Chart Week: March 24, 1984
\nSong: \u201cEat It\u201d – \u2018Weird Al\u2019 Yankovic
\nChart Position: #18, 3rd week on the chart. Peaked at #11 the week of April 14.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a while, and for that I offer my endless apologies. I still listen to at least part of an AT40<\/em> show every weekend. Over the past couple months I\u2019ve started several drafts for new RFTS entries. However, each time I\u2019ve lost enthusiasm while doing research and have let them die on the digital vine.[1]<\/a> To be honest, today\u2019s selection isn\u2019t one I would have normally been interested in. But I was getting antsy about not updating the series, plus spring break is next week and the site will be on hiatus. It worked out that there is an interesting aspect of this song that relates to the greatest musical rivalry of the Eighties and made it worth writing about.<\/p>\n I never really got \u2018Weird Al\u2019. I admired his cleverness and ability to make such coherent parodies of other great songs. There is true craft to that. I also respected his total commitment to the bit that included mimicking the visuals – including clothing, dancing, and videos – of the original artists. His songs were always a little too goofy for me, though. Maybe it was because I never listened to Dr. Demento<\/a> to develop the part of my musical brain that would connect with them.<\/p>\n Yankovic began making parodies in the late 1970s without any chart success. I remember hearing his 1983 singles \u201cRicky,\u201d (Toni Basil\u2019s \u201cMickey\u201d) and \u201cI Love Rocky Road\u201d (Joan Jett\u2019s \u201cI Love Rock \u2019n\u2019 Roll\u201d), but neither cracked the Top 40.<\/p>\n His break came when he took on Michael Jackson\u2019s mega-smash \u201cBeat It.\u201d I\u2019ve written several times about the power of Jackson\u2019s name in 1983\u201384. \u201cEat It\u201d might be the biggest and best example of MJ\u2019s influence. In only its third week in the Hot 100, the record was already at #18, and was the biggest climber in this countdown. Michael\u2019s help could only take this song so far, as it stalled out at #11 a month later.<\/p>\n Although parody is protected under American copyright law, Yankovic always asked artists for their permission before recording his versions of their originals. For the most part he received clearance. That was true in this case; \u201cEat It\u201d only existed because of Michael\u2019s blessing.<\/p>\n \u201cMichael Jackson wasn\u2019t just cool about my parody of \u2018Beat It,\u2019\u201d Yankovic told Billboard magazine, \u201cbut he also loved my version of \u2018Bad,\u2019 which was \u2018Fat.\u2019 He even let me use the actual \u2018Bad\u2019 subway set for the \u2018Fat\u2019 video. He was very supportive, which was huge with opening the doors with other artists. Because if Michael Jackson signed on, you couldn\u2019t really say no.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, one person said no.<\/p>\n Weird Al asked Prince at least four times for permission to cover one of his songs. Each time the Purple One declined. Al had an idea for \u201cLet\u2019s Go Crazy\u201d based on The Beverly Hillbillies. For \u201c1999,\u201d he wanted to sing about dialing a 1\u2013800 number that ended with the digits 1999. None of his pitches swayed Prince. Or, more likely, Prince just didn\u2019t have a sense of humor about his own music. Maybe Al should have asked to do a straight cover rather than parody, as Prince loved for other people to sing the words he wrote. Or maybe if Al had been an attractive, ethnically ambiguous woman Prince would have signed off.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure it sways their battle in any way, but score one for Michael over Prince here.<\/p>\n \u201cEat It\u201d went to #1 in Australia, which is amazing. It has sold over 500,000 copies in the US. It was Yankovic\u2019s biggest American hit until \u201cWhite & Nerdy\u201d hit #9 in 2006.<\/p>\n As I said, \u201cEat It\u201d never did much for me, and still doesn\u2019t. The video is funny, but I\u2019m never going to seek the song out. I know a lot of other people like it a lot more than I do. So I\u2019m genuinely sorry if this grade disappoints you. 5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n Speaking of Michael Jackson, also on this week\u2019s chart, \u201cThriller\u201d checked in at #11 on its way down after peaking at #4. And Rockwell\u2019s \u201cSomebody\u2019s Watching Me,\u201d which featured Jackson on background vocals, began its three-week stay at #2.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n