OMMA Catalogue Number

OMMA-0002

Artist

“Weird Al” Yankovic.

Title

Another One Rides the Bus EP

Release Details

Issued in 1981 by Placebo Records as a 7-inch EP (catalogue number 3626). Pressed in the United States and issued as a privately financed small-press release. The EP contains “Another One Rides the Bus” and “Happy Birthday” on Side A, with “Gotta Boogie” and “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung” on Side B.

Edition & Variant Identification

Stock/commercial self-financed and self-released EP with a pressing of approximately 1,000 copies.

Matrix & Pressing Data

Side A: PLACEBO 3626-A don

Side B: PLACEBO 3626B

Physical Description

Seven-inch vinyl EP with picture sleeve, issued on Placebo Records.

Factory-Origin Characteristics

No factory-origin defects or distinguishing manufacturing anomalies recorded.

Condition Report

Media E+ with small chip around label spindle hole but otherwise pristine. Sleeve VG+ with minor, inconspicuous creasing at sleeve opening.

Provenance

Purchased via Discogs from BooBoo Records February 6, 2025.

Market Context & Historical Notes

Another One Rides the Bus is the essential privately issued “Weird Al” Yankovic object: a self-financed, four-track Placebo Records EP pressed in approximately 1,000 copies and distributed before Yankovic had secured a durable national recording contract. Although it followed both the local SLO Grown compilation appearance and Capitol’s 1979 release of “My Bologna,” this EP is the clearest surviving artifact of Yankovic’s transition from Dr. Demento phenomenon to self-directed recording artist.

The title track began as a live radio-performance event: Yankovic’s parody of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust,” recorded on September 14, 1980, for The Dr. Demento Show with Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz supplying percussion on Yankovic’s accordion case. The recording’s appeal was immediate and unusually intense within the novelty-radio ecosystem, and the Placebo EP translated that broadcast momentum into a physical commercial object.

Although a comedy record, Yankovic’s self-financed, self-pressed and self-distributed title functions like a punk or regional indie artifact: low budget, small run, artist-driven, locally distributed, and made because conventional industry channels had not yet absorbed the act. The inclusion of “Happy Birthday,” “Gotta Boogie,” and “Mr. Frump in the Iron Lung” shows Yankovic testing the broader architecture of his eventual career: parody, original comedy songs, accordion-centered absurdism, and a cultivated outsider persona that could survive beyond a single hit gag. Yankovic’s later career would move through Scotti Brothers, MTV, platinum albums,  a Billboard No. 1, Grammy recognition, and long-term pop-culture canonization, but the Placebo EP preserves the moment before that machinery arrived.

Canonical Status in OMMA

OMMA recognizes Another One Rides the Bus as a canonical “Weird Al” Yankovic origin object. Despite this record not being Yankovic’s first appearance on record nor his first commercially issued single, this fully DIY multi-track release represents the most important pre-major-label artifact of his emergence as an independent recording artist. The moxie, creativeness, and can-do attitude that led an obscure state university college student – one who’s main instrument is the accordion! – to become one of the most beloved figures in music history was the direct inspiration for the creation of the Origins of Modern Music Archive.

References and Source Documentation

• 45cat Placebo EP listing: https://www.45cat.com/record/recordus138
• WeirdAl.com recording dates: https://www.weirdal.com/archives/miscellaneous/recording-dates/
• Discogs listing: https://www.discogs.com/release/2578636-Weird-Al-Yankovic-Another-One-Rides-The-Bus
• Dohtem Weird Al singles discography: https://www.dohtem.com/al/singles/bus.htm