Editing Off the Deep End (section)

==Production==

===Background===
In 1989, Yankovic starred in a full-length feature film, co-written by himself and manager Jay Levey, and filmed in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], called ''[[UHF (film)|UHF]]''. A satire of the television and film industries, also starring [[Michael Richards]], [[Fran Drescher]], and [[Victoria Jackson]], it brought floundering studio [[Orion Pictures|Orion]] their highest [[test screening|test scores]] since the movie ''[[RoboCop]]''.<ref name="robo">{{Cite web| url = http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#0599| title = 'Ask Al' Q&As for May, 1999| access-date = June 26, 2010| last = Yankovic| first = Alfred M.| author-link = "Weird Al" Yankovic|date=May 1999| work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref> Although the movie made a little over six million domestically – out of a budget of five million – it was considered unsuccessful.<ref name="robo"/>

Yankovic also released a quasi-soundtrack for the film in late 1989, entitled ''[[UHF – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack and Other Stuff]]'', which featured songs (and commercials) from the movie as well as new unrelated studio material from Yankovic. The album failed to be successful, charting at only 146 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and quickly falling off.<ref name="awards">{{cite web| url = http://www.weirdal.com/awards.htm| url-status = dead| title = Awards| access-date = April 3, 2013| last = Yankovic| first = Alfred M.| author-link = "Weird Al" Yankovic| year = 2003| work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090203145148/http://www.weirdal.com/awards.htm| archive-date = February 3, 2009}}</ref> After the release of ''UHF'', Yankovic returned to the studio to record his follow-up album.<ref name="recordingdates"/>

