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Weird Al talks with Dan Rather about how he ended up getting his start in the music industry and how he's thrived so many decades on The Big Interview!Catch ...
- 5 min
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- AXS TV
"Weird Al” Yankovic, Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson sit down to take us behind the music of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story!Al talks about his love for the parod...
- 38 min
- 3.2K
- Film.Music.Media
Jul 12, 2014 · Robert Trachtenberg/Courtesy of the artist. "Weird Al" Yankovic has been the king of parody for 30 years, outlasting and, in some cases, outselling the artists he's sent up. He also mastered the ...
- 3 min
- NPR Staff
In 2010, Eric Appel produced a Funny or Die trailer for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, a fictional biographical film that parodies other films based on musicians; Yankovic (played by Aaron Paul) is seen hiding his "weirdness" from his parents (Gary Cole and Mary Steenburgen), making it big using song parodies with the help of Dr. Demento (Patton Oswalt), falling in and out of love with Madonna ...
- Overview
- Early life
- Career
“Weird Al” Yankovic (born October 23, 1959, Downey, California, U.S.) is a musician and songwriter best known for his parodies of songs and music videos by other musicians. He gained national fame in 1984 with the song and music video for “Eat It,” a parody of Michael Jackson’s hit song “Beat It.” Whereas most novelty song artists have achieved onl...
Yankovic grew up in Lynwood, California, the only child of Nick Yankovic, a factory worker, and Mary (née Vivalda) Yankovic, who worked as a secretary and stenographer. In the liner notes to the compilation Permanent Record: Al in a Box (1994), Yankovic recalled that, when he was six years old, “A door-to-door salesman came through our neighborhood, trying to solicit business for a local music school. Kids were offered a choice between guitar lessons and accordion lessons. Since Frankie Yankovic (no relation) was America’s Polka King, my parents opted for accordion lessons, perhaps because they figured there should be at least one more accordion-playing Yankovic in the world.”
Growing up, Yankovic was an avid fan of Dr. Demento, a disc jockey with a nationally syndicated radio show that featured novelty and comedy songs. Yankovic’s favorite artists on the show included Spike Jones, Allan Sherman, and Shel Silverstein. He was also influenced by the British sketch comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus and pop musician Elton John. In 1973 Dr. Demento spoke at his high school, and Yankovic gave the disc jockey a cassette tape featuring some comical songs he had written. Three years later Yankovic sent him another tape, this one including the original song “Belvedere Cruising,” which Demento played on his show.
After graduating from college in 1980, Yankovic moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in a mail room at a radio network and began performing in clubs and opening for other acts. He wrote more parody songs, such as “Another One Rides the Bus,” a parody of “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen and “I Love Rocky Road,” which is based on “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, originally recorded by the Arrows. Although the recording of parody songs is generally considered fair use according to U.S. copyright law, Yankovic made it a practice to seek permission from the original artists and songwriters to parody their songs.
In 1982 he signed with the Scotti Brothers Records label and released his first album, “Weird Al” Yankovic, in 1983. He also made his first music video, for the song “Ricky,” which debuted on the music video channel MTV. “Ricky” was a parody of Toni Basil’s 1981 hit song “Mickey” and a satiric tribute to the television comedy series I Love Lucy, with voice actress Tress MacNeille singing the part of Lucy Ricardo (who was portrayed by Lucille Ball on the show) and Yankovic singing as Ricky Ricardo (who was played by Desi Arnaz on the show).
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In 1984 Yankovic released the single “Eat It,” which became a top 20 hit and earned Yankovic a Grammy Award for best comedy recording. A large part of the song’s success was its music video, a humorous shot-for-shot remake of Jackson’s video that recreated the original’s dance choreography, setting, and wardrobe, complete with Jackson’s iconic red leather jacket, glittery socks, and black penny loafers. The song appeared on Yankovic’s second album, “Weird Al” Yankovic in 3-D (1984), which also included the parody songs “I Lost on Jeopardy” (after “Jeopardy” by the Greg Kihn Band) and “The Brady Bunch” (after “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats). The album went platinum, selling more than a million copies.
Yankovic’s third album, Dare to Be Stupid (1985), also went platinum and featured original songs, including the title track, and more parodies, such as “Like a Surgeon” (based on “Like a Virgin” by Madonna) and “Girls Just Want to Have Lunch” (after “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper). That same year, he released a mock documentary, or mockumentary, home video, The Compleat Al, as well as a book, The Authorized Al, both of which offered humorous, semi-fictional accounts of his life.
Weird Al Yankovic talks with Dan Rather about how he got his start in the music industry.Subscribe to AXS TV for more great music content: https://www.youtub...
- 5 min
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- AXS TV
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Apr 17, 2023 · Hated his parodies. Hated Al. They pelted him with objects, and when they ran out of those, they threw loose change at him. Afterward, when a dejected Al was in the parking lot, a 12-year-old came ...
