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For as long as it’s been since “Weird Al” Yankovic achieved the unlikely feat of topping the Billboard 200 with his 14th album Mandatory Fun in 2014, fans have wondered what’ll inspire him to start making more music. The generationally-beloved parodist indicated at the time that he wasn’t planning on focusing on full-length albums – indeed, he let his longtime contract, starting at Scotti Bros. in 1983 and ending at Sony Music’s RCA Records, lapse – and subsequent works were few and far between. Most notably, he recorded two polka medleys – one of songs from Hamilton for the acclaimed musical’s “Hamildrops” campaign (included on the just-announced box set devoted to the production), and a 2024 “catch-up” of big pop hits since Mandatory Fun‘s release – and contributed a new song (and re-recordings of classic material) to Roku’s wacky 2022 satirical biopic Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, starring Harry Potter‘s Daniel Radcliffe as an intense version of the accordionist. (There was also that Grammy-winning box set devoted to his complete albums and more.)

Now, after plenty of touring in various configurations – last year’s first leg of the still-ongoing Bigger and Weirder Tour sold out Madison Square Garden and The Forum in Los Angeles – Al’s next recording project is…a premiere release of music he had very little to do with, but from a most important project in his career. We’re talking about his feature-length film debut, the cult classic UHF – whose complete score by composer John Du Prez will be released on Yankovic’s Way Moby label this year. The score will be presented in two ways on one 2LP package: the 19 cues heard in the final film, and a newly-created 11-track album of cue suites that wouldn’t have been out of place in record stores when the film was released in 1989. (Of course, a new Yankovic album, partly soundtrack material but mostly then-new parodies of R.E.M., Fine Young Cannibals and others, was released that year.)

As is fitting for a financial flop celebrating its 37th anniversary, Yankovic and Du Prez have spared no expense for the physical release of the UHF score. The album will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl – one disc yellow, the other pink – and housed in a special gatefold sleeve that features a pop-up image of one of the film’s stars, future Seinfeld co-star Michael Richards. That gatefold will be packaged in a special die-cut, “TV set” slipcover alongside four vintage-style film lobby cards and a replica of the Channel U62 stockholder certificate prop from the film. Two special box sets add even more collectibles: a gold edition offers a replica of the film’s shooting script penned by Yankovic and director Jay Levey, recreations of original paper promo materials for the film (including four mini-posters), a UHF t-shirt and an enamel pin of the film’s signature snack, the Twinkie-wiener sandwich. The platinum edition adds a linen-bound slipcase for the shooting script, signed liner notes by Du Prez, a replica press kit, custom personalization on the stock certificate prop replica and a custom board game-style version of the Channel U62 schedule board featured in the film. Pre-orders for all three versions are active until August 11 at 12:00 a.m. EST. (Yankovic’s site promises updates on CD and digital versions, too.)

Arguably the wackiest project of Al’s in a decade full of wackiness, UHF starred Yankovic as George Newman, a hapless dreamer who assumes control of a low-budget, ultra-high frequency television station and becomes an unlikely sensation due to some truly off-the-wall programming decisions. George and his friends are challenged by the big-shot head of a rival VHF network – but can they keep the airwaves truly weird? Packed with a cast of cult favorites (Kevin McCarthy, General Hospital‘s Anthony Geary, Gedde Wantanabe and Emo Phillips) and a host of soon-to-be-famous TV comedians (in addition to Richards, there’s Saturday Night Live‘s Victoria Jackson and Fran Drescher of The Nanny), the off-the-wall UHF parodied a galaxy of movies, TV shows and even music videos (the album’s single was a rendition of the theme to The Beverly Hillbillies set to Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing,” complete with Mark Knopfler and Guy Fletcher playing the song’s lead guitar and synths) – skewered with aplomb by Yankovic and Levey, then and still his manager.

Despite massive test score results from distributor Orion Pictures, UHF charged into theaters packed with pre-sold blockbusters from Batman to Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and Ghostbusters II. As such, the film fizzled and Yankovic was once again threatened by critics as a mere novelty – a condition that reversed when his next album, featuring an arch parody of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” became a hit. But the film found an unexpected second life on home video, with VHS copies commanding high resale prices and the film’s eventual DVD release in 2002 cracking the Top 10 of format sales charts. As for Du Prez – a trumpeter in the U.K. band Modern Romance who’d become associated with members of Monty Python (scoring the troupe’s film The Meaning of Life and the John Cleese-written and starring blockbuster A Fish Called Wanda), UHF was a key step further into a lucrative career in film scoring, often emulating or enhancing symphonic sounds with cutting-edge electronics. He’d go on to score the three live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films and would co-write with Eric Idle the Python stage musical Spamalot. Du Prez will also conduct his score live at a special screening of UHF at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on Halloween, to be followed by a Q&A with Yankovic and surprise guests.

All vinyl versions of the UHF score are available now through Al’s official store, and will be there until midnight on August 11. Pre-order your copies and check out the full track list below!

UHF (Original Score Soundtrack – 37th Anniversary Edition) (Way Moby, 2026)

Official Store: 2LP / Gold Box Set / Platinum Box Set

LP 1: Cues

Side A

1. UHF Main Title
2. The Big Ball
3. Big Edna/Mash Potato Mountain/Harvey’s Party
4. Drive to U62/Into the Studio/Philo’s Atmospherics
5. Day At U62/Channel 8/Finger Sting/The Janitor/My Mop
6. Ray of Hope/Noodles Fanfare/The Executive/Special Bulletin/Town Talk
7. Spatula City
8. Nutzy’s Clubhouse/Calliope Yuks
9. Pilots R Us/This Job
10. Road Runner/Wheel of Fish

Side B

1. Philo’s TV Show/Badgers/Conan The Librarian/U62’s Success
2. Promo Reel/Big Louie Sting/Harvey #1/Philo Listens/Harvey #2
3. U62 Telethon/Telethon Band I/Fletcher Snaps/Telethon Band II/Teri’s Kitchen/Telethon Band III/Stanley’s Pizza
4. Gandhi II/Teri & B.J./Channel 8 Night/Thug’s Fist
5. The Fight
6. Rambo
7. Gun Sting/Supplies/Sam on Stilts/Stanley’s Return
8. Thrashed Twins/Evil Fletcher
9. Stanley’s Trophy

LP 2: Suites

Side C

1. Cave of Doom
2. De Wah De Wah
3. Kiddy Korner
4. Philo Suite
5. U62 Telethon
6. Show Time

Side D

1. Rambo Fantasy
2. Pilots & Librarians
3. Uncle Harvey
4. Evil Fletcher
5. Stanley’s Finest Hour