===Originals===
On June 6, 1990, recording for ''Off the Deep End'' officially began at Santa Monica Sound Recorders, in [[Santa Monica, California]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Yankovic|first=Alfred |publisher = [[Volcano Records]] | title = Off the Deep End | work = 'Weird Al' Yankovic Official Limited Edition Trading Cards| number = 45|year=2013}}</ref> The first recording session started with "Airline Amy".<ref name="recordingdates"/> These recording sessions marked the first time Yankovic self-produced his songs, after six albums with [[Rick Derringer]].<ref name="otdeliner">{{cite AV media notes |title=Off the Deep End |others=[["Weird Al" Yankovic]] |year=1992 |type=CD liner notes |publisher=[[Scotti Brothers Records]] |id=72392 75256-2}}</ref><ref name=aa1998n/> The producer and musician had parted ways because Derringer found that Yankovic would not listen to his input, and Yankovic came to realize that he could do most of the production work himself. Subsequent studio albums would be produced by Yankovic.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: Their Lives and Music|first=Dan|last=Muise|date=2002|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=9780634029561|page=218|quote=Rick Derringer: So I was becoming less and less infatuated because Al wouldn't listen to my input, my direction. He really wanted it to be slicker. And he wouldn't allow me to make it less slick in order to make it less funny. And the whole image of the novelty producer I did not like at all.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Gallagher, Marriott, Derringer & Trower: Their Lives and Music|first=Dan|last=Muise|date=2002|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=9780634029561|page=218|quote='Weird Al' Yankovic: It was certainly nothing personal and it was certainly no reflection on his talent as a producer. It just got to the point where I felt like I could hold the reins by myself.}}</ref> In regards to this split, Yankovic said: "We [i.e. Yankovic and his band] had a great run with Rick, he's a terrific guy{{emdash}}but I had become more and more of a control freak over the years, and I'd finally gotten to the point in my recording career where I felt that I could capably hold the reins all by myself."<ref name=aa1998n>{{Cite web| url = http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#1198| title = 'Ask Al' Q&As for November 1998| access-date = June 26, 2010| last = Yankovic| first = Alfred M.| author-link = "Weird Al" Yankovic|date=May 1999| work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref> By late 1990 five originals—"Airline Amy", "Trigger Happy", "When I Was Your Age", "[[You Don't Love Me Anymore ("Weird Al" Yankovic song)|You Don't Love Me Anymore]]", and "Waffle King"—were recorded.<ref name="recordingdates">{{Cite web| url = http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/recording-dates/ | title = Recording Dates | access-date = March 3, 2017 | last = Yankovic | first = Alfred M. | author-link = "Weird Al" Yankovic |date=November 1998 | work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref>
{{Listen|filename=You Don't Love Me Anymore (Sample).ogg|title="You Don't Love Me Anymore" (sample)|description="You Don't Love Me Anymore", from Yankovic's 1992 album ''Off the Deep End''. Although the song is, musically, an original composition, the music video is a parody of "More Than Words" by Extreme.|format=[[Ogg]]}}
"You Don't Love Me Anymore" was one of the last original songs recorded during the 1990 sessions.<ref name="recordingdates"/> The song is written as a soft acoustic [[ballad]]. However, the lyrics are of a—literally—destructive relationship between Yankovic and an unnamed girl.<ref name="praitb"/> Although they were formerly in love, the "flames died down" and they are no longer passionate—in fact the girl hates Yankovic to such an extent that she repeatedly attempts to kill him. In 1992, when the album was finally released, Yankovic desired to release the song as a single. His record label, Scotti Brothers, allowed it under the stipulation that the music video be a parody of another music video.<ref name="setlist">{{cite news|title = Set List: 'Weird Al' Yankovic|first = Nathan|last = Rabin|author-link = Nathan Rabin|url = https://www.avclub.com/weird-al-yankovic-1798226810|newspaper = [[The A.V. Club]]|publisher = [[The Onion|The Onion, Inc]]|location = [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]|date = June 29, 2011|access-date = June 29, 2011|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110701100237/http://www.avclub.com/articles/weird-al-yankovic,58244/|archive-date = July 1, 2011|url-status = live|df = mdy}}</ref> "You Don't Love Me Anymore" was subsequently released to radio on June 19, 1992.<ref name="allmusicyou"/> While the song was an original composition, the video was a parody of "[[More Than Words]]" by [[Extreme (band)|Extreme]].<ref name="setlist"/> Yankovic later explained that when the song was released, many people erroneously believed it was a parody of "More Than Words", and thus, Yankovic crafted the music video to be a parody of the song.<ref name="WashingtonPost">{{Cite news | last = Harrington| first = Richard| date = June 26, 1992| title = Weird Al in Parody Paradise; He's Hit a Nirvana With His Latest and He's Bringing It Here| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com | newspaper = The Washington Post| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20010208221807/http://www.al-oholicsanonymous.com/interviews/washpost.html|archive-date = 8 February 2001| access-date = June 27, 2010}}</ref> The single received moderate radio attention, which surprised Yankovic, because he had always thought that radio stations "usually just go for the parodies".<ref name="praitb"/>

One of the original songs recorded in the 1990 sessions was "Waffle King". However, when Yankovic resumed recording in 1992, he recorded a new original called "I Was Only Kidding".<ref name="recordingdates"/> Originally, "Waffle King" was supposed to appear on ''Off the Deep End''. However, by the time the recording of the parodies for this album began, Al had written all the original songs that were to appear on his next album, ''[[Alapalooza]]''. Because he was concerned that one of the jokes from the song "I Was Only Kidding" might be dated by the time his next album would finally be released—a line that references the movie ''[[Wayne's World (film)|Wayne's World]]'': "I really love you... not!"—Yankovic included "I Was Only Kidding" on ''Off the Deep End'' in place of "Waffle King". "Waffle King" was instead used as the b-side of the "[[Smells Like Nirvana]]" single and would later resurface on ''Alapalooza''.<ref name="wafflewaffle">{{Cite web| url = http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#0396| title = 'Ask Al' Q&As for March/April, 1996| access-date = June 26, 2010| last = Yankovic| first = Alfred M.| author-link = "Weird Al" Yankovic|date=March–April 1996| work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref>

