" Yankovic
ReleasedNovember 4, 2022 (2022-11-04)
Recorded2022
Genre
Length77:48
Label
Producer
"Weird Al" Yankovic chronology
Squeeze Box
(2017) 		Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
(2022)
Singles from Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
  1. "Now You Know"
    Released: November 4, 2022

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 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 as its distributor Roku denied a limited theatrical release plans 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]

Production

[edit]

Background

[edit]

The original score is 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. Yankovic interacted with the crew through Zoom due to his participation in global tours, while scoring the film. Birenberg said on his creative collaboration with Yankovic, as "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]

Composition

[edit]

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" as the player needs to know the aspects of an accordion and piano, and put them while constantly bellowing, as "that'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] Pesaturo played the accordion for all themes, instead of solo violins, and flute, so that a lot of emotional themes heard will have an accordion. Robinson added that Yankovic new various varieties of accordions, from various countries that have different sounds of 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 described as "fun to score". The theme for Al's speech was the first cue he had written and presented for the film, which was appreciated by Appel for the unique composition and style.[12] The diner fight had a John Wick-styled musical score, which was played by accordion, which Robinson described it as the "fun thing to do so".[12] For the first meeting between Yankovic and Madonna, Robinson had preferred his version of Yankovic's theme, vocalised by Madonna, that resulted in a "romantic", "over-the-top" piano piece which was scored, to do "a funny Madonna vibe".[13]

Dr. Demento and Al's meeting included an emotional and orchestral score, whose version had "comedy cues". The original version, is a "very sincere, emotional piece of music that has a little bit more of hope and uplifting feeling to it", which was not considered.[13] The version is a "goofy comedic cue" played over the weirdness of Demento instead of the sincerity and emotion that Appel demanded. Both Birenberg and Robinson wanted a sincere approach to the sequences, as similar to Robert Zemeckis' directorials in the 1990s.[12]

Sound design and mixing

[edit]

Tony Solis mixed and re-recorded the film's soundtrack, while Anthony Vanchure and Michael James Gallagher, respectively edited, supervised and designed the sounds to blend Yankovic's music with Birenberg and Robinson's underscore and sound effects. Phil McGowan mixed Birenberg and Robinson's score. [15][11] Solis was reminded by Yankovic and Appel, to mix the live performance sequences "to be more authentic", whether on outdoor and indoor arena performance. Yankovic also re-recorded the parody songs, with Solis mixing them in Dolby Atmos music, as "it is a big surround sound film" and gave him individual stems of the music, and the songs played throughout the film, which gave him access "to weave the music into making it right for the space, making the accordion sound awesome, and making drums and bass and all of his vocals sound exactly right to the space."[16]

Both Gallagher and Vanchure discussed about the sound design in a music-themed film with Yankovic, who provided instructions on producing each sound uniquely. Vanchure called it as his biggest challenge of any film as "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]

Track listing

[edit]
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack) – Digital edition
No.TitleWriter(s)Performer(s)Length
1."You Don't Know Anything (Dialogue)"
Diedrich Bader0:10
2."My Bologna" (2022 version)Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic2:09
3."I Love Rocky Road" (2022 version)Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic2:35
4."Another One Rides the Bus" (2022 version)Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic2:34
5."Eat It"Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic3:18
6."Like a Surgeon" (2022 version)Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic3:23
7."Amish Paradise" (2022 version)Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic3:19
8."Now You Know"Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic5:18
9."Dr. Demento Opening Theme (Pico and Sepulveda)"
The Roto Rooter Goodtime Christmas Band1:33
10."Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out the Barrel)"
Cory Pesaturo1:21
11."Helena Polka"TraditionalCory Pesaturo0:31
12."The Chicken Dance aka The Bird Dance"
The Emeralds2:43
13."Clarinet Polka"Karol Namysłowski"Weird Al" Yankovic0:35
14."Beat on the Brat"Joey Ramone"Weird Al" Yankovic0:19
15."Bowling with the Devil"YankovicSkunk Barf0:13
16."The Cobra Pit"
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
1:08
17."Demento's Pool Party"
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
4:08
18."You're All a Bunch of Slaves (Instrumental)"Yankovic"Weird Al" Yankovic1:32
19."Guadalajara"Pepe Guízar
  • César Chavira
  • César Ramírez
  • Omar Estrada
1:15
20."Back From the Dead"
  • Dan Light
  • Ramiro Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:45
21."Weird"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:53
22."The Accordion"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:09
23."Hay Boy"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:43
24."The Closet"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:43
25."Epiphany"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:51
26."Cracked the Code"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:12
27."On the Spot"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:35
28."A Rare Gift"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:46
29."My Parents"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:11
30."Write Your Own Songs"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:21
31."LSD Trip"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:06
32."Al and Madonna"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra3:07
33."A Parody of 'Eat It'"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:35
34."Drunk Driving"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:54
35."You're All I've Got"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:33
36."Diner Kidnapping"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:22
37."Heart of the Jungle"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:23
38."Certified Platinum"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:28
39."It's All Business"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:37
40."The Factory"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:23
41."Dad Apologizes"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:08
42."Raised Amish"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra3:10
43."It's Nothing"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:57
44."Would You Be My Son?"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra0:38
45."Al's Speech"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra1:29
46."In Memoriam"
  • Light
  • Rodriguez
  • Birenberg
  • Robinson
Budapest Scoring Orchestra2:34
Total length:77:48
  • On vinyl releases, disc 1 comprises tracks 1–19, and disc 2 comprises tracks 20–46.

Credits

[edit]

Credits adapted from Vinyl liner notes.

