It’s been a good week for “Weird Al” Yankovic. Along with the release of his new single “White & Nerdy” and Andrew Gower’s UK copyright committee recommending that parody and pastiche be made legal, the SonyBMG artist has just picked up two Grammy nominations.

Already a Grammy winner for his early Michael Jackson parody “Eat It”, his video for his second Jason parody “Fat” and for previous album “Poodle Hat”, Al is now in the running to repeat the success, this time for his current album “Straight Outta Lynwood” which features the “White & Nerdy” single. The track is a parody of the Chamillionaire hit “Ridin’”, which itself received two Grammy nods, for “Best Rap Song” and “Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group”. “Straight Outta Lynwood” received nominations for “Best Comedy Album” and “Best Surround Sound Album“, his 10th and 11th career Grammy nominations.

All of which reiterates the recommendations in Gower’s Review of Intellectual Property published this week. The Review looks into the UK’s laws surrounding intellectual property rights. While much has been made of the committee’s decision not to recommend the extension of the current 50 year term for copyright ownership to 90 years, the recommendation that the UK gets its own copyright exception "for the purpose of caricature, parody or pastiche" by 2008 has slipped under the radar. The report mentions Weird Al by name, suggesting that such an exception would make it easier for him, and artists like him, to have successful careers.

Section 4.9 of the Review states “As well as reducing transaction costs across Europe, an exception to enable parody can create value. Weird Al Yankovic has received 25 gold and platinum albums, four gold-certified home videos and two Grammys parodying other songs, but he had to ask permission from rights holders….many works which are considered to have high value could be considered parodies”.

The full report is available here:

http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/53F/C8/pbr06_gowers_report_755.pdf

The “White & Nerdy” single was released this week in the UK after it became a global viral phenomenon. Its accompanying video, directed by Al himself, is one of the most viewed clips of all time on the popular Youtube website and so far has spent two months at the top of the US iTunes video chart. It has also been riding high in the UK iTunes chart and is currently the number one video on Google.

“The Great Burrito Extortion Case” takes its quirky title from a TV news item about one man’s botched attempt to sue Taco Bell by hiding a dead mouse in his fast food order and is the Texans’ first collection of new material since 2004’s US gold-certified album “A Hangover You Don’t Deserve”.

The lead single, “High School Never Ends” was co-written by Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne) and takes a wry look at our obsession with young Hollywood. The celebrity theme continues throughout the album’s fourteen tracks with Tom Cruise, Bill Gates, Mel Gibson, Alice Cooper and Kevin Costner being among the celebrities who get name-checked Bowling For Soup style. It was actor Val Kilmer, however, who lucked out as the star who gets a whole song dedicated to him. His reaction? “I was really flattered...then I met them!”

Long time Bowling For Soup collaborator Butch Walker returns to co-write and produce the power-pop ballad “When We Die” and Stacy Jones (American Hi-Fi) lends his writing talents to “Why Don’t I Miss You” and the hook-laden “Luckiest Loser”. Produced by the band and Russ T. Cobb, the album was recorded at studios in Dallas and Tulsa as well as Pulse studios in LA where the guys - along with the studio cat - watched the formation of Tommy Lee, Gilby Clarke and Jason Newsted’s Supernova band in the adjacent studio.

TRACKLISTING

1. Epiphany
2. High School Never Ends
3. Val Kilmer
4. I’m Gay
5. Why Don’t I Miss You
6. A Friendly Goodbye
7. Luckiest Loser
8. Love sick Stomach Ache
9. Much More Beautiful Person
10. Friends Like You
11. When We Die
12. 99 Biker Friends
13. Don’t Let it be Love
14. If You Come Back To Me

The band believe they have made the happiest sounding album of their career. “We calculated it, and there are at least 12 verses’ worth of total joy for every sort-of-sad chorus about an ex-girlfriend on this record,” says front man Jaret Reddick. Little wonder, then, that the band have dubbed their forthcoming live gigs “The Get Happy Tour“. The tour kicks off in Bristol on February 6th and looks set to be a complete sell out well before the Dallas-based band land in the UK.

Dates:

6th Bristol Academy
7th Southampton Guildhall (sold out)
8th Cambridge Corn Exchange
9th Cardiff University
10th Manchester Academy (sold out)
11th Sheffield The Plug
12th Glasgow ABC
13th Nottingham Rock City
14th Leeds Metropolitan University
15th Norwich UEA (sold out)
17th Birmingham Academy
18th London Hammersmith Palais

“The Great Burrito Extortion Case” is released via the band’s new UK home A&G Records on February 5th. The single “High School Never Ends” hits stores on January 29th . Watch the hilarious video here: http://www.bowlingforsoup.com/hsecard/ecardlaunch.html

Ventura, CA six-piece Army Of Freshmen release their highly anticipated new album “Under The Radar” through Brand New Hero Records on February 19th. The album follows the band’s stint on the UK Get Happy Tour with their good friends Bowling For Soup, Wheatus and Son Of Dork and is the band’s first full-length UK release.

Following last year’s “At The End Of The Day” EP and extensive touring on the Good To Go tour and the Bowling For Soup tour, the band’s refreshing blend of keyboard-driven punk-pop mixed with sublime harmonies has gained them a loyal and rapidly growing following in the UK, the US and Japan, where “Under The Radar” has already hit the Top Ten in several major charts.

The first single from the album is “Juliet”, a sunny tale of a high-schooler’s unrequited love accompanied by a hilarious video featuring the band taking on the jocks in a game of Dodgeball.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Wrinkle In Time
2. 10,000 Years
3. Juliet
4. Some Happy Ending
5. Through The Screen
6. Down At The Shore
7. Waiting On Me
8. Erase Us
9. Groundbreaking Sound
10. Maybe In The Midwest
11. Talk Of The Town
12. At The End Of The Day
13. Shackle The Wind

Recorded at Westlake Studios, Hollywood and Valve Studios, Dallas, the album was produced by Jay Ruston (The Donnas, Abandoned Pools) and also features guest appearances by Marko 72 (Sugarcult), Ben Harper (Yellowcard) and Bowling For Soup front man Jaret Reddick.

Army Of Freshmen are considered by many to be one of the hardest working independent bands in the world and their energetic and fun live shows have gained them a reputation as one of the hottest new bands to emerge from the Southern California rock scene.

Army Of Freshmen singer Chris Jay co-founded this February’s UK Get Happy Tour, calling his friend Brendan Brown from Wheatus and Son Of Dork’s James Bourne and putting together the tour’s amazing line-up in less than an hour.

Dates:

FEB 2007
6th Bristol Academy
7th Southampton Guildhall (sold out)
8th Cambridge Corn Exchange
9th Cardiff University
10th Manchester Academy (sold out)
11th Sheffield Plug
12th Glasgow ABC
13th Nottingham Rock City
14th Leeds Metropolitan University
15th Norwich UEA (sold out)
17th Birmingham Academy
18th London Hammersmith Palais

Watch the video for “Juliet” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OKTJbAEhLA