 = Polka Party ! = 
 
 Polka Party ! is the fourth studio album by " Weird Al " Yankovic , released in 1986 . The album is the fourth of Yankovic 's to be produced by former The <unk> guitarist Rick <unk> . Recorded between April 1986 and September 1986 , the album was Yankovic 's follow @-@ up to his successful 1985 release , Dare to Be Stupid . The album 's lead single was " Living With a Hernia " , although it was not a hit and did not chart . 
 The music on Polka Party ! is built around parodies and <unk> of pop and rock music of the mid @-@ 1980s , featuring jabs at James Brown , Mick Jagger , El <unk> , and Robert Palmer . The album also features many " style parodies " , or musical imitations that come close to , but do not copy , existing artists . These style parodies include imitations of specific artists like the Talking Heads , as well as imitations of various musical genres like country music . 
 Peaking at only number 177 on the Billboard 200 , Polka Party ! was met with mixed reviews and was considered a commercial and critical failure . Despite this , the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1986 . Polka Party ! is one of Yankovic 's few studio albums not to be certified either Gold or Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) and was later demoted to a budget release in 2009 . 
 
 = = Production = = 
 
 
 = = = Recording = = = 
 
 In April 1986 Yankovic entered the recording studio to begin the sessions to his follow @-@ up to 1985 's Dare to Be Stupid . To produce the album , Yankovic brought in former The <unk> guitarist Rick <unk> , who had also produced Yankovic 's previous albums . <unk> Yankovic were Jon " Bermuda " <unk> on drums , Steve Jay on bass , and Jim West on guitar . The album was recorded in roughly three sessions . The first session took place between April 22 and 23 , and yielded four originals : " Don 't Wear Those Shoes " , " One of Those Days " , " Dog Eat Dog " , and " Christmas at Ground Zero " . The second session , which spanned August 4 – 5 , produced three parodies : " Living with a Hernia " , " Addicted to Spuds " , and " Here 's Johnny " . The final session , which lasted from August 29 to September 1 produced the parody " <unk> People " , an original song named " Good Enough for Now " , and the album 's titular polka medley . <unk> , Yankovic described the record as " not a whole lot different than " the other albums he had recorded , calling the process " even a bit formulaic " . 
 
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 On April 22 , 1986 , Yankovic began recording three new original songs for his next album : " Don 't Wear Those Shoes " , " One of Those Days " , and " Dog Eat Dog " . Although " Don 't Wear Those Shoes " is an original composition , Yankovic admitted that the intro was inspired by the style of The <unk> . Lyrically , the song is a plea by the singer to his wife not to not wear certain shoes which he cannot stand . " One of Those Days " is a song detailing horrible things as if they were everyday <unk> . Each horrible thing escalates up to global <unk> while more mundane <unk> pop up at different times . 
 " Dog Eat Dog " is a style parody of the Talking Heads . Described as a " tongue @-@ in @-@ cheek look at office life " , the song was inspired by Yankovic 's past experience of working in the <unk> as well as the traffic department at <unk> One radio station . He noted , " At first I thought [ the job ] was <unk> cool that I had a phone and a desk and a little <unk> to call my own , but after a while I felt like my soul had been sucked out of me . " The song features a line directly parodying the Talking Heads song " Once In a Lifetime " : " Sometimes I tell myself , this is not my beautiful <unk> / Sometimes I tell myself this is not my beautiful chair ! " This mirrors a similar line in the Talking Heads song : " You may tell yourself , this is not my beautiful house / You may tell yourself , this is not my beautiful wife " . 
 On April 23 , Yankovic recorded " Christmas at Ground Zero " . The song , " a <unk> little tune about death , destruction and the end of the world " was the result of Scotti Brothers Records ' insistence that Yankovic record a Christmas record . After Yankovic presented the song to his label , they relented , because it was " a little different from what they were expecting . " After the song 's release , some radio stations banned the record , a move that Yankovic attributes to " most people [ not wanting ] to hear about nuclear <unk> during the holiday season . " Following the September 11 attacks , when the general term " ground zero " was co @-@ opted as a proper name for the World Trade Center site where two of those attacks took place , the disturbing lyrics caused this song to be banned largely from radio . Yankovic wanted the song to receive a video , but due to budget reasons , his label did not agree . Yankovic , however , directed one himself which was mostly made up of stock footage , with a live action finale that was filmed in an economically devastated part of the Bronx , New York that looked like a bomb had gone off . The final original that was recorded was " Good Enough for Now " , a country music pastiche about how the singer 's lover , who , while not the best , will do for now . 
 
