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The following biography
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Free Encyclopedia.”
Alfred Matthew Yankovic (born on October
23, 1959), best known as "Weird Al" Yankovic, is an American
multi-Grammy Award-winning musician, satirist, parodist, accordionist,
and television producer. He is known in particular for his humorous
songs which make light of popular culture, parody specific songs by
contemporary musical acts, or both. His works have earned him three gold
and five platinum records in the U.S.
****
Origin Lynwood, California
Country United States
Years active 1979–present
Genres Comedy, Pop, Parody
Labels Capitol Records (1979)
Placebo Records (1981)
TK Records (1981)
Scotti Brothers (1983-1997)
Volcano (1997-present)
Members "Weird Al" Yankovic (1979 -
present)
Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz (1980 - present)
Steve Jay (1982 - present)
Jim West (1982 - present)
Rubén Valtierra (1991 - present)
Past members Joe Earley
Rick Derringer
Website(s) www.weirdal.com MySpace
****
Biography
The only child of Nick Louis Yankovic (a
Serb-American) and Mary Elizabeth Vivalda (of Italian and English
descent),[1] Alfred Matthew Yankovic was born in Downey, California, but
raised in the nearby town of Lynwood. He first started playing the
accordion one day before his seventh birthday. When a door-to-door
salesman came around offering accordion and guitar lessons, his father
opted for accordion saying that there should be one more accordion
playing Yankovic in the world besides polka king Frankie Yankovic (to
whom he has no relation). He mastered the instrument by age ten, after
which he quit lessons to pursue it on his own. He now uses a youth sized
accordion, with which he is able to jump around more vigorously.
After hearing Dr. Demento's radio show (a
comedy radio program featuring humorous music), Yankovic sent the Doctor
a tape of a song entitled "Belvedere Cruisin'", a song about his
family's current vehicle, in 1976. Another song, included on the tape,
which never received airtime, was entitled "Dr. D Superstar" and was a
parody of "Jesus Christ Superstar"[2]. He was a senior at Lynwood High
School at the time, but that tape was the start of his eventual career.
Three years later, Yankovic was an
architecture student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a disc jockey at
the university's radio station (KCPR). His air name was "Weird Al", and
he has used it since. Although he has claimed that he had been referred
to as "Weird Al" during high school, there is no confirming evidence of
this. Since "My Sharona" by The Knack was on the charts and The Knack
was scheduled to play at Cal Poly, he took his accordion into the
restroom across the hall from the radio station (to take advantage of
the echo chamber acoustics) and recorded a parody entitled "My Bologna",
with a B-side called "School Cafeteria". The Knack thought it was funny
after meeting Yankovic after a show at his college, and arranged for the
song to be released on their label, Capitol Records, which gave Yankovic
a six-month contract. Dr. Demento's listeners frequently put this track
atop his "Funny Five" list.
In 1980, Yankovic was working in the mail
room at Westwood One, Dr. Demento's radio network at the time, when he
developed another parody called "Another One Rides the Bus", a parody of
Queen's hit, "Another One Bites the Dust". While practicing the song
outside the sound booth, he ran into Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz, who told
him he was a drummer and agreed to bang on Yankovic's accordion case to
keep a good steady beat to the song. They rehearsed the song just a few
times before going live on The Doctor Demento Show. "Another One Rides
the Bus" became so popular that it got Yankovic his first television
appearance, The Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder. On the show, he played
his accordion and again Jon banged on his accordion case as well as
squeaking and blowing some horns and other musical gizmos. The rare 1981
Placebo EP release of this song has as its B-side the track "Happy
Birthday", an unusually (for Yankovic) dark song about the world's
problems and imminent destruction ("There's garbage in the water and
poison in the sky, I guess it won't be long before we're all gonna
die"), with the sarcastic suggestion that denial is the natural solution
("So if you think it's scary, if it's more than you can take, just blow
out the candles, and have a piece of cake!") The Placebo EP recording of
that song was recently remixed into stereo by Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz for
inclusion on a Hurricane Katrina charity compilation featuring various
other comedy musicians.[3]
The Dr. Demento Society, which issues
yearly Christmas re-releases of material from Dr. Demento's Basement
Tapes, often includes among these unreleased tracks from Yankovic's
vaults, such as "Pacman", "It's Still Billy Joel To Me", or the demos
for "I Love Rocky Road". The live version of "School Cafeteria" is also
to be found on Dr. Demento's Basement Tapes.
