The 17 List
The 17 List
Well, many of you Al fans already know about 27...it's mysterious appearances in things associated with our favourite parody king, "Weird Al" Yankovic. Now, a NEW number has surfaced, also appearing throughout Al's illustriuos career. That number is of course 17 (otherwise, this wouldn't be called "The 17 List", would it? We couldn't very well call it "The 17 List" if there were no 17's in it! Heh heh...that'd be really stupid...). If you find any 17's of your own for the list, or you see any mis-quotes, mis-prints, or mis-calculations, please send them to Insane Ian (ALfan17@aol.com) and I'll be sure to try and correct them/add them/take them away/whatever in time for the next update. Okay? And now, without any further delay, I give you the 17 list:
Last Updated: August 17th, 1997.
*ALbum/Song Related*
In the unreleased Al song "Dead Car Battery Blues", Al says that the mechanic is done working on his car after 17 hours.
In "I Can't Watch This", Al hears that the family that filmed their mother falling off the roof onto a rake in the lawn got that wonderful footage on the 17th take.
"In 3-D" reached it's peak position on the Billboard charts at place #17.
"Off The Deep End" went gold after reching it's peak position of #17 on Billboard's charts.
"Polka Party!"'s top Billboard position was #177.
After an amazing 50 weeks on Billboard's charts, "Bad Hair Day" reached #175. Four weeks later, it mover up two spots to #173.
According to Bermuda's last update on "Bad Hair Day", there have been over 1.7 MILLION copies of the album sold on CD and casette.
According to Bermuda, Al's first day of recording for these songs began on the 17th of the month:
7/17/93 Bohemian Polka
7/17/93 Harvey The Wonder Hamster
The total running time for the soundtrack to Disney's "George of the Jungle" movie is 31:07. Al's version of the theme appears on this soundtrack.
The official time for the song "Eat It" is 3 min. 17 sec. (according to "the Food Album" and "Permanent Record" liner notes.)
The official time for the track "Shark" from Al's "Peter and the Wolf" cd is 2 min. 17 sec.
The catologue code for the promo cd single of "UHF" is zsk 1706.
The catologue code for the promo cd single of "Money For Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies" is zsk 1723.
The catologue code for the promo cd single of "Isle Thing/The Hot Rocks Polka" is zsk1776.
The UPC code for the "Those Darn Accordions!" cd "No Strings Attached" is 86498-0017-2 and the catologue code is GLO-017. Al appears on an answering machine message in one of the tracks on this cd.
The cd "Dr. Demento Presents: Spooky Tunes & Scary Melodies" has UPC code 8122-71777-2 and the catologue code is R2 71777. Al's "Nature Trail To Hell" appears on this collection.
The catologue code for "Billboard's Rock N Roll X-mas" cd is 71789 and the UPC code is 81227-17892. "Christmas at Ground Zero" appears on this compilation.
Al's first tape was played on the Dr. Demento show on 3/14/76. His song was "Belvedere Crusing". Add up the letters and you get 17. Also add 3 + 14 in the date and you get 17. [dt]
If you count quote marks, there are exactly 17 letters in "Weird Al" Yankovic.
In the 1976 version of "School Cafeteria" Al starts the song with the intro "Is it on? Okay...1, 2, 1, 2, 5, 6". If you add up those numbers, you get 17.
At at least one music store, Al's ALbums (from OTDE on at least) usually retail for $16.99...with 5% sales tax that comes to $17.84.
There are 17 letters in the titles of the following songs (including spaces) [dr]:
Addicted to Spuds
Alternative Polka
Dare to Be Stupid
Gumby Jaws Lament
I Love Rocky Road
A Matter of Crust
One Of Those Days
Such a Groovy Guy
Songs that are 17 letters long (spaces don't count) [dr]:
Belvedere Cruising
Dueling Accordions
George of the Jungle
Livin' in the Fridge
Living With a Hernia
Nature Trail To Hell
Smells Like Nirvana
That Boy Could Dance
On the LP of Dr. Demento's "Dementia Royale" next to the cover photo it says "Kodak Safety Film 6017" by the spine. Al's original version of "My Bologna" appears on this LP.
