“Weird” Al Yankovic is number 1 on the pop charts. His “Mandatory Fun” album sold 105,000 copies last week– twice as many as the previous number 1, Sia, sold of her CD. Indeed, Sia dropped a shocking 74% to number 19 in her second week. That’s a steep drop, with a little under 14,000 copies sold.
But Weird Al– wow. A comedy record? Parodies? Outselling the actual music of the day? That’s pretty stunning. His “Foil” spoofs Lorde’s “Royals.” “Tacky” is Al’s version of Pharrell’s “Happy.” “Word Crimes” is a hilarious spin off of “Blurred Lines.” It’s a song about grammar:
Next week’s number 1 will likely be the boy band “5 Seconds of Summer,” who are basically One Direction with instruments. But the rest of the release schedule through September 30th is might thin. With a few exceptions, nothing really looks like a Grammy Awards contender.
You could pretty much draw up a Grammy list now for next February. This is because big name artists are fairly lazy these days. And the record companies would rather not release anything than release something and fail.
There is word of a possible Kanye West album coming in September. The sequel to Yeezus. Meezus.
