He wasn't the first guy to have hits with song parodies- Spike Jones, Stan Freberg and Allan Sherman all had success in earlier decades. But his career has far outlasted theirs.
His ability to restructure all sorts of popular songs to fit his madness amazes me, and his original tunes are themselves masterful comic pieces. So I don't begrudge him any of the success he's had.
Loved Dr. D and was probably listening when My Bologna first aired for Weird Al. I was in HS then and curfew was 10, which was the same time Dr. D show came on, so the timing likely saved from being grounded more. 😉 Lola/Yoda makes me smile every time! Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year!
For the title alone, I love "Angry White Boy Polka". *L*
It's funny how untranslatable Weird Al is. A lot of pop gets played outside of the US, but Weird Al is almost unheard of because of all the cultural context in parodies. I mentioned just this past Saturday how it was amazing to see the YouTuber Roomie (who is Swedish and lives in LA) didn't seem to "get" a lot of what makes Weird Al funny in his first "Weird Al or the original artist?" video.
Al's songs stand on their own, both the originals and the parodies, but many of the parodies are of songs that totally got overplayed on the radio. To have had to live through, Michael Jackson and Madonna and the Backstreet Boys and Miley Cyrus and Green Day and then hear someone goof on them is like a breath of fresh air.
Agree 100%, especially the pop culture getting lost in context. I am close with several friends and colleagues who have ESL, and it's tough to connect with them by way of humor references sometimes. I realize that a lot of my pushback into comedy has been because of the ridiculousness of American pop culture.
I loved in Germany for 4 1/2 years, and had 2 or 3 Weird Al CDs with me (early 2000s). I could explain the songs well enough that the songs were funny, but there was no way of conveying how hilarious they truly were to the American ear.
Indeed. Even something like "The Office" or (especially) "Always Sunny" requires a dozen deep-dive cultural references in just about every episode. You don't really think so much about how embedded this sort of critique and commentary is within our entertainment media until you talk to someone who's not so deeply immersed!
Great job, Andrew, and thanks again for pushing and encouraging me to slap my Dr. D knowledge and experiences onto virtual paper! In ghetto gambling parlance, I reckon we're just givin' in a gangsta's pair o' dice!
Nice...........Thanks, Andrew (but, mostly for your inspiration, flexibility, and guidance)! I just slapped "my" Dr. D post on several FB groups (like '70s rock, classic rock, etc), including a "Weird Al" fan group, and a Dr. D one! Hopefully, more traffic for us both!
It’s from a couple of years ago, but this episode of 60 Songs That Explain the 90s on Weird Al and Coolio is pretty great. I also wrote about Coolio when he passed.
Andrew ... what fun to connect with Weird Al ... wish I had grown up under his influence ... his mad freeness is contagious and maybe I wouldn't have taken life so seriously. One question though ... could he have been Weird Al without the hair? Thanks for starting my day on a "be your own imperfect self" note.
That hair certainly is iconic. I would note that his moustache also used to be part and parcel of the persona that is Weird Al, but that seems to have disappeared without too much protest. Perhaps the hair will do the same, now that Al is in his 60s.
Al's fantastic!
But come on, Andrew, we all know why you really wrote this: "Weird Al"? Everyone knows lowercase "l" looks exactly like capital "I" (SEE?!)
So this entire post is an attempt to piggyback on the AI (artificial intelligence) hype train.
Everyone wants to know what's so strange about AI, and here you are, telling them.
What I'm trying to say is: Well played, good sir!
A tip of my hat to you, sir. I briefly considered including this joke in my piece.
Like a Surgeon is pretty funny.
Yes! Easily one of his funniest parodies.
I could write something 10 times this long about Weird Al, seriously.
He's always been a favorite of mine.
I knew I liked you for some reason!
He wasn't the first guy to have hits with song parodies- Spike Jones, Stan Freberg and Allan Sherman all had success in earlier decades. But his career has far outlasted theirs.
His ability to restructure all sorts of popular songs to fit his madness amazes me, and his original tunes are themselves masterful comic pieces. So I don't begrudge him any of the success he's had.
Yeah dude, I mean people played rock and roll music before the Beatles, right?