1981 brought Yankovic on tour for the first
time as part of Dr. Demento's act. His performances were particularly
interesting as few, if any, people at the time were doing parodies of
rock and roll songs on accordion. His stage act caught the eye of
manager Jay Levey, who loved it and became Yankovic's manager. Levey
insisted that the act would sound better if he had a full band, so he
held auditions. Steve Jay became Yankovic's bass player, and Jim West
played guitar. With Schwartz on drums, the band was complete. In 1991,
Rubén Valtierra joined the band on keyboards, to allow Yankovic to
concentrate more on singing during concerts. Rick Derringer would
produce all of his albums until the 1992 release Off the Deep End. After
Derringer's departure, Yankovic began to produce his own albums. So far
he has released twelve albums, the latest released on 26 September 2006.
Yankovic's first show with his entire band
(excluding Rubén Valtierra, who joined in 1991) was not successful at
all. The audience threw items at Yankovic and his band and they were
booed off the stage.
In 1985, Yankovic co-wrote and starred in a
mockumentary of his own life entitled The Compleat Al that intertwined
fact and fiction of his life up to that point. The movie was co-directed
by Jay Levey, who would direct UHF (see below) four years later.
In January 1998, Yankovic had LASIK eye
surgery and shaved off his mustache, radically changing his trademark
look. Yankovic, who was revealed to be rather handsome in this
conventional look, commented that "Millions of girls actually found me
hot for the first time!" However, he is seen with a mustache and goatee
combo on his 2006 release, Straight Outta Lynwood.
Yankovic married Suzanne Krajewski on
February 10, 2001. Their daughter, Nina, was born February 11, 2003. He
also has a pet poodle, Bela (pictured atop Yankovic's head on the cover
of his album, Poodle Hat), and a pet cockatiel named Bo Veaner.
On April 9, 2004, Yankovic's parents, Nick,
86, and Mary, 81, were found dead in their Fallbrook, California home,
apparently the victims of carbon monoxide poisoning from their fireplace
that had been recently been lit (the flue was closed, which trapped the
deadly carbon monoxide gas inside the house, suffocating them). An hour
after his wife notified him of his parents' death, Yankovic went on with
his concert in Mankato, Minnesota, saying that "since my music had
helped many of my fans through tough times, maybe it would work for me
as well" and that it would "at least ... give me a break from sobbing
all the time."[4]
A biographical booklet was released with
the 1994 box set compilation Permanent Record: Al In The Box.[5]
Yankovic's songs
Yankovic is best known for his song
parodies ("Eat It"), though he has actually recorded a greater number of
original humorous songs ("You Don't Love Me Anymore" and "One More
Minute"). His work depends largely on the satirizing of popular culture,
including television (see The TV Album), movies ("The Saga Begins"),
food (see The Food Album), popular music (the polkas), and sometimes
issues in contemporary news ("Headline News"). Although many of his
songs are parodies of contemporary radio hits, it is rare that the
song's primary topic of lampooning is that artist. Although on his album
("Straight Outta Lynwood") he parodies the style of Rage Against the
Machine in the song, "I'll Sue Ya" Yankovic's humour lies more in
creating unexpected incongruity between an artist's image and the topic
of the song, contrasting the style of the song with its content, or in
pointing out trends or works which have become pop culture clichés.
In addition to his parodies, Yankovic also
includes a medley of various songs on most albums, each one
reinterpreted as a polka, with the choruses or memorable lines of
various songs juxtaposed for humorous effect. Yankovic has been known to
say that converting these songs to polka was "...the way God intended".
Some of his original songs are pastiches or
"style parodies", where he chooses a band's entire body of work to
honour/parody rather than any single hit by that band (for example, Devo
with "Dare to Be Stupid"). Sometimes, it is obvious as to which band's
style Yankovic is parodying, but often it is subjective. One person may
hear influences from one band, while another may hear influences from a
different band. Some style parodies are in the style of a genre of
music, rather than a specific band.
His latest three album releases feature the
longest songs Yankovic has ever released. The "Albuquerque" track from
Running with Scissors is 11 minutes and 23 seconds; "Genius in France"
from Poodle Hat runs for 8 minutes and 56 seconds; "Trapped in the Drive
Thru" from Straight Outta Lynwood is 10 minutes and 53 seconds long.
These are referred to as "epic" songs by fans.
Yankovic has contributed songs to several
films ("This Is the Life", from Johnny Dangerously; "Dare to Be Stupid"
for Transformers: The Movie, "Polkamon" from the movie Pokémon: The
Movie 2000, and a parody of the James Bond title sequence in Spy Hard),
including his own UHF. Other songs of his have appeared in films or
television series as well.