*Video/TV Related*
In Al's EPIC mock-umentary "The Compleat Al", his manager Barry Cohen tells Karl brickman (of Brickman's Poodle Review) that checks are only issued on the 17th of the month. [ah]
Al appeared on "Circus of the Stars XVII"...those roman numerals translate to 17.
In Al-TV #7 (or ALMUSIC #3, depending on where you're from), Al previews a track from the yet-to-be-released "Beatles Anthology #17".
In that one episode of MATHNET on Square 1 TV where Al plays Murray the Mouth, the sales figure for the songs "Loudly, Lawyer, Sew My Suit" and "My Truck, My Licorice, and You' is 172,227.
The laserdisc version of "The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult" has 17 chapter stops listed. Al has a cameo in this movie.
Al's "(There's No) Going Home" Disney special aired on the Family Channel cable network in Canada. One of the air-dates was Feb. 17th. [bs]
At one point on "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 1997", a small box appeared on screen stating that the temperature in Times Square was 17 degrees. Al and the band appeared shortly after this singing "Au Lang Sine".
On EVERY video collection release of Al's on home video in the US, it says on the label of the tape: "Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distrobution or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures and video tapes (Title 17, United Staes Code, Section 501 and 506). The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigates allegations of criminal copyright infringment (Title 17, United States Code 506)."
*Literature*
According to Bermuda, Billboard's "video issue" of 1996 recapped the year's retail achievments and placed "Bad Hair Day The Videos" at #17 in sales for the year! (However, the issue actually charts Al at #19...but who are we to ignore a 17 reference?)
Al's songbook, with out tax, retails for $17.95 (according to the back cover).
An article on Al appeared in the Herald Bullitin (city unknown) on Sept. 17th, 1993. [dr]
Al appeared in REACT Magazine's November 11-17th, 1996 issue. [dr]
Al also was featured TWICE in Rolling Stone Magazine from October 17th, 1996.
The UHF press kit lists the phone number for the NY branch of Orion Pictures as 980-1117. (However, this branch is has since closed, so no trying to call it, kiddies!)
*Other 17 Sightings*
According to the booklet from Al's box set, Al's address in Lynwood CA was 3626. Now add 3 + 6 + 2 + 6 and you get 17.
Al and the band have filmed scenes for the upcoming TV movie SAFETY PATROL. According to Ed McMahon, the movie will be one of 17 new films for the revival of the classic The Wild World Of Disney. [ms]
The release date for the Sam Goody/Musicland compilation "Besta Polka" was Nov. 6th...otherwise written 11/6 (according to Billboard Magazine). Now add 11 + 6 and you get...well, you know.
According to Bermuda, Al gave a concert on the 17th of the month:
6/17/82 Magic Mountain, Valencia CA (Gil Hansen subs on Bass)
3/17/84 Orange County Community College, Middletown NY
5/17/84 Summers at The Beach, Ft. Lauderdale FL
7/17/85 Centenial Hall, Mesa AZ
8/17/85 Brown County Fair, New Ulm MN
7/17/87 Park Central Amphitheater, Dallas TX
10/17/87 Knott's Berry Farm, Buena Park CA (Halloween Haunt, also backed Ramon Azteca (John Paragon from Pee Wee's Playhouse))
6/17/92 F.M. Kirby Center, Wilkes-Barre PA
8/17/94 Eric County Fair, Hamburg NY
3/17/95 The Music Hall, Toronto, Ontario CAN
8/17/95 Lane County Fair, Eugene OR
6/17/96 Jubilee Auditorium, Calgary, Alberta CAN
7/17/96 Farmer's Fair & Expo, Perris CA
8/17/96 Peroria Civic Center Theater, Peoria IL
9/17/96 Newport Music Hall, Columbus OH
Oh yeah, how could I forget? The 17 List is posted on the alt.music.weird-al newsgroup every 17th of the month (uhh...or, it's SUPPOSED to be posted on the 17th...but often, it isn't).
Special Thanks To:
[dr]: Dave Rossi (dprossi@webspan.net)
[bs]: Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz
[ms]: The Midnight Star
[dt]: David Tanny (natdivad@geocities.com)
[ah]: Anne Harshfield (ALfan27@aol.com)
and, of course, Al, for including the numerous 17's...be it intentional or otherwise.
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