The album also contains a [[hidden track]] at the end called "Bite Me". The "song", which consists of several seconds of loud music and Yankovic screaming, appears after 10 minutes of silence following "You Don't Love Me Anymore". According to Yankovic, the song was supposed to "come on [...] and scare you to death".<ref name="robo"/> Later pressings of ''Off the Deep End'' by [[Volcano Records|Volcano]] and pressings outside the USA took away the hidden track and silence.<ref name="june1999">{{Cite web| url = http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/ask-al/#0699| title = 'Ask Al' Q&As for June, 1999| access-date = June 26, 2010| last = Yankovic| first = Alfred M.| author-link = "Weird Al" Yankovic|date=June 1999| work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site}}</ref> The track is a nod to Nirvana: pressings of ''[[Nevermind]]'' featured the hidden track [[Endless, Nameless (song)|"Endless, Nameless"]].<ref>Berkenstadt, Jim; Cross, Charles. ''Classic Rock Albums: Nevermind''. Schirmer, 1998. {{ISBN|0-02-864775-0}}</ref>

===Parodies and polka===
After recording the first batch of originals in 1990, Yankovic focused his attention on parodies. By early 1991, only three parodies had been recorded. Two of them, the [[Oreo|cookie]]-inspired [[New Kids on the Block]] parody "The White Stuff" and the television-centric [[MC Hammer]] parody "I Can't Watch This", were slated to be released as singles. In fact, several cartons of promo singles were pressed, but they were [[Deletion (music industry)|deleted]] from the record company's catalogue at the last minute. These CDs were later discovered by Yankovic and his drummer, [[Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz]], in a trash heap and have since become collector's items.<ref name="cantwatch">{{Cite web| title = 'Weird Al' Yankovic: Rare Items – I Can't Watch This | url = http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/rare-items/gallery/rare-items/singles | work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site|access-date= June 22, 2012}}</ref><ref name="whitestuff">{{Cite web| title = 'Weird Al' Yankovic: Rare Items – The White Stuff | url = http://weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/rare-items/gallery/rare-items/singles | work = The Official "Weird Al" Yankovic Web Site|access-date=June 22, 2012}}</ref> "The Plumbing Song", a double parody of [[Milli Vanilli]]'s hit singles "[[Baby Don't Forget My Number]]" and "[[Blame It on the Rain]]" was also recorded. In a 1992 interview with [[Dr. Demento]], Yankovic said that he believed the parody to be "kind of redundant" at that point in time, given the [[Milli Vanilli#Lip-syncing exposure and media backlash, 1989–1991|lip-synching scandal]] that had effectively destroyed the band almost two years prior. In reference to this scandal, Yankovic also jokingly affirmed that he did indeed sing lead vocals on his parody.<ref name="drdinterview"/>

