Polka Party! is the fourth studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on October 21, 1986. The album was produced by former The McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between April and September 1986, Backing Yankovic were Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz on drums, Steve Jay on bass, and Jim West on guitar. Although "Don't Wear Those Shoes" is an original composition, Yankovic admitted that the intro was inspired by the style of The Kinks. Lyrically, the song is a plea by the singer to his wife to not wear certain shoes which he cannot stand. The song features a line directly parodying the Talking Heads song "Once In a Lifetime": "Sometimes I tell myself, this is not my beautiful stapler/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". 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 a run-down part of the Bronx, New York that "looked like a bomb had fallen on it."
The final original that was recorded was "Good Enough for Now", a country music pastiche about how the singer's lover, while not the best, will do for now. In order to accurately write the song, Yankovic researched the various types of hernias. Yankovic noted that "it was a real thrill to do James Brown. I'm a total non-dancer, never went to any dances in high school, but if I analytically dissect a dance routine I can figure it out."
On August 5, Yankovic recorded "Here's Johnny", a parody of "Who's Johnny" by El DeBarge. According to Yankovic, Peter Wolf, the man who wrote "Who's Johnny", enjoyed the parody idea so much that he personally brought into the studio the floppy disc that contained the song's programmed synthesizer parts. The final parody recorded for the album was "Toothless People", a play on Mick Jagger's "Ruthless 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 Ruthless People. Assuming the song would be a hit, Yankovic requested and received permission from Jagger to record a parody version. Jagger's song, however, was never a hit, but because Jagger had "approved" the parody, he decided that failing to produce it would be an "insult" to the artist.
The album's polka medley, the titular "Polka Party!", was recorded on the same day as "Here's Johnny".
Reception
Promotion
To promote the album's release, Scotti Brothers Records purchased full-page ads in Billboard magazine that advertised the release as Yankovic's "biggest bash 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 him.
Critical response
Polka Party! received mixed to negative reviews from critics. AllMusic reviewer Eugene Chadbourne gave the album three stars and wrote that "just about anyone could feel let down by this album." but lost to Bill Cosby's Those of You with or Without Children, You'll Understand.
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. "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".
Commercial performance
Polka Party! was released October 21, 1986.
| length9 = 3:03
| title10 = Christmas at Ground Zero
| writer10 = Yankovic
| extra10 = Style parody of Phil Spector-produced Christmas songs
| length10 = 3:09
| total_length = 34:07
Personnel
Credits adapted from LP liner notes.