Reactions from original artists
Under copyright law's "fair use" doctrine –
affirmed by the United States Supreme Court — one does not need
permission to record a parody.[6] However, Yankovic has always requested
permission from the original artist before recording his parodies, as a
means of maintaining good relationships within the music community.
While artists are generally pleased with Yankovic's parodies, there have
been a few notable exceptions.
Positive
Kurt Cobain of Nirvana said that the band
felt they had "made it" after Yankovic recorded "Smells Like Nirvana"
(parodying "Smells Like Teen Spirit").[7] Kurt Cobain called Yankovic an
American "rock genius" in his private journals. On his Behind the Music
special, Yankovic stated that when he called Kurt to ask if he could
parody the song Cobain asked, "Will it be about food?" Yankovic
responded with "No, it'll be about how no-one can understand your
lyrics." Cobain is then said to have responded with, "O.K. then."
Michael Jackson is also a big fan of
Yankovic. Jackson has twice allowed him to parody his songs. When he
granted Yankovic permission to do a parody of "Bad" ("Fat"), Jackson
allowed him to use the same set built for his own "Bad" video from the
Moonwalker video.[8] Though Jackson was a good sport about "Eat It" and
"Fat", he requested that Yankovic not record a parody of "Black or
White", because he felt the message was too important. However, Yankovic
has performed a concert-only parody "Snack All Night" in his live shows.
"Weird Al" also has a cameo appearance, along with many other
celebrities, on Michael's music video for Liberian Girl.
The song "The Saga Begins" (a parody of Don
McLean's "American Pie") accurately states the entire plot of The
Phantom Menace, despite being written before the film's release.
Yankovic got the plot details from rumour websites. He was slightly
unsure about Anakin proposing to Amidala, so he attended a $500
screening to confirm. McLean was pleased with the parody (though the
rumors that he performs in the video were false); additionally, George
Lucas loved the song and a LucasFilm representative told Yankovic "You
should have seen the smile on his face."[9]
Negative
One of Yankovic's most controversial
parodies was 1996's "Amish Paradise", based on "Gangsta's Paradise" by
hip-hop artist Coolio. Reportedly, Coolio's label gave Yankovic the
impression that Coolio had granted permission to record the parody, but
Coolio maintains that he never did. Complicating the issue further,
"Gangsta's Paradise" already samples heavily from a Stevie Wonder song,
"Pastime Paradise". While Coolio claimed he was upset, legal action
never materialised, and Coolio accepted royalty payments for the song.
After this controversy, Yankovic has always made sure to speak directly
with the artist of every song he parodied. At the XM Satellite Radio
booth at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show Yankovic and Coolio made
peace. On his website, Yankovic wrote of this event, "I don’t remember
what we said to each other exactly, but it was all very friendly… I
doubt I’ll be invited to Coolio’s next birthday party, but at least I
can stop wearing that bulletproof vest to the mall."[10]
In 2003, Yankovic was denied permission to
make a video for his parody of Eminem's "Lose Yourself":
"Last year, Eminem forced me to halt
production on the video for my 'Lose Yourself' parody because he somehow
thought that it would be harmful to his image or career..."[11]
Refused parodies
On numerous occasions, Prince has refused
Yankovic permission to record parodies of his songs. However, Yankovic
has stated in interviews that he has "approached [Prince] every few
years and see if he's lightened up".[12]
Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page is a
self-proclaimed Yankovic fan, but when Yankovic wished to create a polka
medley of Led Zeppelin songs, Page refused. Yankovic, however, was
allowed to re-record a sample of "Black Dog" for a segment of "Trapped
in the Drive Thru".
Paul McCartney refused Yankovic permission
to record a parody of Wings' "Live and Let Die", entitled "Chicken Pot
Pie", because McCartney is a vegetarian. It has been performed numerous
times in concert, however. This is not unusual for Yankovic, as his
concerts often feature parodies for which the artist did not give
permission or could not otherwise be released. However, all these
"concert only" songs remain unreleased by Yankovic.
In 2006, Yankovic gained James Blunt's
permission to record a parody of "You're Beautiful". However, after
Yankovic had recorded "You're Pitiful", Blunt's label, Atlantic Records,
recanted this permission. The parody was pulled from Yankovic's
then-upcoming album Straight Outta Lynwood due to his label's
unwillingness to "go to war" with Atlantic. Yankovic released the song
as a free download on his MySpace profile, as well as his official
website, since it was not Blunt himself objecting to the parody.[13] In
the "White & Nerdy" video, Yankovic's character is seen vandalising the
record label's Wikipedia entry with the exclamation "YOU SUCK!" After
the video was released online, Wikipedia's Atlantic Records article
mirrored the video with numerous "vandals" editing it. It was later
closed to new and non-registered users to prevent such vandalism, though
some long-time editors vandalized the page in similar fashion.
