by Alan K. StoutMusic Columnist
Jumpin’ Jeff Walker is at it again. The popular DJ from KRZ-FM is once again poking fun at today’s headlines, the world of pop culture, and quite often, life here in NEPA. From “Muffin Top” — Walker’s ode to plus-sized women that wear over-revealing clothing — to smoke-free bars, the Bloomsburg Fair and the Luzerne County Courthouse scandal, nothing is safe. All of it is parodied in song on Jeff Walker and The Wackjobs’ latest collection of zany jingles, “OMG!”
The new CD, sales of which benefit local animal shelters, is the follow-up to Walker’s seven previous efforts: 1994’s “KRZ’Y,” 1996’s “Spank Me,” 1998’s “Bad Boy,” 2000’s “‘Bite Me,’ 2002’s “Highly Contagious,” 2004’s “Slightly Defective” and 2006’s “Dentally Challenged.” It is a Christmastime tradition for KRZ dating back 15 years.
“I was going to kind of let the thing ride off into the sunset,” says Walker, adding that though he’s never been short on material, he wasn’t sure if he and his accompanying cast of characters, The Wackjobs, would ever release another CD. “It’s a much bigger project than it would appear on the surface. Even after writing and producing the songs, there’s the logistics of putting a CD out, promoting it, the business end of it … But then something happened this summer. ‘Muffin Top’ started taking off, you get that creative flair going again, and before I knew it, I had done eight songs in about a two-month period. Everything just started clicking.”
Fittingly, the CD's title, "OMG!," is e-mail and text lingo for "Oh, my God!"
“That’s what I was saying this fall when I was trying to get everything done,” says Walker with a laugh. “Actually, I was probably wording it more like WTF.”
The CD title isn’t the only thing that’s very 2009. Even the cover artwork has a Facebook-type look. Walker says he’s pretty up to speed on social networking, though he still isn’t sure he likes it.
“I’m not so sure if I’m embracing it, or it’s embracing me,” he says. “Let’s face it, you can’t get away from it. But please, if you ever see me Tweeting, shoot me dead. You’ve got to draw the line in the sand somewhere. I do Facebook, I do MySpace, KRZ e-mail, personal e-mail. … It’s like ‘Oh my God!’ It’s overload. And besides, why do I need to tell somebody that ‘I’m pulling into my driveway,’ or ‘I’m having a good day.’ It’s just too much.”
Humor is the core of the CD. In fact, the track “Muffin Top,” set to the music of Kevin Rudolf’s “Let It Rock,” was so popular on KRZ earlier this year that Walker even decided to shoot a video for the number. Its inspiration is obvious.
“If you haven’t noticed, we have a little weight problem in this country, and some of the people aren’t aware they have a weight problem and still want to wear a half-shirt,” he quips.
“Living at The Fair,” set to the music of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer,” celebrates one of NEPA’s great fall traditions.
“It kind of pokes fun at the whole Bloomsburg Fair experience, but I think in a loving way,” he says with another chuckle.
“I Kissed Your Mom” is a play on Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl,” and Walker says he’s particularly proud of “The Gyno Song,” which playfully talks about a woman’s yearly visit to the gynecologist.
“There was some thinking that this would never be able to be played on the radio,” he says. “Well, oh yes it can, and yes it is. And women love it. It’s written from the female perspective, and any woman that listens to the song is going to smile and say ‘Oh my God, I know exactly what they’re talking about.”
“Crazy Itch,” a take of Buckcherry’s “Crazy Bitch,” pokes fun at STDs, and “Another One Bites The Dust” mocks the current corruption scandal in NEPA that seems to have the Luzerne County Courthouse in chaos and the FBI working overtime.
The cost of the CD is $11.99, and it is available at Gallery of Sound stores, the KRZ offices in Pittston and at www.jeffwalkerandthewackjobs.com. Proceeds benefit the SPCA of Luzerne County, the Humane Society in Lackawanna County and the Monroe Animal Rescue League.
Though some of Walker’s past parodies, such as the classic “Shickshinny Joe,” have become almost controversial, he says that so far, no one is protesting “OMG!”
“Surprisingly, people have been responding, but there haven’t been any songs where people are pissed off at me,” he says with a laugh. “It’s almost a strange feeling, and I’m not sure if it’s a good one. Maybe on the next CD, it’s time to start attacking some local villages and towns.”
The CD’s closing number, “Bring Them Home,” is set to the melody of Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.” Here, the laughs are put aside.
“It’s a departure from what we normally do, because it’s really not funny at all,” says Walker. “It’s our Christmas song, and it was written a few months before Obama gave his speech about putting 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan. To be honest, the reason we did a serious song was because every angle of Christmas has already been parodied. I really couldn’t think of anything new to write about, and I didn’t want to do a funny song and rehash old jokes. So I thought I’d take a different approach. The whole song is simply about the reality that we have thousands of men and women over there now, and though it’s a naive wish, but wouldn’t it be great for Christmas if they could be here, instead of there?”
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