 = = = <unk> and polka = = = 
 
 On August 4 , Yankovic began recording parodies starting with " Living With a Hernia " . The song , a spoof of " Living in America " by James Brown — which was also the theme to the 1985 film Rocky IV — is about <unk> . When it came time to pick a song to parody as the lead single for Polka Party ! Scotti Brothers Records " had some very strong ideas " and wished to have Yankovic parody a musician who was signed on the same label . After " Living in America " became a hit , the record label insisted that Yankovic parody the song , to which Yankovic obliged . In order to accurately write the song , Yankovic researched the various types of <unk> . Yankovic noted that " it was a real <unk> to do James Brown . I 'm a total non @-@ dancer , never went to any dances in high school , but if I <unk> <unk> a dance routine I can figure it out . " A <unk> named Chester <unk> was hired to accurately create the dance scenes featured in the video , which was shot on the concert set actually used in the movie Rocky IV . The second parody recorded was " Addicted to Spuds " , a pastiche of " Addicted to Love " by Robert Palmer , about a man 's obsession for potatoes and potato @-@ based dishes . A music video for the song was never made to the song because there was a strict budget for videos for the album , and Yankovic felt that the video would be one big joke and not really worth its own video . A parody of Palmer 's video , however , was later inserted into Al 's " UHF " video . 
 On August 5 , Yankovic recorded " Here 's Johnny " , a parody of " Who 's Johnny " by El <unk> . The song , a loving ode to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson announcer Ed McMahon , features John <unk> of the television series <unk> fame doing an impression of McMahon 's voice . According to Yankovic , Peter Wolf , the man who wrote " Who 's Johnny " , enjoyed the parody idea so much that he personally brought the <unk> disc program that had all the synthesizer parts for the original song into the studio when Yankovic was recording his parody . The final parody recorded for the album was " <unk> People " , a play on Mick Jagger 's " <unk> People " , which was recorded on August 29 , 1986 . The song , about elderly people who are missing their teeth , was written after Yankovic heard it would be the theme to the 1986 film <unk> People . Assuming the song would be a hit , Yankovic requested and received permission from Jagger to record a parody version . When Jagger 's song failed to crack the Top 40 , Yankovic considered not recording his version , but because Jagger had " authorized " the parody , he decided failing to produce it would be an insult to the artist . Therefore , he recorded the spoof anyway . 
 The album 's polka medley , the titular " Polka Party ! " , was recorded on the same day as " Here 's Johnny " . This was Yankovic 's third polka medley , and his only medley to bear the same name as an album . Like his other <unk> , the song is a <unk> of then @-@ popular songs in music . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 
 = = = Promotion = = = 
 
 To promote the album 's release , Scotti Brothers Records purchased full @-@ page <unk> in Billboard magazine that advertised the release as Yankovic 's " biggest <unk> yet " . Unlike previous albums , Yankovic did not undertake a tour to promote Polka Party ! Instead , he opened for the American rock band The Monkees ; Yankovic later joked that the Monkees merely " closed for me " . Yankovic explained that while it " was a fun tour " and that the crowds were very enthusiastic , the tension between the Monkees was obvious ; on his website , he wrote that while the band members " are all terrific people individually " , they " didn 't seem to get along all that great when they weren 't on stage . " 
 
 = = = Critical response = = = 
 
 Polka Party ! received mixed to negative reviews from critics . Allmusic reviewer Eugene <unk> gave the album three stars and wrote that " just about anyone could feel let down by this album . " <unk> was largely critical of the parody choices , noting that many of the original versions would be forgotten in " fifteen years " . Christopher <unk> from The Daily Vault gave Polka Party ! an F and described it as an album that " seemed like it could well have been the ' last call ' for Yankovic . " <unk> heavily criticized the record , writing that both the parodies and originals were not good and that " Yankovic [ was ] going through the motions " . Rolling Stone awarded the album three @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half stars , tying it with the 1992 album Off the Deep End and the 1999 release Running with <unk> as Yankovic 's best @-@ rated album . Although it was not a critical success , the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1987 , but lost to Bill <unk> 's Those of You with or Without Children , You 'll <unk> . 
 Despite the album 's lackluster reception , many of the songs on the album , such as " Dog Eat Dog " , " Addicted to Spuds " , and " Christmas at Ground Zero " , went on to become fan favorites and live staples . Two of the album 's tracks , " Living with a Hernia " and " Addicted to Spuds " , appeared on Yankovic 's first greatest hits album ( 1988 ) , " Christmas at Ground Zero " appeared on the second volume ( 1994 ) . In addition , the 1994 box set Permanent Record : Al in the Box contained five of the album 's songs : " Addicted to Spuds " , " Dog Eat Dog " , " Here 's Johnny " , " Living with a Hernia " , and " Christmas at Ground Zero " . Only " Dog Eat Dog " , however , appeared on Yankovic 's 2009 Essential collection , although the 3 @.@ 0 version contained " Living with a Hernia " . 
 
 = = = Commercial performance = = = 
 
 Polka Party ! was released October 21 , 1986 . After it was released , the album peaked at number 177 on the Billboard 200 . Compared to Yankovic 's previous albums — Dare to Be Stupid peaked at number 50 and In 3 @-@ D peaked at number 17 — Polka Party ! was a major commercial disappointment for the comedian . The album was the lowest @-@ charting studio album released by Yankovic and is one of his few studio albums not to be certified either Gold or Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ) . The others include the soundtrack to his film UHF ( 1989 ) and <unk> <unk> ( 2003 ) . Due to low sales the album was demoted to a budget release along with various other Yankovic albums in August 2009 . 
 Yankovic was dismayed by the album 's lackluster reception . He noted that he " thought it was the end of [ his ] career " . Yankovic explained that " I figured I 'd peaked with ' Eat It ' and ' Like a Surgeon ' and now people were slowly forgetting about me and I was well on my way to obscurity . " However , Yankovic 's next album , Even <unk> , would resurrect his career and become his best @-@ selling album at the time ; the experience led Yankovic to realize that " careers have peaks and valleys , and whenever I go through the rough times , another peak might be right around the corner . " 
 
 = = Track listing = = 
 
 The following is adapted from the album liner notes . 
 
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