UHF
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. A satire of the television and film
industries, also starring Michael Richards, Fran Drescher and Victoria
Jackson, it scored floundering studio Orion their highest test-scores
since the movie RoboCop, however, it was unsuccessful in theaters
(likely due to a release in the summer of 1989, going up against
Ghostbusters II, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, and more).
It has since become a cult classic, with out-of-print copies of the VHS
fetching up to $100 on eBay until the release of the DVD in 2002.
Yankovic occasionally shows clips from the film at his concerts (to
which MGM, the film's current owner, initially objected). To apparently
make it more accessible, the Australian release of the film was titled
The Vidiot From UHF, a title Yankovic openly loathes.
Directing career
"Weird Al" Yankovic has directed many of
his own music videos, He has directed all of his music videos from
1994’s “Bedrock Anthem” (parody of two Red Hot Chili Peppers classics,
"Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away") to his latest, 2006’s “White and
Nerdy” (parody of Chamillionaire’s “Ridin'”)
He also directed the end sequence of 1986’s
“Christmas at Ground Zero” (an original piece juxtaposing Christmas with
nuclear warfare) from his “Polka Party” LP.
Additionally, he has directed several
videos for artists such as Hanson, The Black Crowes, Ben Folds, Jeff
Foxworthy and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. He also directed the
title sequence to Spy Hard, in which he sang the title song.
Misattribution and imitators
Because Yankovic is arguably the most
successful parody artist, songs posted to file sharing networks are
often misattributed to Yankovic due to their humorous subject matter.
Much to the disdain of Yankovic (known for his clean lyrics), this
includes songs that are racist, sexually explicit, or otherwise
offensive. A young listener who had heard several of these offensive
tracks by way of a file sharing service confronted Yankovic online,
threatening a boycott due to his supposedly explicit lyrics.[14] Quite a
few of the songs, such as "Star Wars Cantina," "Star Wars Gangsta Rap,"
"Yoda Smokes Weed," "Chewbacca, What a Wookie", and several more, have a
Star Wars motif.[15] There are also others such as "Windows 95 Sucks",
and "I Ran Over the Taco Bell Dog". In addition, some of these parodies
are only a minute long. The large number of Star Wars related songs
attributed to him is somewhat surprising, as to date Yankovic has only
sung two Star Wars related songs: a parody of The Kinks hit "Lola",
called "Yoda", and of Don McLean's "American Pie" about The Phantom
Menace called "The Saga Begins".
Yankovic cites these misattributions as
"his real beef with P2P sites":
“If you do a search for my name on any one
of those sites, I guarantee you that about half of the songs that come
up will be songs I had absolutely nothing to do with. That particularly
bothers me, because I really try to do quality work, and I also try to
maintain a more-or-less family-friendly image – and some of these songs
that are supposedly by me are just … well, vulgar and awful. I truly
think my reputation has suffered in a lot of people's minds because of
all those fake Weird Al songs floating around the Internet.[16]”
A list of songs not by Yankovic can be
found at The Not Al List. Alternatively, a list of all commercially
released songs recorded by Yankovic can be found on his website's
Recording Dates Page.
Weird Al Star Fund
The Weird Al Star Fund is a campaign
started by Yankovic's fans to get him a star on the Hollywood Walk of
Fame. Their mission is to "solicit, collect, and raise the necessary
money, and to compile the information needed for the application to
nominate 'Weird Al' Yankovic for a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame."
Fans worldwide have sent donations to raise the $15,000 needed for a
nomination. In addition to the preferred method of cash donations, many
methods were used to raise money for the cause, such as a live benefit
Show held April 11, 2006, and selling merchandise on the official
website and eBay, including t-shirts, calendars, and cookbooks. On May
26, 2006, the campaign hit the $15,000 target -- just 5 days before the
May 31, 2006 deadline to submit the necessary paperwork, but on the June
23, 2006 list of inductees for 2007, according to eonline.com, Yankovic
was not included.[17] His application will automatically be reconsidered
in 2007 for the possibility of receiving his star in 2008.