MUSICIAN CREDITS

  • Vocals & Accordion: "Weird Al" Yankovic
  • Guitars: Jim "Kimo" West
  • Bass: Steve Jay
  • Drums & Percussion: Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz
  • Keyboards: Ruben Valtierra
  • Trumpet: Wayne Bergeron
  • Saxophone: Tom Evans
  • Background singers: Monique Donnelly, Scottie Haskell, Lisa Popeil
  • Hand music: "Musical Mike" Kieffer
  • Recorded and mixed by Dave Way at the Way Station
  • Additional engineering: Rafael Serrano

SCORE CREDITS

  • Score produced by Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson
  • Additional Music: Dan Light and Ramiro Rodriguez Zamarripa
  • Score Coordinator: Michael Wilson
  • Music Editor: Andres Locsey
  • Score Mixer: Phil McGowan
  • Orchestrator: Vincent Oppido
  • Featured Accordionist: Cory Pesaturo
  • Featured Pianist: Jeff Babko

Score Recorded by the Budapest Scoring Orchestra

  • Conductor: György Gulyás-Nagy
  • Session producer: Bálint Sapszon
  • Orchestra coordinator: Bertalan Veér
  • Recording Engineer: Dénes Rédly
  • Music Copying: Norbert Elek, Csaba Puskas, Music Preparation: Dan Brown, Lorenzo Carrano, Filippo Landi, Nathanael Tronerud
  • Tony Solis: Re-Recording Mixer
  • Anthony Vanchure: Supervising Sound Editor
  • Mike James Gallagher: Sound Designer
  • Andres Locsey: Music Editor

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack)
Chart (2022) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[18] 192
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)[19] 15

Release history

[edit]
Release dates and formats for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Original Soundtrack)
Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Various November 4, 2022
Legacy
Recordings 		[20]
[21]
February 3, 2023 CD
May 19, 2023 Vinyl

Accolades

[edit]
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]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Anderton, Ethan (November 4, 2022). "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story Director Eric Appel On Not Copying Walk Hard And The 'Yankovic Cut' [Exclusive Interview]". /Film. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  2. ^ "How Weird Al Yankovic Got His Absurd, Chaotic "Biopic" with Daniel Radcliffe Made". Decider. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  3. ^ ""Weird Al" Yankovic Reveals Biopic Soundtrack, Featuring New Song "Now You Know": Stream". Consequence of Sound. November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
  4. ^ ""Weird Al" Yankovic Shares New Song "Now You Know"". Pitchfork. November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  5. ^ "Weird Al releases new song, soundtrack album for Weird". The A.V. Club. November 5, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  6. ^ Patton, Alli (November 4, 2022). "Weird Al Drops Official Soundtrack for Biopic 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story'". American Songwriter. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  7. ^ September 09, Maureen Lee Lenker; EDT, 2022 at 06:12 PM. "Weird Al Yankovic may have an Oscar campaign ahead for original song 'Now You Know'". EW.com. Retrieved November 7, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Parker, Lyndsey (October 28, 2022). "'Weird Al' Yankovic on his fight to make 'Weird' Oscar-eligible and 'awkward' timing of the film's Coolio spoof: 'I would've hoped that he would've gotten a kick out of it'". Yahoo!. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  9. ^ "'WEIRD: The Al Yankovic Story Original Soundtrack' OUT NOW". Legacy Recordings. November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Reichert, Corinne. "Weird Al Yankovic Drops Surprise Album". CNET. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  11. ^ a b Starkey, Adam (November 4, 2022). "Here's every song on the 'Weird: The Al Yankovic Story' soundtrack". NME. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  12. ^ a b c d e Danoff, Owen (November 1, 2022). "Composers Zach Robinson & Leo Birenberg Interview: Weird The Al Yankovic Story". ScreenRant. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d Seibold, Witney (November 4, 2022). "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story's Zach Robinson And Leo Birenberg On Composing For The Accordion [Exclusive Interview]". /Film. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  14. ^ "Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic: 25 stinging satires that still endure". The A.V. Club. November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  15. ^ Gordon, Eden Arielle (November 4, 2022). "From "Eat It" to "Like a Surgeon," "Weird Al" Yankovic's Most Iconic Songs". POPSUGAR Entertainment. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  16. ^ Danoff, Owen (October 24, 2022). "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story: Tony Solis Interview". ScreenRant. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  17. ^ "The Sounds of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story". CG Magazine. November 4, 2022. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  18. ^ "Billboard 200: Week of November 5, 2022". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  19. ^ "Soundtracks: Week of November 5, 2022". Billboard. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  20. ^ "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story - Original Soundtrack CD". "Weird Al" Yankovic Shop. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  21. ^ "Weird: The Al Yankovic Story". Amazon. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
  22. ^ "Rihanna, Billy Eichner, 'Elvis', 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' top Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) winners". AwardsWatch. November 17, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  23. ^ Grein, Paul (November 3, 2022). "Rihanna, Lady Gaga & More Nominated for 2022 Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Full List". Billboard. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  24. ^ "2022 San Diego Film Critics Society Nominations". San Diego Film Critics Society. January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  25. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 22, 2022). "SCL Award Nominations 2023: 'Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio', 'The Banshees Of Inisherin', 'Nope', 'The Batman' & 'Don't Worry Darling' To Compete For Outstanding Studio Film Score – Complete List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  26. ^ Neglia, Matt (December 11, 2022). "The 2022 St. Louis Film Critics Association (StLFCA) Nominations". NextBestPicture. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  27. ^ Enos, Morgan (November 10, 2023). "2024 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Full Nominees List". GRAMMY.com. The Recording Academy. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
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