Loved Dr. D and was probably listening when My Bologna first aired for Weird Al. I was in HS then and curfew was 10, which was the same time Dr. D show came on, so the timing likely saved from being grounded more. 😉 Lola/Yoda makes me smile every time! Wishing you and yours a Happy New Year!
Fantastic!! I love those old songs so much. You'd probably really appreciate Brad's writeup of Dr D if you didn't already get a chance to read it.
Will do, just refilling the coffee cup before I tap that, Thank you!
Now you're talking! Enjoying my coffee.
Ee gads... now I have a Fish heads ear worm, jolly, jolly NOT 😋!
Will do. The trailer looked really good.
For the title alone, I love "Angry White Boy Polka". *L*
It's funny how untranslatable Weird Al is. A lot of pop gets played outside of the US, but Weird Al is almost unheard of because of all the cultural context in parodies. I mentioned just this past Saturday how it was amazing to see the YouTuber Roomie (who is Swedish and lives in LA) didn't seem to "get" a lot of what makes Weird Al funny in his first "Weird Al or the original artist?" video.
Al's songs stand on their own, both the originals and the parodies, but many of the parodies are of songs that totally got overplayed on the radio. To have had to live through, Michael Jackson and Madonna and the Backstreet Boys and Miley Cyrus and Green Day and then hear someone goof on them is like a breath of fresh air.
Agree 100%, especially the pop culture getting lost in context. I am close with several friends and colleagues who have ESL, and it's tough to connect with them by way of humor references sometimes. I realize that a lot of my pushback into comedy has been because of the ridiculousness of American pop culture.
I loved in Germany for 4 1/2 years, and had 2 or 3 Weird Al CDs with me (early 2000s). I could explain the songs well enough that the songs were funny, but there was no way of conveying how hilarious they truly were to the American ear.
Indeed. Even something like "The Office" or (especially) "Always Sunny" requires a dozen deep-dive cultural references in just about every episode. You don't really think so much about how embedded this sort of critique and commentary is within our entertainment media until you talk to someone who's not so deeply immersed!
Great job, Andrew, and thanks again for pushing and encouraging me to slap my Dr. D knowledge and experiences onto virtual paper! In ghetto gambling parlance, I reckon we're just givin' in a gangsta's pair o' dice!
Great job, Brad! These 2 pieces came together like satire and polka.
Nice...........Thanks, Andrew (but, mostly for your inspiration, flexibility, and guidance)! I just slapped "my" Dr. D post on several FB groups (like '70s rock, classic rock, etc), including a "Weird Al" fan group, and a Dr. D one! Hopefully, more traffic for us both!
Great article! I'm looking forward to seeing the movie.
Awesome! Let me know what you think. I liked the way they played it.
Amish Paradise. I just love how he flipped the gangsta genre on its head.
Yes!
Should have posted my post on it!
https://open.substack.com/pub/songoftheday/p/amish-paradise
I love Stevie's original, but confess that I heard Gangsta's Paradise first. What a cool mishmash of past music, though!
It’s from a couple of years ago, but this episode of 60 Songs That Explain the 90s on Weird Al and Coolio is pretty great. I also wrote about Coolio when he passed.
https://www.theringer.com/2021/7/7/22566059/coolio-gangstas-paradise-amish-paradise-weird-al
https://open.substack.com/pub/earworm/p/rip-coolio?r=1046qe&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Andrew ... what fun to connect with Weird Al ... wish I had grown up under his influence ... his mad freeness is contagious and maybe I wouldn't have taken life so seriously. One question though ... could he have been Weird Al without the hair? Thanks for starting my day on a "be your own imperfect self" note.
Yay! I love those kinds of notes.
That hair certainly is iconic. I would note that his moustache also used to be part and parcel of the persona that is Weird Al, but that seems to have disappeared without too much protest. Perhaps the hair will do the same, now that Al is in his 60s.
Bald Weird Al ... now that's a thought. ;-)
BTW Joyce, I really love my "about" page, and you helped me get there!
Thanks ... definitely a fun experience.
Feel free to quote me if that's helpful! I can probably say gushier things if needed.
we could have a mutual gush society! maybe that's what the world needs.