Awards and album certification
"Eat It" — Grammy Best Comedy Recording
(1984)
"Fat" — Grammy Best Concept Video (1988)
Poodle Hat — Grammy for Best Comedy Album
(2003)
Six other Grammy nominations
U.S. gold records
"Weird Al" Yankovic
The Food Album
Alapalooza
U.S. platinum records
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
Dare to Be Stupid
Even Worse
Off the Deep End
Bad Hair Day
Running With Scissors
U.S. gold long form videos
The "Weird Al" Yankovic Video Library
Alapalooza: The Videos
"Weird Al" Yankovic Live!
Bad Hair Day: The Videos
U.S. platinum long form videos
The Ultimate Video Collection
Canadian gold records
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
Even Worse
Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits Volume II
Running With Scissors
Canadian platinum records
Off the Deep End
Bad Hair Day
Canadian double platinum records
Alapalooza
Gold singles
"Eat It" (U.S., Canada, & Australia)
Source: Weirdal.com
Discography
Since Yankovic secured a recording contract
in 1982, he has released many albums and parodies. The following is a
comprehensive list of his albums to date, with US release date, and
highest Billboard Chart position:
Album information
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Released: April 26, 1983 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #139 (U.S.)
Singles: "My Bologna", "Another One Rides
the Bus", "Ricky", "I Love Rocky Road"
"Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D
Released: February 28, 1984 (U.S.) (Gold)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #17 (U.S.)
Singles: "Eat It", "I Lost On Jeopardy",
"King Of Suede"
Dare to Be Stupid
Released: June 18, 1985 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #50 (U.S.)
Singles: "Like a Surgeon", "I Want a New
Duck", "One More Minute", "Dare to Be Stupid"
Polka Party!
Released: October 21, 1986 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #177 (U.S.)
Singles: "Living With a Hernia", "Christmas
at Ground Zero"
Even Worse
Released: April 12, 1988 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #27 (U.S.)
Singles: "Fat", "Lasagna", "I Think I'm a
Clone Now"
UHF - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
and Other Stuff
Released: July 18, 1989 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #146 (U.S.)
Singles: "UHF", "Money For Nothing/Beverly
Hillbillies", "Isle Thing"
Off the Deep End
Released: April 14, 1992 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #17 (U.S.)
Singles: "Smells Like Nirvana", "You Don't
Love Me Anymore", "Taco Grande", "The White Stuff", "I Can't Watch This"
Alapalooza
Released: October 5, 1993 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #46 (U.S.)
Singles: "Jurassic Park", "Bedrock Anthem",
"Achy Breaky Song"
Bad Hair Day
Released: March 12, 1996 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Chart Positions: #14 (U.S.)
Singles: "Amish Paradise", "Gump", "The
Night Santa Went Crazy"
Running With Scissors
Released: June 29, 1999 (U.S.)
Label: Volcano
Chart Positions: #16 (U.S.)
Singles: "The Saga Begins", "It's All About
the Pentiums", "Pretty Fly for a Rabbi"
Poodle Hat
Released: May 20, 2003 (U.S.)
Label: Volcano
Chart Positions: #17 (U.S.)
Singles: "Couch Potato", "Bob"
Straight Outta Lynwood
Released: September 26, 2006 (U.S.)
Label: Volcano
Chart Positions: #10 (U.S.)
Singles: "Don't Download This Song", "White
& Nerdy"
Compilation albums (international)
Album information
"Weird Al" Yankovic's Greatest Hits
Released: October 18, 1988 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
The Food Album
Released: June 22, 1993 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Permanent Record: Al In The Box
Released: September 27, 1994 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Greatest Hits Volume II
Released: October 25, 1994 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
The TV Album
Released: November 7, 1995 (U.S.)
Label: Scotti Brothers
Special projects
Peter And The Wolf / Carnival of the
Animals, Part II (With Wendy Carlos) - October 4, 1988
"This warped classical children's record
featuring narration and poems written by 'Weird Al' Yankovic and music
arranged, composed and performed by synthesizer whiz Wendy Carlos".[18]
Yankovic's text modifies the original story considerably: "The
Grandfather will be played by... Don Ameche! What? He couldn't make
it?", while the music features various innovations by Wendy Carlos over
the original by Sergei Prokofiev. Side two of the album is "Carnival of
the Animals, Part II" which is in part a homage to The Carnival of the
Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns, with Yankovic taking the role of Ogden
Nash in writing humorous poems about various animals that were
"forgotten" in the original Carnival. Parts of this recording are
reminiscent of the signature style of Peter Schickele's public radio
program Schickele Mix.