Yankovic waited for almost two years for the next "big thing" to emerge. "I don't have any really good reason why it took so long other than the fact that I was waiting for [[Michael Jackson]]'s new album to come out," Yankovic explained.<ref name="drdinterview"/> Unfortunately for Yankovic, the new album hit several snags. On November 26, 1991, Michael Jackson's new album, ''[[Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|Dangerous]]'' was released. After hearing the hit single "[[Black or White]]", Yankovic approached Jackson about a potential parody entitled "Snack All Night". Although Jackson was a big supporter of Yankovic's work, he felt that a parody might damage the song's message. Jackson told Yankovic that he could, if he wanted to, parody another song off his album, but just not "Black or White".<ref name="drdinterview">{{cite interview | last = Yankovic | first = "Weird Al" | interviewer = Dr. Demento | title=The Dr. Demento Show|url = http://www.al-oholicsanonymous.com/interviews/otde.txt | year = 1992 | access-date = June 26, 2010 }}</ref>
[[File:Nirvana around 1992.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Nirvana felt that they had "made it" when Yankovic parodied "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (1992, P.B. Rage)]]
Yankovic soon turned his attention in another direction. [[Guns N' Roses]] had just released a version of [[Wings (band)|Wings]]'s 1970s hit "[[Live and Let Die (song)|Live and Let Die]]".<ref>{{cite web|last=Khanna|first=Vish|title='Weird Al' Yankovic Alpocalypse Now… and Then|url=http://exclaim.ca/Features/Timeline/weird_al_yankovic-alpocalypse_now8230_then/Page/6|date=July 2011|access-date=July 1, 2011|work=[[Exclaim!]]|archive-date=July 4, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704185953/http://exclaim.ca/Features/Timeline/weird_al_yankovic-alpocalypse_now8230_then/Page/6|url-status=dead}}</ref> Yankovic approached [[Paul McCartney]], leader of Wings, about a parody idea entitled "Chicken Pot Pie". Although McCartney was a supporter of Yankovic's work and he wanted to give Yankovic the chance to parody one of his songs, he begrudgingly turned him down due to the fact that, as a [[vegetarian]], he could not condone the eating of animal flesh. Yankovic, a fellow vegetarian, has stated that he respects McCartney's decision.<ref name="welch">{{Citation | last = Welch | first = Matthew | title = 'Weird Al' Yankovic | newspaper = Icon magazine | pages = 95 | year = 1997 | url = http://www.al-oholicsanonymous.com/interviews/alicon.html | access-date = June 26, 2010}}</ref>
{{Listen|filename=Smells Like Nirvana (Sample).ogg|title="Smells Like Nirvana" (sample)|description="Smells Like Nirvana", from Yankovic's 1992 album ''Off the Deep End''. The sample illustrates the verse, pre-chorus, and chorus of Yankovic's parody which is a musical re-creation of the original Nirvana song.|format=[[Ogg]]}}
It was around this time that Nirvana's ''[[Nevermind]]'' was making waves in the rock and pop scene. As the popularity of 1980s pop gave way to [[grunge]], Yankovic decided it was time to record a parody of the Seattle-based band's huge hit single "[[Smells Like Teen Spirit]]".<ref name="praitb"/> Yankovic later said, "I wanted to make sure that when I came back after that long hiatus, it was with something strong, and it wasn't until Nirvana that I felt I had a real contender."<ref name="praitb">{{cite AV media notes|title = Permanent Record: Al in the Box|others = [["Weird Al" Yankovic]]|year = 1994|url = http://dmdb.org/al/booklet.html|first = Barret|last = Hansen|author-link = Dr. Demento|type = liner|publisher = [[Scotti Brothers Records]]|location = [[California]], [[United States]]}}</ref> To secure permission for the parody, Yankovic wanted to approve it with Kurt Cobain. After learning that Nirvana was to perform on ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'', Yankovic called up his ''UHF'' co-star, [[Victoria Jackson]], who was, at the time, a regular cast member on the show. Jackson got Cobain on the phone so that Yankovic could make his request. Cobain agreed, although he asked if the new parody was "going to be a song about food".<ref name="praitb"/> Yankovic reassured him that it would actually be about how "no one can understand [the] lyrics" to the original, which Cobain thought was funny.<ref name="praitb"/> After receiving permission, Yankovic wrote and recorded "Smells Like Nirvana" on January 27, 1992.<ref name="recordingdates"/>

After "Smells Like Nirvana", Yankovic recorded "Taco Grande", a [[Mexican food]]-themed parody of [[Gerardo Mejía|Gerardo]]'s "[[Rico Suave (song)|Rico Suave]]".<ref name="recordingdates"/> The latter features a cameo appearance from comedian [[Cheech Marin]]. Originally, Yankovic had wanted Marin to rap in Spanish, but it turned out that Marin knew only some basic Spanish. However, a bilingual secretary translated what Yankovic wanted him to say from English to Spanish and Marin read the resulting rap phonetically.<ref name="praitb"/> One of the last songs to be recorded was the obligatory polka medley, "Polka Your Eyes Out".<ref name="recordingdates"/> Yankovic had already performed the medley at [[Dr. Demento|Dr. Demento's]] 20th Anniversary Special on [[Comedy Central]] before the album had been released.<ref name="praitb"/>