Babalu Music! - October 22, 1991
A collection of music from and related to
the television sitcom I Love Lucy. Yankovic's contribution as producer
seems not to extend past the title track.
Pokémon The Movie 2000 (soundtrack) - July
18, 2000; #85 (includes "Polkamon")
Dog Train - 2005 - A childrens' book/CD by
Sandra Boynton. Yankovic sings a duet with Kate Winslet on "I Need A
Nap".
Crispin Hellion Glover, The Big Problem ≠
The Solution. The Solution = Let It Be (1989): Yankovic is listed as an
accordionist in the extensive production credits on Glover's CD.
Compilation albums (imports, other)
Eat It - May 1, 1984 (Japanese LP)
The Official Music of "Weird Al" Yankovic -
June 1984 (Japanese LP)
The Best Of Yankovic - 1992 (Korean LP)
The Saga Begins - January 25, 2000
(Japanese CD)
Videography
The following is a comprehensive list of
his long form videos to date, with the United States release date.
The Compleat Al - August 1985
UHF - July 21, 1989
The "Weird Al" Yankovic Video Library - May
1992
Alapalooza: The Videos - December 1993
"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate
Collection - 1993
Bad Hair Day: The Videos - June 1996
"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Videos - January
1998
"Weird Al" Yankovic Live! - November 23,
1999
"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Ultimate Video
Collection - November 3, 2003
The Weird Al Show - The Complete Series -
August 15, 2006
Cameos and special appearances
Tapeheads - 1988
The Naked Gun: From The Files Of Police
Squad! - 1988
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear - 1991
The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult -
1994
Spy Hard - 1996
Safety Patrol - 1997
Nothing Sacred - 1998
Desperation Boulevard - 2002
Haunted Lighthouse 4-D - 2003
Television appearances
Yankovic had a TV series called The Weird
Al Show, which aired from September 1997 to September 1998 on CBS.
Though the show appeared to be geared at children, the humor was really
more for his adult fans. The entire series was released on DVD by Shout!
Factory on August 15, 2006.
Yankovic has hosted Al TV on MTV and Al
Music on MuchMusic many times, generally coinciding with the release of
each new album. For Poodle Hat, AL-TV appeared on VH1. A notable part of
AL-TV is Yankovic manipulating interviews for comic effect, by inserting
himself into a previously conducted interview with a musician, and
manipulating the questions and responses to sound absurd. (Example: Ozzy
Osbourne: What's that black guys name... in that rap band... Al: Wayne
Newton? Ozzy: Yes!)
VH1 produced a Behind the Music episode on
Yankovic, however, he was so clean-cut that the producers could not find
any of the typical angst-laced problems that make many rock stars'
stories compelling (as Yankovic noted in an interview with BTM), so they
stretched many smaller disappointments and skirmishes during his career
into major downfalls to fit the program's classic formula. His two
commercial failures, his film UHF and his 1986 album Polka Party! were
presented as having a larger impact on the direction of his career and
Coolio's later disapproval of "Amish Paradise" was played up as a large
feud; much was also made over his apparent lack of a love life. Despite
the dramatic angles given to these events, the special was accurate in
discussing Yankovic's life and career and received heavy playtime well
after its initial airing.
He has also appeared in cartoons such as
EEK! The Cat, The Simpsons, The Brak Show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast,
Johnny Bravo, Lilo and Stitch: The Series, Robot Chicken and The Grim
Adventures of Billy and Mandy lending his voice to that of the Squid
Hat, a parody of the Sorting Hat in the Harry Potter series. He is
reportedly the only guest to ever request to be on Space Ghost Coast to
Coast.
He made a celebrity cameo appearance on an
episode of The Simpsons that originally aired on April 13, 2003, singing
"Homer & Marge" (a parody of John Mellencamp's "Jack & Diane") with his
band. The episode, "Three Gays of the Condo", in which Marge hires
"Weird Al" to sing the aforementioned song to Homer in an attempt to
reconcile their marriage, later won an Emmy for "Outstanding Animated
Program (For Programming Less Than One Hour)".
Yankovic appeared on Solid Gold in 1985
performing "Like A Surgeon", where television viewers first saw his
now-famous parody of Madonna's "virgin dance".
In the mid-to-late 1980s, he appeared as
the guest host for Nickelodeon's music video show Nick Rocks, wherein
his video for Livin' With A Hernia was featured.
Also in the late 80s, Yankovic appeared as
a guest star on Sid & Marty Krofft's "DC Follies". In one skit with
series regular Fred Willard, Yankovic desperately pleads with Fred to
take his accordion away, because whenever he plays it he is immediately
marauded by women (Cher and Dolly Parton, in the skit). Fred bemoans the
"weekend I loaned it to Gary Hart."
Around 1988, he appeared on the game show,
Remote Control: once for charity, and once as a special guest. The
special guest part was when he tortured contestants who were sadly
yanked "Off The Air" for having last place at the end of Round 2 with an
accordion. This was the only time in that episode the backstage portion
of the set was used.
Around 1990, he appeared as the guest host
on NBC's late night music video program Friday Night Videos (along with
comedian and friend Emo Philips). Al's typical humor was evident (as was
Philips'); during the course of the show Al performed the "Harvey The
Wonder Hamster" theme song, gave us a couple of humorous sight gags and
closed with the following line: "Keep your feet on the ground, keep your
head in the stars, and keep a couple donuts in your glove compartment in
case you get hungry while you're driving."
He played a green, "cabbage-headed" talent
agent for the Earth's solar system in "Miss Stardust", an episode of
Amazing Stories.
He made it to the final round on Win Ben
Stein's Money.
In the early 1990's Yankovic appeared in a
"training video" segment for the Virtual World Entertainment
corporation's Red Planet racing game. He played the part of Freeman
Jack, a subversive purveyor of vectored thrust vehicle (VTV) death races
on Mars in an alternate universe.
In 1991, Yankovic appeared on a segment of
PBS children's math program Square One in which he performed in a music
video for a song titled "Polka Patterns". As this song was not written
by Yankovic, it has not been officially released and it is not likely to
appear on any of his albums.
In 1992, Yankovic appeared on the show
Circus With the Stars, performing a particularly dangerous-looking
swaypole act 50 feet off the ground without a net (which included him
playing the accordion near the top, putting his leg behind his head, and
standing straight up on the top of the swaypole).
In 1993, Yankovic played a part in another
PBS series, "Living and Working in Outer Space" where he played a rock
star named Giles Standish leaving a video voicemail for a lunar
governor, petitioning him to hold a concert in space.
He also appeared on the 1998 FX series,
Penn & Teller's Sin City Spectacular, performing "The Night Santa Went
Crazy" on an episode that aired in March 1999. On the show, he performed
the "Extra Gory Version"[19] of the song, in which Santa dies rather
than going to jail.
Yankovic appeared as himself in an episode
of Sabrina: The Animated Series. In the episode, Yankovic performs a
parody of a song performed by the "Flavor Babes" (a parody of the Spice
Girls). Yankovic wrote the parody version for the episode. During the
episode, it is stated that "You know you've made it when "Weird Al" does
a parody of one of your songs," which is a sentiment felt by many.
Yankovic has appeared on numerous talk
shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, (performing
"Yoda" and "Hooked On Polkas"). In August 2005 he appeared on The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno, backing Ben Folds on the tambourine.
In 2005, Yankovic made his appearance in
the segment "Movies that Should've Been Made in 3D" on VH1's I Love the
80s 3-D.
Also in 2005, Weird Al appeared on Extreme
Makeover: Home Edition. On the show, he sang a song about "polka" when
the girl on the show requested "Polka Dots," in a scene where Ty
Pennington mishears her.
Then in 2006, Weird Al appeared on the
Radio KOL Web-Cam, where he was interviewed by DJ Rick Adams, and talked
about his upcoming album Straight Outta Lynwood. Whereas after the
interview, he and Rick went and fed the goats, which Weird Al had
expressed excitement about during the interview.
Also in 2006, the stop motion animated
series Robot Chicken showcased a music video for Weasel Stomping Day, a
song Weird Al wrote for the show which is featured in his latest album
Straight Outta Lynwood. Al also provides the voice of a boy whose wish
to become a giant robot becomes true in another sketch in the episode.
Trivia
Yankovic has put two backwards messages
into his songs: the first, in "Nature Trail to Hell", said "Satan Eats
Cheez Whiz"; the second, in "I Remember Larry", said "Wow, you must have
an awful lot of free time on your hands."[20]
Yankovic's signature food is a
Twinkie-wiener sandwich which consists of an overturned Twinkie split
open as a bun, hot dog, and Easy Cheese. Recently in several interviews,
he has stated that he has switched to using vegan hot dogs due to
becoming a vegan, but still enjoys them as his favorite snack. (He also
likes to dip them in milk.) This can be seen in UHF.
As a recurring joke, Yankovic often
includes the number 27 somewhere in his work.
Yankovic is of no relation to the famous
accordionist Frankie Yankovic, but Weird Al did play accordion and sing
backing vocals for "Who Stole the Kishka" on one of Frankie's final
records, Songs of the Polka King, Vol. 1. Frankie Yankovic also made a
cameo appearance in a special by "Weird Al" for the 1986 Grammys. Weird
Al jokes that his parents made him take up accordion because,
"apparently, my parents felt the world needed TWO accordion-playing
Yankovics." When the elder accordionist died in 1998, a woman Weird Al
knew on the east coast called him and errantly told him, "I'm sorry your
dad died," which was understandably jarring to Yankovic at the time.
Yankovic is considered to be one of the top
accordionists in the world, having played at a virtuoso level since
childhood.
Although Yankovic has never had a #1 single
in the United States, "Eat It" reached the #1 position in Australia in
1984.
Yankovic says that his favorite car is the
Nash Metropolitan, and he tends to feature a brown and white
Metropolitan in his films and music videos.
There is an Enhanced CD hidden video on the
first pressing of Yankovic's Running With Scissors album which depicts
part of Yankovic's Disney Channel special. It is not included on
subsequent or some international releases.
In 2005 Yankovic appeared live as a
surprise guest at a Presidents of the United States of America concert
to perform "Gump" with them during the encore. The song is a parody of
their song "Lump".
Yankovic directed the video to Ben Folds
single "Rockin' The Suburbs" and briefly appears in the video as a
producer fixing Folds' "shitty tracks".
Yankovic designed a greeting card for
Angelwear, a website through which celebrities create their own artwork
for notepads, cards, and clothing. The proceeds are then donated to a
charity of the celebrity's choice.[21]
In an episode of Futurama, Yankovic is
shown in the year 3000 to have been cryogenically frozen. In the chamber
he is wearing a shirt that says "Eat It" and with a guitar in his hands.
Yankovic's alleged hair loss has been a
matter of controversy during the past few years. However, he does not
wear a wig and his hair is, in fact, real.
In an episode of King of the Hill entitled
"The Son That Got Away," Bobby Hill says "I just sang a song parody,
Dad. Like Weird Al Yankovic" Hank Hill responds, "Son, Al Yankovic blew
his brains out in the late '80s after people stopped buying his records.
He's not worth getting into trouble over." Later in the episode Bobby
Hill says, "I see things clearly now. I'm going to grow up without
anyone to love, and die friendless and alone like Weird Al Yankovic."
Yankovic used a video clip of the first scene as part of an introductory
sequence for his concerts while on his Running With Scissors and Poodle
Hat tours.
In the song titled "Time" on the Ben Folds
album "Songs for Silverman" Yankovic does the background vocals.
****
Notes and references
-
^ Sing 365 Weird Al
Biography. sing365.com (2006). Retrieved on July 21, 2006.
-
^ "Weird Al" Yankovic:
Rare Items: UNLABELED TAPE. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ Laughter is a Powerful
Weapon Volume 2: Funny Musicians for a Serious Cause. Retrieved on
2006-08-24.
-
^ A Message From Al.
Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ Permanent Record: Al In
The Box. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ Campbell v. Acuff-Rose
Music, Inc., 510 U.S. 569 (1994). Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ http://www.weirdal.com/faq.htm
-
^ http://music.aol.com/artist/weird-al-yankovic/140212/biography
-
^ Chris Knight.
TheForce.Net - Jedi Council - Interviews - Weird Al Yankovic.
TheForce.Net. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ "Ask Al" Q&As for April
27, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
-
^ "Unofficial Eminem Fan
Site: Biography. Retrieved on 2006-09-26.
-
^
http://www.al-oholicsanonymous.com/interviews/hotwired.txt
-
^ Free 'Weird Al'
Yankovic!. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ "Ask Al" Q&As for
October 2, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ The Not Al Page: The
most popular songs he didn't even write (or perform)!. Retrieved on
2006-08-24.
-
^ "Don't not download
this song". Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
-
^ Gina Serpe. Damon,
Diddy, Ponch Got Star Power. E! Online News. Retrieved on
2006-08-24.
-
^ The Official "Weird Al"
Yankovic Web Site. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ Yankovic! - Published
Lyrics - Bad Hair Day. Retrieved on 2006-08-27.
-
^ "Weird Al" Yankovic
Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
-
^ Angelwear: Celebrities
Making a Difference: Weird Al Yankovic. Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
****
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
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